WATCH THE NEWS LATELY? .. all the conflict in the Middle East ? .. Our Southern Borders being attacked by homeless and parentless children? All the nations that seem to be lining up against Israel?
What is Faith without Love .. WHAT IS TRUE LOVE? … What Good Is PRAYER?
Loveless faith is useless faith .. prayerless faith will get you where? … In Matthew 17:19 the disciples came to Jesus wanting to know why they couldn’t cast a demonic spirit from a child and Jesus responded, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you” (v. 20). He repeated the same principle in Matthew 21:21: “Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall . . . say to this mountain [the Mount of Olives], ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ [and] it shall happen.”
Those passages have puzzled many people because they’ve never seen anyone move a mountain. But Jesus wasn’t speaking literally – OR WAS HE? .. Moving mountains would cause all kinds of ecological problems and would be a pointless miracle .. unless it was done today in a spiritual revival in the Name of Jesus of Nazareth – right here in America. Consider the expression “able to move mountains” which was a common figure of speech in Jesus’ day – it’s meaning had to do with “surmounting or overcoming great obstacles.” Jesus was speaking of those who have the gift of faith, those who can move the hand of God through “unwavering prayer” ..
Does Americal have any claim to “unwavering prayer” ? .. let’s see .. we passed laws of the land saying – NO MORE PRAYER IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS … no more prayers before football games .. and then recently our Supreme Court had another ruling .. that just might be a glimmer of hope. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/prayer-america-23599559
The gift of faith is the ability to believe that God will act according to His will, no matter the circumstances. People with that gift are prayer warriors and tend to stand as rocks when others around them are falling apart. They see God’s power and purposes at work and trust Him even when others doubt and a better understanding of proper prayer .. and praying would be of benefit to all .. especially if we could learn what Jesus said here: http://www.iaskgod.com/the-lords-prayer — and better understand what He was trying to teach us ..
But, says Paul, even if you have such faith, if you don’t have love, you are nothing. That’s a harsh rebuke, but it places the emphasis where it belongs: on our motives. The Corinthians’ motives were evident in their selfish pursuit of the showy gifts.
What motivates you? Remember, without love it doesn’t matter what gifts you have, how eloquent your speech is, what you know, or what you believe. Only love can validate your service to Christ .. and only “prayer in your secret closet” .. will render results according to God’s Word.
Suggestions for Prayer Study and Understanding might begin right here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A5-15&version=NIRV .. and you and i might do a better job at our prayers if we “Ask God” .. for a greater capacity to trust Him, and the motivation to pray more fervently and more often ..