(1/16/2011)
Well, it's 11:58 pm and we are on our way back from Mobilise. We've had some great conversation about what we have taken from the conference and how we are going to apply it. The main theme seems to be that we are encouraged to peruse a passionate devotional life. I pray that God would empower us by his spirit to be truly changed from this weekend. I also pray that our witness for Christ would be more apparent and abundant.
I was also encouraged again as I continue to read through acts. I read time and time again where God moves on behalf of the prayers lifted up by the saints. The first instance that I noticed was the conversion of Paul. Jesus blinded him for three days and Ananias was sent by God to Paul and was told that he would find a man praying.
And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,
This begs me to ask the question; If Saul had not been praying, would God had sent someone to remove the scales from his eyes and fill him with the spirit?
Second was the story of Peter raising tabitha from the dead in acts 10
But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.
If Peter had not prayed, would Tabitha had come back to life? It's also interesting to point out that it seems as though Peter prayed to God personally and grew in communion with Him which built up his faith enough to look at her with confidence and say, "arise!" He didn't lay hands on her right away and pray the same thing seven different ways and say "in Jesus' name" seven times. He simply communed with his Father and with boldness, trusted God to raise her from the dead.
Next is Cornelius in acts 11
And he stared at him in terror and said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.
After this he is told to send for Peter. If he had not prayed, would he had not received this direction?
Next was for Peter in while he was in prison in acts 12
So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.
If people had not prayed for Peter, would he have died in prison?
My conclusions to all these questions is a resounding YES! John Piper once said, "Things happen that otherwise would not have happened, had we not prayed." This is ringing true in my heart and truly motivating me to be more intentional about prayer. "Prayer is the vital prerequisite to the release of God's power!" I want to believe this and live in light of this truth in all aspects of my life. Lord, make me a man who will move quickly to my knees first and then to my feet. I do not go if your hand is not with me. Guide me and grow me in this area!
There is a very real connection between the invisible and the visible. Thanks to modernism, the majority of our culture pretty much dismisses the invisible. But this is where faith enters the picture, right? "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11). Therefore, if I do not have faith, I do not believe in an invisible world. And if I do not believe in an invisible world, I will not believe my actions in the visible world will impact that invisible world. And if I do not believe my actions in the visible impact the invisible, then I will not pray. Prayer therefore, is the muscle of faith which thrusts itself from the visible into the invisible because it assumes it is altering the invisible. And that is the space, the context, the atmosphere and environment in which God acts...that temporal space where our faith connects the visible with the invisible...and that's the place where God has promised to act.
ReplyDeleteYou're right on track with your thinking here, Brice. Keep it up.