Prayer and Faith

Scripture

I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.

~Mark 11:24, NLT

Quote

“Faith is the foundation of prayer. Without faith, true prayer cannot exist.”

~E.M. Bounds

Two blogs in a row on the subject of prayer. I prayed on the way home from Grace Point yesterday: I pray when I drive, when I lay down to rest, in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep, in my study, before I preach or teach and especially before I try to share the gospel with another, but I am no George Muller or E.M. Bounds. I believe enough to pray but my weak faith is clouded with doubt. Jesus words in Mark 11 are really challenging to me. Jesus said, “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.” Jesus said, “If you really believe and have no doubt, you can move mountains.” I am afraid I do not have mountain moving faith. Paul told Timothy, I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. Wow! To add insult to injury: James said, If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver {doubt}, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. LORD I do believe, please help me believe stronger. Feed your faith and starve your doubt.

I don’t think I have told this story in awhile. When our son Joe David was about to turn six he got it in his head that he was getting a tramboline for his birthday. In those days {before June got her nursing degree and went to work} we were poor and a tramboline seemed out of the question so I pulled him aside and said, “Son, you have stop telling people that you are getting a tramboline for your birthday. We can’t afford a tramboline,” but he seemed not to hear me. He kept telling everyone, “I’m getting a tramboline for my birthday.” I would correct him: “Son, you are not getting a tramboline.” Nothing daunted his faith. He continued to believe in spite of me telling him repeatedly that his dad could not afford a tramboline. Yet he continued to tell everyone, “I am getting a trampoline.” What happened? At the last minute his daddy went to see Vernon Lane but all the trampolines were $350 and up. Vernon saw me musing over one of the trampolines. He said, “Let me sell you that tramboline.” I shared my perdictament with him. He said, “follow me,” and he took me to the back. He said, “See that one over there: the frame is bent, but if you found the right spot in your yard, it would work, and I will sell it to you for $100.” I said, “Sold!” You will not believe the next part. We were a chevy station wagon. We turned the tramp {rectangle} upside down and I stuck my arm out and held one side while June did the same on the other side. Thank goodness Hannah has forgot this story. We made it home with the tramp and the kids wore it out.

Extra

Our station wagon was a little sharper, it had wood grain paneling down the side. It was a three seater. It would be just the thing for Hannah and her grand children. I know Lexi would love it!!!

Very good day yesterday….THANK YOU JESUS!

Once again, thanks for all the kindness and the food. We have everything from banana pudding to strawberries and pound cake. I hope you have a great week. June said it was suppose to cool off but it was still warm when I came to the office. I was hoping Florida my do a repeat in the NCAA tournament but they bit the dust. We went to bed after that game and I only watched the last few minutes of it. I think Alabama and Tennessee also won, and maybe Texas. I am an SEC fan!

Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.

Extra/Extra

God is good. He is gracious, compassionate and full of loving kindness. We do praise Him for His infinite greatness. Two more sermons and two more good services and all due to His mercy and grace. How could a preacher asks for more? I am getting to do something I have always wanted to do. Holly has outdoor recliners by the pool which is right outside our front door. I get to lay on my back and look at the stars. Last night as I gazed at God’s wondrous creation I said to myself, “God is an awesome God.” Then I thought, “He is greater than awesome.” So I began trying to think of a word greater than awesome and I came to the conclusion “There is no word to describe the wonder of creation.” We finites have no way of describing His wondrous creation. From my perspective, very low and very limited, it looked like a jet was going to hit the Big Dipper. Of course, it was an illusion. The plane was no where near the Big Dipper. Mizar – the closes star in that constellation is about 78 light-years away. WOW!