Grace, Faith, and the Privilege of Prayer
There are many people in the world who profess and practice faith in a deity or a system of religious beliefs and practitioners of religion who are erroneous in what they believe, because what they are putting their faith in is, regrettably, false. Even the atheist, the agnostic, the humanist, the secular humanist, the communist and others who do not believe in God or a God who can be known still profess and practice some kind of faith, even if it’s a faith in the fact that they don’t believe in God. They have faith in their unbelief. Even those who profess to be Christians can potentially be in error on certain points of sound biblical doctrine because of deceiving spirits and doctrines of devils. This, of course, is not the case, generally speaking, of professing and practicing Christians who are born of, baptized in, live in, walk in, and remain filled with the Holy Spirit because “you have no need that anyone teach you because the anointing that is within you teaches you all things,” and “the Spirit will lead you into all Truth.” Even then, there are always exceptions to the rules because of the deceptive power of Satan and human falibility. We must understand that human faith by its very nature can be somewhat arbitrary and, therefore, misdirected. In other words, human faith is not necessarily a product of God’s divine grace. The good news is that there is a divine faith that is a product of divine grace, and this is what the Bible calls “the faith of the Son of God,” which is both a fruit of the Spirit and a gift of the Spirit.
In the
Christian religion it is understood that salvation from sin and all
of its negative consequences is to be experienced by grace through
faith. So, we see that where the Christian faith is concerned,
there is something besides human faith in operation, namely divine
grace. The English word “grace” comes from the Greek word “charis,”
from which we get the word charismatic. It simply means gift,
gifted, or giftings. There are a couple definitions for grace that
I’m aware of. One of the best known and most common is “unmerited
favor.” Another, and one of my favorites, is “the divine influence
upon the heart and its reflection in the life,” Both of these
definitions of grace can be found in The
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.
Christians
believe that salvation is dependant upon the grace (gift) of God in
the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the understanding that
salvation is by grace through faith. In other words, the Christian
faith is a product of grace, and therefore, it is a genuine gift
from God for a human being to be enabled to believe or, if you
will, to be granted the grace to repent and have faith towards
God.
Now, everyone knows that a gift that is given must also be received
in order to be enjoyed and benefited from. The Gospel message is
called the knowledge of the truth, the knowledge of Christ, and the
knowledge of God. The question, therefore, is, “Can anyone believe
the Gospel message and receive the knowledge of the truth in the
Person of the Lord Jesus Christ?” Yes, glory to God! The Bible
declares that “the grace of God has appeared to all men.” In other
words God’s grace in the Person of Jesus Christ by the power of the
Holy Spirit has been and is still available to every human soul
because “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance.” Therefore, there is no reason or excuse
why anyone should perish in unbelief, erroneous beliefs, conditions
of unrighteousness, or wicked behavior. “For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life.”
We also know through the scriptures that no one can come to Jehovah
God and His Son Jesus Christ unless the Holy Spirit draws them.
This is why intercessory prayer is so important in the area of
Christian evangelism. We must stand in the gap for those who have
failed to believe the Gospel message. This is why Paul exhorted all
Christian believers to “pray without ceasing.” The grace of God is
appropriated through prayers of faith.
We are not commissioned by God to pray only for the unbelievers,
but also to pray for the believers, the disciples, the saints, and
all the followers of Christ. This also includes ourselves as
individual Christian believers. “Be careful for nothing, but in all
things through prayers and supplications, let your requests be made
known unto God, and the peace of God that surpasses all
understanding will keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus.” Peace of mind is one of the most precious commodities known
to man, but so few actually possess it, especially when it is most
needed in times of crisis.
Just the other day while I was driving to work, I started becoming
overwhelmed with a multitude of concerns about some rather serious
health circumstances my wife and children were facing. The Holy
Spirit reminded me of the verse quoted above, and I obeyed His
instructions. By the time I arrived at my job, I was overwhelmed
with the peace of God, and I had a wonderful day serving others.
Let’s all remember to obey the Bible’s instructions regarding
prayer. It’s the way to appropriate the grace of God, in every
circumstance and situation that life can throw at us. The stormy
circumstance in our lives may or may not abate immediately but at
least we can experience God’s peace in the midst of our storms.
Note: Some souls blame God when they go through difficult times
instead of trusting Him and going to Him in faith and prayer to get
His help. This is a big mistake. Don’t blame Him; trust Him. “God
does not tempt anyone with evil and He can’t be tempted. We are
tempted because of our on lust, and lust leads to sin, and sin
leads to death.” But “God is faithful and will not allow us to be
tempted beyond that which we are able to bear, but will with the
temptation make a way of escape.” The way of escape is the fruit
and gift of faith, therefore let’s be open to cultivating the fruit
of faith in our lives and receiving the gift of faith in our lives.
Both are available through trusting prayer.
One bright day Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us go to the other
side of the lake.” While they were on the way, a storm blew up
suddenly. Jesus was asleep in the hull of the boat. The wind and
waves got so bad that the disciples thought the boat would sink.
They awakened Jesus and asked Lord, “Don’t you care that we are
perishing?” Jesus stood up and rebuked the storm and calmed the
raging wind and waves. Then, He turned to His disciples and
reproved them for their lack of faith.
It need not be the case with us, my fellow Christian believers,
because we live by the very “faith of the Son of God who loved us
and gave Himself for us,” “We have the mind of Christ,” and let us
not forget this wonderful promise from our Lord and Savior, “I will
keep him in
perfect peace, who’s
mind is stayed on Me.”
