June 17, 2023

OUR PRAYERS

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.”

Mark 11:22-24 NLT

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TODAY’S THOUGHT

One of my professors in Bible school used to drill into our heads, “Don’t build your theology on one passage of scripture!” I think he was aware of the human tendency to take one passage and not connect the truths in that passage with the entirety of the scriptures. This is certainly true in today’s passage on prayer. Jesus has just cleansed the Temple and cursed the fig tree. The disciples are shocked to see the fig tree die in one day. Then Jesus makes this statement about faith and the power of prayer. There are some who take this passage to teach us that through prayer we can have whatever we want. If you listen to that frame of teaching, it almost makes God our servant to grant us whatever we want. He becomes our genie whose purpose for existence is to grant our wishes. But this is not the only passage in which Jesus teaches on prayer. Jesus tells us that our prayers must line up with the Word of God and the will of God. It is not human will that drives the power of prayer—it is God’s will. He has revealed much of His will in His Word—therefore the first step in prayer is to know the Word of God so we can pray the will of God. There are some parts of God’s will that have not been clearly defined in the Word. For instance, no scripture tells us who we should marry or what job we should have or how many children to have. There are principles in the scripture about marriage, work, and raising children. But there is not specific direction for each person. Therefore, we must spend time in prayer and learning to listen to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God knows the mind of God. He reveals God’s will to us so that we can pray in agreement with God’s will. I have prayed some prayers that were not in alignment with God’s will. Looking back, I’m glad God did not answer all my prayers the way I wanted them answered. (There is a country song that says something about thanking God for unanswered prayers—yes, I like country music). There are a lot of passages about prayer. Let’s take time to unpack them all and build a balanced theology of prayer. Let’s make it our priority to be people of faith and people of prayer. Let’s be sure our prayers are honoring God not for simple selfish reasons.

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TODAY’S PRAYER

Holy Spirit teach me to be a person of prayer. Show me how to have my fight directed in the right direction. Don’t allow me to become selfish or presumptuous in my praying.

“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”