In Hebrew the word used most common for believe simply means to build up or support. In the Greek it simply means to entrust. In the story of the opening scripture, a man comes to Jesus and tells Him that the disciples could not cast out a demon from his son. Jesus became a little upset right about then and said, "You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me."(Mark 9:19). Do you think He was more than a little upset? Then the father of the boy answers Jesus with a stupid response, Have mercy on us and help us, if You can." (Mark 9:22). And that is when Jesus comes unglued, WHAT DO YOU MEAN IF I CAN? Wow! What a comeback from the Lord. Do you think he was a little tired or something? Maybe He was a little grumpy, got up on the wrong side of the bed, bad hair day type thing. No! He was trying to get everyone's attention. The other words He said were sent directly to the hearts of all those around Him, including His disciples, "Anything is possible if a person believes." The response from the dad was quick and to the point, Lord I believe, help my unbelief. Jesus helped him by speaking to the spirit possessing the boy and telling it to get out of there. Then after that Jesus put His hand out to the boy and lifted him up. The father and son walked off that day with belief and amazement, while the disciples stood there saying, why couldn't we do that? Jesus answered, "This kind can be cast out only by prayer. "
Wow Lord! Your answers are always so simple. Why didn't I think of that? Prayer. We have to pray to believe and we have to believe to pray. But we do pray Lord. Or do we? Jesus was talking to His disciples that He was with all the time, right? Do you think Jesus knew how much they prayed? I believe He knows exactly how much we pray because He is the one we are praying to. Jude 1:20 But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. The Spirit even does the praying for us when we don't know what to or how to pray for something. God has made the access easy for us. John 14:13 You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it! God gives us all the help we need, so why don't we pray?
Why is a huge question! Why don't we pray? Too busy, too tired, too lazy, too sick, too boring, too hard? Why? Are we any different than Peter, James and John in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus, in His greatest time of need, said to the boys, What! Can't you even pray for an hour with me, as He found them asleep. Our excuses are vain when it comes to prayer. Every man, woman and child of God should be in prayer. 1Thessalonians 5:17 Never stop praying. Do we stop praying because we think we can handle everything ok now? Do we stop praying because God said no to one of our prayers? Do we stop praying because God is mad at us or sin is in our lives? Psalm 6:16 Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what He did for me.17 For I cried out to Him for help, praising Him as I spoke. 18 If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. 19 But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. 20 Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw His unfailing love from me. You can do whatever you want and you can believe whatever it is you believe. But me, I can not trust or rely on anyone but Jesus. Sin can only be forgiven, sickness can only be healed, finances can only be taken care of if you ask in faith, believing you receive them. Believe, simply put, says I trust you Lord Jesus no matter what. Believing means we don't pay attention to what is happening in our lives that draws us away from prayer but rather pay attention to our life in Christ prefering it over our own. Yes you are a sinner, you will sin, you are going to make mistakes but God still wants to hear you crying out to Him. People who want their lives to count for Christ are people of prayer. Jesus made His life worthwhile for all of us to see. If He said we need to pray and He prayed, then we better pray. God will not ignore a heart that truly seeks Him, so do not ignore Him in prayer. Trust Him no matter what is happening and commit your life to prayer.
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