TEACHINGS on PRAYER (3)

IF TWO AGREE

   (Matthew 18:19)NIV

          “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

Dear Friends, I want each of you to read, read, and re-read this segment on Teachings on Prayer.  It’s not that is issue, by-any-means, is more important than the two previous, nor will it be more important than the one(s) that will follow; however, it may be the one that we most often get error and are more confused, at least, it is one that I use to struggle with. 

Prayer has many forms, all of which are important – forms such as adoration, thanksgiving, and supplication.

•       Supplication involves stating clearly what we want in the presence of God.  This is an exercise that cannot be undertaken lightly or thoughtlessly.  If we are to make progress in our prayers of supplication, there are certain defects we must resolutely overcome: 

1.      Beware of week desire that never wants anything enough to be sure of getting it or of enjoying it when received. To have no ambition, no vocation, no sense of adventure, no curiosity about life, no heart’s desire reflects a spiritual weakling, not a saint.  This deficiency is due to spiritual starvation.

2.      Beware of the very insistent and pressing urge to rush into the presence of God, clamoring for heart’s desire at once.  Our best “wants” must be fortified in prayer that “waits” in God’s presence.

3.   A chief hindrance to effective prayer is a divided desire.  Singleness of mind is a quality more prized in the New Testament than in modern society, but it is a condition of answered prayer.  HALLELUJAH! If we are not sure in which direction to go, we shall never get anywhere.

One of the surest ways of making our prayers clear and definite and the true expression of our real desires is to take to ourselves partners in prayer.  By sharing our prayers with trusted and wise friends we submit them to several useful tests. 

In prayer to God, as in conversation with our neighbors, we must listen as well as speak.  Prayer is always an attempt to reach God’s will, and it is only when we ascertain God’s will in prayer that we can be certain of achieving it in our lives.

My prayer for all God’s children is that we learn to pray as we ought; and as we learn, hide His Word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him. Amen

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/Chairman/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

THE TEACHINGS ON PRAYER (2)

              IN THE NAME OF JESUS

Christians are used to offering prayer in the name of Jesus. This universal custom of the church is based firmly on scriptural authority. Our Lord’s discourses in the fourth Gospel repeatedly bid the disciples to pray in His name.

It may, however, be questioned what exactly is meant by praying in the name of Jesus. It would not be sufficient to use a formula. It is clear that these solemn words in the Gospel convey a meaning of the first importance for the efficiency of prayer.

Our Lord did not mean, "If God will not answer your prayers, I will." Prayers that are not acceptable to the Father cannot be accepted by the Son.  No Bible text or respectable theology ever puts the Father and the Son in opposition.

We do indeed come to God through Christ. To think of Jesus helps us to think rightly of God. The simplest way of understanding prayer in the name of Jesus is that we thus pray not merely in our own right, but as His disciples and workers; as citizens of His kingdom; as members of His church. Prayer in the name of Jesus is prayer that is offered with authority derived from the fellowship of all believers in which we are members.

When we pray in the name of Jesus, we assert the authority of One who has defeated evil and the Devil.  But we can be more precise. In the Bible, the word "name" usually carries something of the meaning of character. The name of a thing is its description indicating what it is. Thus, to know a man’s name is something more than to be able to address him correctly; it is to know what he is. The name "Jesus" is especially significant. The Scripture say, "Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt 1:21).

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/Chairman/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
www.biblestoriestheatre.org
info@biblestoriestheatre.org

TEACHINGS on PRAYER (1)

LORD TEACH US TO PRAY

Dear Friends,

L

 et us prepare our hearts, souls, minds, and spirits for the biblical instructions on "Prayer". 

What is the source and the foundation of prayer?  Where did it begin? What can I discover in the use of prayer?

The Origin and Discovery of Prayer

(Genesis 4:26)

The professors of true spirituality descend from Seth, and others called themselves the children of God in order to distinguish themselves from the profane and disrespectful descendants of Cain.  They also set up or reestablished the more public, earnest, and fervent worship of God on the Holy Sabbath and on other occasions.

It is evident from Genesis 4:26 that at the birth of Enos some remarkable changes took place in the manner by which the people of God paid their reverence to the divine beings.  It is after the reference to children being born that we come upon this.  “Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.”  It was a right time to do so.  It always is and will always be so.  People who have not been much conscious of God before may well seek Him when their children come, or when their large family increases-cousins, nieces, uncles, and so on.  Awareness of an expanding circle of relationships brings awareness of expanding need.  So we must pray.

The secret of prayer is divulged not in elaborate, or complicated theories, but in sweet pursuit of prayer and in demonstration of its promised power.  Thus, the practice of prayer is itself the best guide as to how to pray.  "We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom. 8:26).

The Scope of Prayer

(Matthew 17:20)

When reading some Gospel passages on the scope of prayer, as familiar as their words may be, we can hardly fail to be moved by every reexamination of them. In taking each look at them, we should do so without reading into them   our own disbeliefs.  Matthew 17:20 records Jesus’ words, “Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”   When we read a similar quote in Mark 11:23, it becomes even more reasonable to believe that Jesus did say these words.  His prefacing the thought with “Verily I say unto you” makes it clear that those words were considered by the writer and by Jesus Himself to be worthy of special attention, given the Source.

O

ur Lord was speaking of the power of faith, and He said that His disciples, by the simple exercise of that gift, would be able to remove mountains.

What are we to understand by this broad statement?  If we understand the mountains to be mountains of difficulty or temptation, or barriers to liberty, this figure of speech must be allowed its due significance.  It this s metaphor, it is a big metaphor and must have a big meaning.

Observe that in Matthew 21:22 the passage concludes with a sweeping statement.  “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” 

These passages are supported by several others in the Gospels.  Both Matthew and Mark encourage the expectation that prayer will invariably be answered.  This assurance is given without reservation to enlarge the scope and power of prayer.

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/Chairman/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

THE DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE

(2 Timothy 3:16) All scripture is given by the inspiration of GOD (God-breathed”), and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.  This is scripture’s most important statement about itself, meaning that scripture is the product of God’s creative breath.  Therefore, being God’s own utterance, it is properly called “the WORD of God.” 

 

  

 

The absolute authority of the Bible over our lives is based in our conviction that this Book does not merely contain the Word of God, but that it is the Word of God in its sum and its parts.  This text testifies to this, describing the actual process of this inspiration (inbreathing of life):

 

1)    It is the word of the Holy Spirit.  Theopneustos (Greek), trans-lated “inspiration of God,” literally means “God-breathed.”  This describes the source of the whole Bible’s derivation (that is, “all Scripture”) as transcendent of human inspiration.  The Bible is not the product of elevated human consciousness or enlightened human intellect, but is directly “breathed” from God Himself.

 

2)    2 Peter 1:20, 21 elaborates this truth, and adds that none of what was given was merely the private opinion of the writer (v.20) and that each writer involved in the production of the Holy Scriptures was “moved by” (literally,” being borne along”) The Holy Spirit. 

 

Listen Friends, this does not mean that the writers were merely robots, seized upon by God’s power to write automatically without their conscious participation.  God does not override those gifts of intellect and sensitivity that He has given His creatures.  (Beware of all instances where individuals claim to “automatically” write anything at any time, for the Holy Spirit never functions that way.)

 

 

3)    1 Cor. 2: 10-13 expands on this process by which the revelation of the Holy Scriptures was given.  V. 13 says that even the word used in the giving of the Bible (not just the ideas, but the precise terminology) were planned by the Holy Spirit, who deployed the respective authors of the Bible books to write, “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (literally, “matching spiritual words to spiritual ideas”.  This biblical view of the bible’s derivation is called the plenary verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, meaning every word is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God.

 

 

 

 

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/Chairman/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org
info@biblestoriestheatre.org

THE SECOND COMING (2)

FOCUSING ON LOOKING FORWARD

(Philippians 3:13)  Learn from it and move on 

Dear Friends, here we are, mere hours away from entering into a brand new year: 2016 will have many making New Year’s resolutions, while at the same time there are hundreds perhaps even thousands of believers are planning to re-dedicate, offer total surrender, and/or begin a brand new committed walk with Christ Jesus.

 

As children of God, we are focusing our thoughts on The Second Coming of Jesus: and armed with New attitudes, we are letting go of the past, and as we grow in the Word of God, we joyfully acknowledge that God is about to mix the former latter rain of His Blessings and shower us abundantly with the Power of His Anointing.

Sometime ago I read a wonderful story in a Daily Devotion Magazine, that I’d like to share with you now, and I pray that you will be ever so inspired by it as I was. 

One day in an orchard, seven-year-old Walter noticed an owl sleeping on a branch.  Thinking it would make a wonderful pet he approached quietly and grabbed its leg.  In a flurry of beating wings, wild eyes and frightened cries, the bird struggled so the boy threw it down and stomped it to death.  Horrified by his actions, he fled.  When he returned later to bury it, each shovelful of earth was mixed with tears of regret.  The incident haunted him and he told no one about it – till years later when it had awakened in him a fresh appreciation for life.  All the promises in the world couldn’t bring back that one owl, but through its death a world of animals was born.  The boy’s gone, but his legacy lives on in the drawings of Walter Elias. . . aka, Walt Disney. 

 

Charles Dickens said, “Reflect on your blessings of which every man has plenty, not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some.”  Learn from your past, then “Focus on…looking forward.”

 

Paul Harvey writes: “The relationships we entered, stayed in, or ended, taught us important lessons.  Some of us have emerged from painful circumstances with strong insights about who we are and what we want.  Our mistakes? Necessary!  Our frustrations, failures…stumbling attempts at growth and progress?  Necessary too! Each step of the way we learned.  We went through exactly what we needed to become who we are today.  Is our past a mistake?  No.  Our mistake is mistaking that for the truth.”  God can ‘reframe’ our past in the light of the grace and mercy that brought us to where we are today.  So, what are we to do?  We are to learn from it and move on.  Amen

 

 

 

 

 

Trials and Temptations
 James 1:2-5 (NIV)

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

 

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/Chairman/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts                                                        www.biblestoriestheatre.org                        info@biblestoriestheatre.org