Our prayers toward God speak a lot about our faith, as well as about the way of living which we have. If we constantly pray for material benefits, financial security and independence, perhaps even perfect health, then these things must be more important for us than God is. Moreover, this is a sign that our life spins around them.
Jesus uses the example of worrying to show us how strong our faith ought to be and how we need to live and consequently – pray. Let us turn to his words from Matthew 6:19-34:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. read more
One of the biggest problems before the Christian faith today is that all Christians claim they believe in God, but not all of them live according to their own claims. In other words, many of us daily call ourselves Christians, but far too many of us don’t live like Christians.
Let’s look at the relationship between a child and his or her parents as an analogue of ours with God. When a child truly trusts his or her parents, he or she waits patiently and faith till their promises come true. When mummy and daddy promise their son a new bicycle he doesn’t immediately run out, seeking for ways to buy it himself earlier than it’s promised to him. Where there is trust in a relationship between two sides, there is also patience and faith.
Between many believers and God, however, the trust is little… so, naturally, many Christians quickly run out of patience and lose faith. God, on the other hand, doesn’t cease caring for us, but how is it possible to feel Him caring if all the time we’re trying to solve our problems on our own and pay more attention to them than we do to God? read more
“Jesus told him, Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29, NIV).
This verse is a part of a passage from the Gospel according to John in which Jesus teaches a lesson on faith to one of his 12 chosen disciples. Although the described event took place newarly 2000 years ago, Jesus’ answer is just as relevant to us today as it was back then to Thomas. Let us question ourselves sincerely – do we walk by faith or by sight? Do we pray by faith or by sight?
The truth is, for many Christians the saying “Gotta see to believe” has become a way of life. Don’t also skip the fact that the society around us encourages us to not trust anything or anyone, before we can touch and see first… And that goes on daily basis. Thus, slowly but steadily many forget about the true meaning of the word faith. This becomes an even greater problem when it comes to prayer. There is a real danger that each of us can lose faith if it is not being nurtured by a continual fellowship with God through His Word. One day you or I can wake up with an unsolvable problem in our lives and offended or even angry turn to God with the words: “Show me and I’ll believe that you have not abandoned me!” read more
Almost each prayer ends with this word. Every Christian uses it at least several times per day. It sounds almost the same in a whole lot of languages, which otherwise have nothing in common… And yet, it seems that this is the most misused word among believers today – amen…
The word Amen has a Hebrew origin and after it has entered Greek through the first century Church, today it is a part for almost every language. Generally speaking, Amen means a strong agreement with something, or a strong affirmation. It can also be translated as “verily”, “truly”, “let it be” or “so let it be.” The use of this word as a part of God’s worship dates back to the times of the Old Testament. This is where today’s Christian use is inherited from – its use in the Hebrew synagogues. Just as back then, today we say Amen at the end of prayers as a symbol of our affirmation thereof, as well as after we have accepted a blessing from an elder or another person, even outside of the context of the church gathering.
For many Christians, however, this small word has lost much of its meaning due to its almost automated daily usage. The question we ought to ask ourselves now is “Do we even think about what we mean by saying Amen, or do we just do it because it’s become a habit?”
In his letters, through his own experience, apostle Paul reveals to us the importance of the correct understanding of the word. And in order to understand the power of this affirmation at the end of prayers we need to listen carefully to the preceding words. read more
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:12-14, NIV).
When it comes to prayer, perhaps the first thing we learn after “Amen” is “in the name of Jesus.” Yet, it seems that very often, just as with Amen, the praying on behalf of Jesus is not completely understood by the believer. What does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus? Why do I have to pray this way, and what conditions are there to it?
In the context of the passage from John, Jesus is talking to his disciples about Him being the only way to the Father and His unity with Him. This is key to understanding the prayer in Jesus’ name because it establishes the foundation – the divine authority and power which is found in Jesus, and upon which we rely as we pray to Him.
At this point Jesus also gives the condition for prayer in His name – one’s faith in Him. When believers witness miracles and supernatural experiences, it is not by their power or abilities that they occur. It is through their faith in Christ that these thing happen. Faith is, thus, the door opener for God’s power in our lives. read more