Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. – John 16:24
Verse one in Joseph Scriven’s hymn What a Friend We Have in Jesus underscores the fact that believers may be missing out on blessings by not praying. “What a Friend we have in Jesus,/ All our sins and griefs to bear!/ What a privilege to carry/ Everything to God in prayer!/ O what peace we often forfeit,/ O what needless pain we bear/ All because we do not carry/ Everything to God in prayer!” The apostle James also teaches about what happens due to a lack of prayer:
“You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:2-3).
When the disciples asked why they could not cast a demon out of a possessed young man, Jesus said, “Because of your little faith” (Matthew 17:20). In Mark 9:29, He replied, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” In some manuscripts He adds, “and fasting.”
From these three scriptures it can be concluded that, in order to receive the blessing God has for His people and subsequent joy, it is necessary to spend time in prayer and fasting, asking and interceding in faith, and in accordance with His will.
Grow your faith by reading and listening to God’s Word (Romans 10:17). As Jesus prayed for Peter, pray for believers that their faith will not fail and that they would strengthen others (Luke 22:32).
Comentários