WHY WE DO NOT PRAY

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WHY WE DO NOT PRAY

Luke 12:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

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In our last post, we asked the question, “Why pray?”  It is a relevant question since it is regarded as an expected function of all believers.  The problem is, most believers do not pray, at least not more than praying before meals to give thanks for their food; or obligatory prayers when in the public eye.  Actual serious devotion to prayer and intercession are virtually alien to the lives of contemporary Christians. Most are perfectly satisfied that they are “good Christians” when they pray for 15-30 seconds after a five minute daily devotional read of someone else’s thoughts on the Scripture. In truth, we all know that we are derelict in what we understand to be a duty to pray. 

Why do we instinctively regard prayer as a duty (and you know we do)?  Maybe it has something to do with the 22 separate verses quoted in our last post commanding us to pray. So, the first and most important answer to last week’s question: “Why pray?” is quite simply, “We are commanded to do so.”  That is the #1 reason why anyone of us should pray. In our next post, we will begin to deal with the question screaming in the back of our heads, “Why are we commanded to pray? What is the point?”  

For today’s issue, “Why we do not pray,” we will examine the reasons why we do not pray. Up front, I will be very honest with you.  This post is going to revolve around my personal experience, my opinion based on my experience with others, and some Scripture.  Since the Scripture repeatedly commands us to pray, it spends precious little time explaining why we don’t obey that command. First, let’s take a look at the one passage of Scripture that seems to provide us with reasons for not praying. It may seem a bit indirect; but our own experience will demonstrate its accuracy.

Luke 12:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

Overcharged (baryno) – Weighed down, burdened.

Surfeiting (kraipale) – the giddiness resulting from drinking, to include the behavior associated with intoxication.

Drunkenness (methe) – intoxication.

Cares (merimna) of this life (biotikos)– cares and anxieties associated with our physical life; the affairs of living.

Here, Messiah warns his disciples to beware. That means there is a danger, an enemy of their soul for which they need to keep watch lest they are overcome by it; and that is allowing their hearts to be weighed down with intoxication and from the behavior that results from it.  Paul warned the Ephesians to “be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the (Holy) Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18) In the apostles’ day, this was perhaps a more relevant concern than it is today. Then, grape juice was the common drink; and fermentation was a natural byproduct of time. Once fermented, the juice became wine and intoxication would result if moderation were not engaged. Today, we have many other non-alcoholic beverage options; but we could just as easily compare this to other things we allow to grasp our heart and focus of mind and become the director of our behavior trapping us into addictive worldly disobedient living: taking care of your car, watching television, hanging out with the boys/girls, golf, any activity that becomes your preference over spending time in fellowship with your Elohim.

The Master also lists as an enemy, the cares and anxieties of the affairs of day-to-day living.  This is a natural concern as all people have needs of survival requiring food, water, clothing…and the ability to pay one’s bills so they can secure food, water and clothing.  A disciple, however, is not a “natural man” and is not to be concerned about such things. The Master addressed this in his “Sermon on the Mount.”

Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought (merimnao) for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of Elohim, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

He does not say “Do not think about your life,” but rather, “Take no anxious thought for your life.” To do so is dangerous. It is doubt the love and the word of our Father; and it is to listen to and to give ground to an enemy.

Messiah goes on to command them to “watch ye therefore, and pray always.” Prayer will be the first activity to go when one allows addictive practice and behavior to enter their life.  The cares of this world often result in prayers of desperation, anxious prayer (the “Help! Bail me out, please!” kind of prayer)…which is faithless prayer and sin. The Father does not even hear it (See Romans 14:23; 1 John 5:14-15).  So, Scripture teaches us that one reason why we do not pray is our lack of separation from the attractions and cares of this world. Put another way, it is when we seek the world for entertainment rather than seeking it from IAUE. [At this point some may reflect, “Seeking IAUE for entertainment??”  Was IAUE not David’s greatest source of joy and pleasure? (Psalm 16:110) Is it not an indictment against our spiritual lives that we do not desire to spend more time with Him than we do many other things and other people?]

This is the Scripture’s lone explanation as to why we do not pray. Love of the world will destroy love of IAUE and will result in prayerlessness.  Now, let’s examine what I would consider to be the top four other reasons.

If the primary reason we SHOULD pray is because Scripture commands us to pray; thus, the #1 reason why we do not pray is:  Disobedience is inconsequential to us. We absolutely have no concern about disobeying IAUE or our Master Yahushua Messiah. (I will leave the reader to contemplate the implications and ramifications of this reality.)

Another reason why we do not pray is:  We have no confidence in prayer. Why spend time praying when we believe it will result in nothing? The first thing this mindset ignores is the abundance of times we are commanded to pray. Obviously, our Father and our Master, and the New Testament writers believed prayer was effective, otherwise they would not have instructed us to pray 22 separate times. Don’t their very commands to pray teach us anything about prayer’s usefulness?

Another reason why we do not pray is: We do not know how to pray.  We often think there must be some formula or format to effective prayer. We don’t know if we should kneel, bow, fold our hands, or stand. We don’t know if we should speak to IAUE or to Yahushua or even to the Holy Spirit. We don’t know what to say or ask or what we can say or ask; and yet we do nothing to learn how to pray. We just don’t pray.  At least the disciples asked Messiah to teach them how to pray.

Another reason why we do not pray is: We consider it a waste of time. Into this is rolled up our love of the world (because time spent praying interferes with time we feel would be better spent on things we actually enjoy doing). Also rolled into this is our lack of confidence in prayer. If we do not believe it will be effective, then we will regard it a waste of time (which, by default, means time spent with IAUE is not as important to us as time spent in our own interests).

When you consider these four reasons why believers do not pray, you can see how they are all addressed by the one passage of Scripture that shows us why we should pray. The greatest of all commandments is to love IAUE our Elohim with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. When we allow our mind to lead our hearts into the love of other things that eventually are exalted over our love for IAUE to the point we prefer them over Him, prayer ceases to exist in our lives in any meaningful way. If we understand this to be true, then we can understand that the #1 remedy to prayerlessness is to recapture our love of IAUE. Our desire to prayer will increase in direct proportion to the intensity of our desire to spend time with our Father.

Prayer will never become an active part of our life until love for IAUE and Yahushua regain the center of our life. We can go through the motions and mechanics of; and we can discipline ourselves to spend time to pray; but until the motive for prayer is born of a love for IAUE and our Master, and we truly desire the outworking of the Father’s will in the earth, we will never comprehend how prayer can and should be the most exciting thing we do. To achieve this, we need to understand why we are commanded to pray.

WHY PRAY

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WHY PRAY?

Luke 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Master, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

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The disciples (who would become the original apostles) had been with Yahushua for nearly two years when this incident took place. It is interesting to note that the Master’s answer was the same thing he preached in the Sermon on the Mount very early in his ministry, and likely was an integral part of many of his teachings to the masses who followed him daily. By the time this event occurred, the disciples had become quite attentive to the fact that prayer was an extremely important part of his life. Those who had been disciples of John witnessed first-hand at his baptism on the very first day the Master was revealed to Israel, how significant a part prayer was in his life.

Luke 3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Yahushua also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,  22 And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

That is probably a little-known fact. No one ever seems to mention that Yahushua prayed before the Holy Spirit descended upon him after he was baptized by John.

The disciples also saw him literally sneak away from the masses who surrounded and followed him every day so he could spend alone-time in prayer.

Luke 5:15 But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.    16  And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

 Finally, after seeing how important prayer was to Yahushua, our opening Scripture says that “one of his disciples,” after watching him pray and waiting for him to end his time in prayer, said “Master, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.”  After two years, the disciples probably selected one among them to follow Messiah to where he sought solitude to pray; and after respectfully waiting for him to conclude his time in prayer, to ask him on their behalf how to pray…like John did for his disciples.  That means the disciples of Yahushua who had previously been disciples of John had heard John’s teaching on prayer. That instruction, like so much teaching in contemporary Christianity, had become merely more acquired knowledge, useless by virtue of no application.

James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

In retrospect, it would seem this was a request born of curiosity more than of a desire to know more perfectly how actually to pray.  Do we ever see in the gospel accounts the disciples praying?  The only time seems to be in the garden of Gethsemene where they could not remain awake while their Master was in great travail in prayer. That they were not men experienced in prayer seems quite obvious by this.

From this we can understand that prayer was extremely important to the Master Yahushua Messiah, the one person whom human logic would suggest would not need to pray at all; but, ultimately, prayer was not considered important to the disciples…at least not during the 3½ year of the Master’s earthly ministry.  It became important after the resurrection when Yahushua instructed them to wait in Jerusalem until he sent them the Holy Spirit.  The disciples/apostles with 100+ other followers entered into an upper room for ten days.

Acts 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Yahushua, and with his brethren.

After the Holy Spirit came (Acts 2), when disputes arose regarding the administration of food to the disciples in need, the apostles explained the danger of this distraction to the commission of Messiah.

Acts 6:2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of Elohim, and serve tables. 3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

They had finally learned the importance and absolute necessity of prayer. We see multiple times in both the Gospels and in the epistles the command to pray.

Matthew 5:44 …pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest…”

Matthew 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest…”

Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray…”

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye…”

Matthew 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Master of the harvest…”

Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation…”

Mark 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray…”                         

Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Master of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

Luke 8:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

Luke 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer…”

Ephesians 6:18 always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…”

Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto Elohim.”

Colossians 4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving”

1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

1 Thessalonians 5:25 Brethren, pray for us.

1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men

1 Timothy 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where

Hebrews 13:18 Pray for us…

 James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another…

1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer

The apostles repeatedly had been commanded to pray; but they never seemed to obey that command. They were so inexperienced in prayer and so unaware of its value that just hours before their Master’s brutal death, they could only think of sleep.  After all, it was late at night, right? What did they finally understand about prayer?  What did they learn beyond academic instruction regarding the the importance and necessity of prayer?

The church, today, seems to be in the apostles’ pre-resurrection phase of experience regarding prayer.  We would rather sleep than pray. We would rather listen to teachers and preachers than pray. We would rather read the Scriptures than pray. Actually, we would pretty much rather do anything else, even sin, than spend time in prayer.  We need to get to the post-resurrection experience and obey this oft-repeated command.  To do that, we will need revelation to break the strangle-hold our academic knowledge and our unrenewed minds have on us.

FORGIVENESS

 

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FORGIVENESS

 Ezekiel 18:4,20 “..the soul that sinneth, it shall die…”

This was not only man’s problem; it was also IAUE’s problem.  IAUE created man to have fellowship with him; and to have a family unto which He could show His goodness, mercy, love and kindness forever. In Adam’s fall, man became separated from IAUE. Let’s call it a

“righteous barrier” that man could not cross due to the absence of righteousness in his nature, character and person. Not only did this prevent man from having fellowship with IAUE; it prevented IAUE from having fellowship with man.

Adam’s sin defiled his very nature making it impossible for him to father children that possessed righteousness. Thus Adam’s sin made access to IAUE impossible for everyone descending from his bloodline. It also made it absolutely impossible for anyone throughout human history to be able to remedy the problem.  Every act of an unrighteous man was only tainted by his own uncleanness before IAUE.  Clearly, the remedy had to be initiated by IAUE; thus, the gospel unfolds to reveal IAUE’s love for man was so great that even His son’s life was not too great a price to pay for man’s redemption.  Now, that is the true importance of the fellowship of Elohim and man as measured by the Creator’s action.

The Scripture had revealed that the soul that sins must die. Dying in one’s sins provides no redemption, no forgiveness. No, that is just the penalty being paid for being a sinner. A dead man does not then enjoy fellowship with IAUE. One dying in our place, however, leaves us yet alive that we can live beyond the payment price for our sins.

2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Messiah constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to IAUE by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11 And not only so, but we also joy in IAUE through our Maser Yahushua Messiah, by whom we have now received the atonement.

If we embrace the payment price of Yahushua’s death, then we enter into his death that we may also be united with him in his resurrection and become alive unto IAUE.  Note in the verses above that Paul says this union with Messiah produces “joy in IAUE.”  Why does it produce such a joy? It is because man in union with the Master Yahushua Messiah “breaks through the “righteous barrier” because he now has the nature of the “new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17) and he is clothed in the righteousness of Messiah.  He may now have fellowship with IAUE Elohim; and for one unto whom this is a reality and not just a mere academic doctrine, this is a matter of extreme joy.

Now, I would conjecture that the overwhelming majority of believers do no possess this joy in IAUE; and further, I would posit that the reason for this requires we go back to the primary issue of sin.

What is sin to IAUE?  It is disobedience to His will; thus it is lawlessness (because His will is the law of all creation), and it is an unclean act of evil.  What is sin to man?  It is whatever he does that he regrets having done it.  Can you see the great contrast in these definitions?  Can you see how little man has regard for what IAUE calls evil? 

To IAUE, sin is the heart of the problem. The sin issue must be resolved in order for fellowship to be possible.

Matthew 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Yahushua: for he shall save his people from their sins.

John 1:29 The next day John seeth Yahushua coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of Elohim, which taketh away the sin of the world. 

Acts 5:31  Him hath Elohim exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Colossians 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

What value does man place upon IAUE’s remedy to his unrighteousness?  The answer to this question hinges upon what value man places upon his sin?

We all know what is called “the sinner’s prayer.”  I often refer to it as “the magic prayer,” because the lost are led to expect that after praying those two or three sentences, they are saved (whatever that means) and they are going to Heaven when they die…just like magic.  They are led to mime it back to the one leading them in the prayer; and it is often the very first time they ever address the sin problem when they pray “…and forgive me of my sins…”  There is no explanation of what sin is.  They are expected simply to know what it is.  If the particular “magic prayer” they are led to repeat includes “…I repent of my sins…”  again, it is the first time that idea has even been mentioned.  They have no idea what it means to repent.

To illustrate this, let’s consider that moment when we gave our life to the Master Messiah Yahushua. If it was like most people, we probably asked to be forgiven of our sins.  When we said that, were we asking to be forgiven of:

-       Speaking back to our parents

-       Eating too much

-       Being angry with someone

-       Cheating on an exam at school

-       Taking home a pen, paperclip, stamp or other cheap supply from our boss’s workplace

-       Telling a lie (any and all of the hundreds of lies told in our lifetime)

-       Having an attitude against a sibling

-       Having an attitude towards another driver on the road

-       Wasting time

-       Arguing with your spouse

-       Ignoring the need of a neighbor

-       Cutting in line

-       Being proud of yourself

-       Pretending to be humble

-       Thinking of yourself as better than others

-       Preferring yourself over anyone else in any circumstance or situation

-       Envying anyone

-       Being bitter

-       Being resentful

-       Being divisive

-       Lusting after someone

-       Sexual immorality

-       Foul language

-       Dishonoring anyone

-       Judging people

-       Disapproving of someone because of their dress, manners, hairstyle, economic status

-       Loving someone or something more than we love IAUE

Obviously, you see how this list could run on forever; but I suspect what really came to mind were the three or four times in your life when your words or actions really hurt someone and you really regret it and wished you could undo it.  It did not even occur to you how in all of the above possible circumstances you hurt Elohim.

Luke 7:40 And Yahushua answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. 41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? 43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. 44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. 45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

In this real-life illustration, Yahushua demonstrated the truth about forgiveness. If we only regarded the Master’s forgiveness as touching the three or four particular things in our life for which we felt guilty, it is not going to produce much in the way of gratitude. This is why contemporary Christianity is bound in the Hellenistic grasp of applauding and rewarding knowledge, while the reality of the preciousness of fellowship with IAUE is ignored.  It is why any real devotion of time and heart and love toward IAUE ever occupies the masses of professing believers. They are grossly unaware of how much they have been forgiven because they are unaware of how sinful their lives really were and are.  It is also why the church-a-large seems never to notice that half of the New Testament epistles are dedicated to living sin-free lives.

As a people, we have never considered how pervasive the sin problem is; and how thorough the remedy of forgiveness was needed to be.  This has enabled us to regard the sacrifice of the Son of IAUE to be a mere academic requirement.  The equation needed this variable plugged in to produce the necessary quotient.

How can we expect the church to recognize the joy of fellowship with IAUE without an understanding of how serious the sin problem was, how far reaching His forgiveness is, and how desperately IAUE desired to resolve the “righteous barrier” to be restored in fellowship with His creation?

When you think back to that time about having been forgiven of your sins, what were you thinking?  Did it ever occur to you to contemplate the things in your life that were causes of grief or sadness to IAUE, or were even your thoughts of being forgiven totally selfish?  If you lack a genuine life-motivating love for IAUE, perhaps you should revisit forgiveness, for he who is forgiven much loves much.

FAITH-FILLED WORDS

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FAITH-FILLED WORDS

Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to IAUE must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Let me begin by saying I had no intention, today, of writing a post to this blog; but I was so strongly impressed by the Holy Spirit to share this message, today, that I could not refuse.  Please read this post to the end before drawing any conclusions.

Not long ago, I lost several life-long friendships over the matter of “faith.”  These friends were all members and/or ministerial staff of a church in a nearby city.  A couple of years ago, one of these friends (with whom I had had very little contact in years) out of the blue, as-it-were, emailed me a video and asked me for my opinion of it. The video was of a preacher examining the ministry of another preacher.  After having admitted he had not even listened to the entire presentation of the man’s message, he began raking him over the coals declaring him to be false teacher presenting blasphemous errors.  Well, I had viewed scores of hours of this man’s teaching, including the message in question, and I had the benefit of knowing the context of the things that were said; and there was no blasphemy, no error, just good faith-filled exposition of the Scriptures.  When I replied to my friend who had asked my opinion of the video, I simply said, “He has no business opening his mouth. He doesn’t have a clue what he is talking about. He even admitted to not even hearing the entire message that he was so confidently tearing apart.”

That reply earned me an undeserved identification with the “name it, claim it” preachers that my friends apparently had determined were false teachers and dangerous to the gospel; who, just for the record, we had all cut our teeth on over 40 years ago; but had long since moved on from there.  Without so much as a question about what I actually believe, now, I was cut off and relegated to the ranks of the hopelessly deceived. I have not heard from any of them, since.

Now, I could use this story to spring board into a discussion of the love of the brethren and what that’s supposed to look like, or of church discipline, or of forgiveness and reconciliation; but I will leave those to another day.  What I want communicate, today, regards the truth about faith.

The Scripture provides what virtually everyone believes to be its own definition of faith:

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

So many preachers use this text to preach all manner of things about faith: what it is, what it isn’t, how it works, how you can work it, how to think about it, how to exercise it; and (with the “name it, claim it” people) how to get what you want with it.  The problem is, the Scriptures were not written with chapters and verses. This verse is always taken out of context; and in context, it isn’t really a definition of faith at all; but rather an explanation of our reason to hold fast to our confidence in the hope of the gospel which is the resurrection  of the righteous and the appearing of our King, the Master Yahushua Messiah, in glory and power.  Much of the letter written to the Hebrews is supportive of this need to maintain our confidence to the end, hold to the expectation of our faith without wavering, know that our hope is sure and that what Messiah began, he will finish unto the end.  This is the context of Hebrews 11:1. 

The following record of what is often called the Faith Heroes Hall of Fame, is not about people who used faith to work miracles or obtain glistening new gold-gilded chariots or better paying jobs. It is about people who believed what Elohim promised them even unto death.

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

They all died having Hebrews 11:1 faith, NOT HAVING RECEIVED the manifestation of the expectation of their faith.  They will eventually receive the reward; but the kind of faith that earned them a place in this chapter is one simple thing.  They believed IAUE; and they held on to that belief even in the face of death.

Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to IAUE must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

If you have followed this blog, you understand that we have laid out a detailed explanation that we are a created people; and our Creator made us with a designed function.  For us to be fulfilled in life, we must identify and satisfy that design function; which, simply put, is to please IAUE by doing His will.  In this verse, we have what could be called a basic “entrance exam” to fulfilling our design function.  If we pass this exam, we may begin to do our Father’s will.  We MUST have faith.  We must believe IAUE is. Secondly, we must be confident in the reward He promises. Without these it is impossible to please Him

Let’s look at this in human terms.  If, when growing up as a child, we constantly let our father know either by words or actions or inactions, that we did not believe what he told us, how pleased with us do you think our fathers would be?  Also, if we did not believe him, there would be little likelihood that we would do what he asked or expected of us. Voluntary obedience to our father’s will would be predicated upon our trust in him, which would necessarily be based upon our ability to believe in him. Now let’s elevate this to our relationship with IAUE Elohim. If we do not believe IAUE’s word to us is trustworthy, why would we bother to commit our every action and decision in life to His will for us?  It wouldn’t happen.

The entrance exam, however, is very simple; and all of the people listed in Hebrews 11 passed the exam even though they did not received the fulfillment of the promise. One might reflect on this and say they were all fools.  They should have just gotten on with their lives and sought to achieve success in their selfish endeavors. Their names, however, would never be found in Hebrews 11.  I don’t know about you, but I can think of no greater honor than to live my life in such a way before IAUE that it would receive His personal recognition.

This brings us back to faith.  Faith is simple belief in IAUE and in the trustworthiness of His words. Such simple belief causes us to live and to behave accordingly.  For example, IAUE told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. Later he assured him this would come about through his son Isaac.  Then IAUE asked Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice.  Abraham did not hesitate to proceed to do as IAUE requested.  To Abraham, killing Isaac before he had children (which would be necessary for Abraham to be the father of many nations) was more IAUE’s problem than his own. 

Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:19 Accounting that Elohim was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

If we perceive of faith as a force that we release in prayer or in commands (as is taught by most faith preachers) then we will become focused on “our“ faith as something that is either big enough or too small to accomplish an objective rather than having confidence in IAUE that His word is trustworthy. This will absolutely become a factor when we are asked to pray for something that seems either impossible to us, or is just currently too large a task for “our” faith. Where, in that consideration is belief that what IAUE has said is true and reliable?  What is the difference in commanding a headache to leave and commanding cancer to leave?  Are we able to make a cancer leave by our own power? If not, then we are also incapable of making a headache leave by our own power.  Thus, the only difference between the two has nothing to do with how big our faith is; but whether or not we believe IAUE.

I realize I am covering huge concepts in a single paragraph; but you can always re-read and meditate on what has been said, and listen to the Holy Spirit about it.

This brings us, finally, to faith-filled words. When I was a child, my father would drop me and my siblings off at the local swimming pool and before leaving he would say, “I will be back to pick you up at 5:00 PM.  Be ready and waiting for me, right here.”  My brothers and sister and I would proceed to have the time of our life enjoying the pool and our friends for hours.  Not once did we ever say to each other, “We probably should see if one of our friend’s parents can give us a ride home.” We never said, “Dad is sure to be late. There is no telling how long we will be standing outside waiting.  We should just keep on swimming until he gets here.”  No, we believed our dad. We were always ready outside the pool at 5:00 PM; and he was always there.

Our words to each other and to our friends, or to anyone else for that matter, were never inconsistent with what our dad told us to expect. Why?  It is because we believed dad’s words; and we acted and we spoke accordingly.  Now, was our belief or our words the force that caused our dad to show up at 5:00 PM?  Of course not!  It would be absurd to think that.  I can tell you, though, that our belief in his words which resulted in our corresponding actions to be out of the pool, dressed and waiting at 5:00 PM, very much pleased our dad. 

This is exactly how our words should be.  They aren’t vehicles through which power is released in order to make things happen. They are a consistent testimony of what we believe about our Father and what He has said; and with that belief, our corresponding actions are able to please Him.  So, when we speak of faith-filled words, we are just speaking words that convey that we believe IAUE. 

If we have doubt, and we speak our doubt, it is impossible to believe IAUE; and our words actually testify against us that we do not believe our Father.  Intellectually, we may know and have settled it academically that IAUE’s words are Truth and can be trusted; but it takes renewing the mind to overcome programming to the contrary. It is far better to doubt our doubts, than to doubt the word of IAUE.  Instead of giving voice to our doubts we should recognize the offense to IAUE that doubt represents and recite whatever IAUE has said regarding the matter until doubt is replaced by belief.  This isn’t a mind game (like what is often taught by faith preachers) unless you really do not believe that IAUE is and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.  Perhaps what is needed is to diligently seek Him; because once you really know Him, you cannot doubt His words.