March, 2023
When we are Bible believers, it should be understood that we believe in the Promises God has given to us in his written Word.
Nevertheless I find that even though many Christians say the believe the Bible, they find many excuses for not trusting on some of the promises we read in the Bible. One simple example…
Mat 6:31-33 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, what shall we drink? or, with what shall we be clothed? For the Gentiles seek after all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
How many Christians do you know, that trust God will provide all they need if they seek first the Kingdom of God? Are you one of them? And… what does it mean by seeking the Kingdom of God first. Well, when we read that passage, Jesus says that what the people of the world seek for is… their food, drink, & clothes, and that is what we see most people in the world working for almost six days a week including most Christians. Can you imagine if people would work like that for the benefit of God’s Kingdom?
Jesus said… Mat 7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him?
Active Christians pray or should pray every single day, one question we should ponder is… how effective is my prayer life, am I getting the results I desire?
For example Jesus said… Mar 16:17-18 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Are you a believer? If the answer is yes, then… are those signs accompanying you? You see, most Christians don’t even ask themselves this question. I want to encourage you to believe that if you are a believer, and you have accepted Jesus as your Lord & Savior, then those signs can follow you too.
I have lived by faith most of my life, & have seen many miracles along the way, but I am still walking towards the goal of being like Jesus.
Jn 14:12-14 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Why not believe that Jesus is talking about us in this passage of Jn 14, that we can do ever greater works than Jesus did? Why not us? as we just read, the Father is glorified in Jesus if we do get our prayers answered.
Mar 9:23 Jesus said to him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.
Mat 21:22 And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.
After reading the above passages, we see that Jesus affirms that if we believe, then we can receive all we ask for, so if we pray & do not receive, then the main reason may be that we probably don’t have enough faith… is that logical? So how to strengthen our faith?
We read Rom 10:17 Then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
So we see that hearing the Word of God helps our faith to grow.
If you are an active Christian, then you understand that hearing the Word without obeying what it tells us is contra-productive.
Jas 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Okay, then we read...
Mar 11:22-23 Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. For verily I say to you, That whoever shall say to this mountain: ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he says. Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you desire when you pray, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them.
You can’t say that you are praying in Faith if you don’t know what the answer to your prayer will be, or can you?
We see that Jesus says whatever we desire, we say it & if we don’t doubt in our heart, as it is possible our mind will always have negative thoughts, but if we believe with our hearts, then we will have whatever we ask for… right?
Let’s remember... Luk 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
So in order to speak correctly, we have to fill our hearts with the Word of God, who not only cleanses us but helps us to develop the mind of Christ in us.
Jn 15:3 Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken to you.
Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.
1Co 2:16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
So when we listen to someone talk, we hear what the person has in his heart, if we hear them talk doubt, unbelief, negative thoughts, frustrations, feelings of envy, failure, lack, etc., we can tell right away their heart has not been filled with the Word of God… whereas people who speak faith, with joy about the possibilities, about power, about strength, good things, etc., we see that they have been storing God’s Word in their hearts. So definitely, our own words can pave the way to victory, or defeat, depending of what we say…
Pro 18:20-21 A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; he shall be satisfied with the product of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it shall eat the fruit of it.
No wonder Jesus admonished us Mat 12:36-37 But I say to you that every idle word, whatever men may speak, they shall give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.
So we find many Scriptures that with the help of the Holy Spirit, can help us strengthen our faith to pray effective prayers, in other words, prayers with tangible results, which is what we actually want.
1Jn 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.
What do we see there? I would say that if I want to be heard I have to ask for anything that is according to God’s Will, because then the answer is guaranteed by God Himself in His own Word… Do you agree? Other wise if I ask not knowing what His Will is, then I have no guarantee that I will be heard, much less what will the answer to my prayers be… This is quite clear here, because God is not going to give us something that He doesn’t want us to have… right?
Then James writes… Jas 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him. But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing. For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. For do not let that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord.
James starts his argument in regards to our petitions with the “asking for wisdom”, but as we see he enlarges his argument to our prayer requests to whatever we ask the Lord for, as he writes… anything from the Lord.
Would you say that I am praying in faith if I don’t know what the answer to my prayer will be? I guess not, because I know that if what I am asking for, is the Will of God, then I know I will have it, therefore I should know what the answer to my prayer will be while I am praying, & therefore I can thank God for the answer before I see what I've asked for, because I know it is coming my way.
Php 4:6-8 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, my brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think on these things.
So once we pray… keep your mind only in the good things… Got it?
Now, when praying for those who are sick, even though Jesus said that all the miracles He did were done by the Father, we never read of Jesus asking the Father to heal someone, nor his disciples, in every single case they commanded the sick members of a body that was ill to be healed or they commanded the spirit of the disease to leave the sick person, or in some cases they just laid hands on them. Neither Jesus nor any of his disciples ever asked God to heal someone who needed healing, they commanded healing…
- Jesus: To the paralytic... I say to you, Arise, and take up your cot, and go to your house. Mar 2:10-12
To the blind… Receive your sight…
Raising the dead… Young man, I say to you, Arise! Luke 7:14 etc...
- The apostles: … In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!
Peter… Raising the dead… turning to the body he said: Tabitha arise! And she opened her eyes
The only Scripture which asks us to pray for the sick, is James 5:14-15, & it refers to calling the elders of the church to pray for those members who are obviously not elders & who need prayer for healing, but it doesn’t say the elders would pray to God for Him to do the healing, if throughout the book of Acts we see… the apostles either laying hands on the sick, or asking the lame to walk, or commanding the evil spirits to leave. We know that it was the Holy Spirit within them doing the healing, as they received the promise of Jesus in Acts 1:8… You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you… So they went out preach the Gospel & healed the sick.
Now if I lay hands on a sick person & command the sickness to go away… then, I can say that he is healed before I see the healing, because I am believing in what God promised in his Word, remembering that… Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And… 2Co 5:7for we walk by faith, not by sight. I don’t know if you understand that, but I invite you to go over Hebrews 11, where the list is rather large of men of God who believed what God has promised them without seeing it… There, I am also taught that without Faith there is no way I am going to be pleasing to God, as I am to believe He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him… Heb 11:6
One example from the list in Hebrews… By faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age, (not because she looked at her physical age, error in which she was falling into when Yahweh called her attention Gen 18:12) because she judged Him who had promised to be faithful.
And we also read about how many sick people were healed just by touching the garment of Jesus, or by the shadow of Peter, or by receiving a piece of cloth from Paul. Is Jesus still the same yesterday, today and forever?
Mar 6:56 And wherever He entered, into villages or cities or country, they laid the sick in the streets and begged Him if only they might touch but the fringe of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made whole.
Act 5:15-16 So as to carry out the sick into the streets and place them on cots and mattresses, so that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. And also a multitude came from the cities around Jerusalem, bringing sick ones, and those being tormented by unclean spirits, who were all healed.
Act 19:11-12 And God did works of power through the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons from his skin being brought onto the sick, the diseases were released, and the evil spirits went out of them.
Let’s bear in mind that it is the very same Spirit who was in Jesus & his disciples who dwells within us today. Rom 8:11
Many Christians argue… but you don’t know if God wants the sick person to be healed. How do we know that healing is the will of God?
1Pe 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
If we believe Jesus was willing to shed his Blood that we might be redeemed why not believe that He did pay for our healing with His Stripes… Both salvation & healing are included in the same promise,
Isa 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed. Also Jn 10:10 The thief (Satan) does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Why so many Christians are dying with sickness? Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge… Who? … God’s people! If you read all chapter 4 of Hosea, you will realize that Yahweh reprimands the Priest for not having taught His ways to the people. Nowadays there are so many pastor, preaching condemnation to God’s people so that the only thing the hearers have the faith for is to ask God for His Mercy.
We Christians, are all God's Children, & God expects us, especially as we start growing closer to Him, that each one of us develops into adulthood & matures as a grown up spiritual adult, so much as to…
Eph 4:11-15 And truly He gave some to be apostles, and some to be prophets, and some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And this until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; so that we no longer may be infants, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the dishonesty of men, in cunning craftiness, to the wiles of deceit. But that you, speaking the truth in love, may in all things grow up to Him who is the Head, even Christ.
As we see there, the reason He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, was not for these leaders to become exalted & lords of the congregation, expecting adulation, & submission from the members, but so that these leadership will make sure all the members grow in all things like Jesus. Jesus said… you want to be the leader?, then become the servant, Mat 20:26-27, so if your leaders are not serving you, why not look for better servants.
The point is… how many years does a new convert need to spend going to church on Sunday to start going out & reaching the lost, pray for the sick & take hold of the same ministry Jesus passed on to us? 2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; whereas God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their sins to them, and putting the word of reconciliation in us. Then we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as God exhorting through us, we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
I believe that the reason why it is more difficult to get a sick Christian healed when we lay hands on them is, on one hand because of the big burden of condemnation preachers have laid on their shoulders, to the point they think God is mad at them for their sins, so they believe God may be the one chasing them with their diseases, instead of having had forgiven them through Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross for us. Also, God is expecting them to come directly to Him, instead of having to rely on another brother. Which is not the same as agreeing together as in Mat 18:19
Who wants to remain spiritually retarded like the case of 1Cor 3:1-3, Heb 5:12-14? When God wants us to become a blessing to many, it kind of becomes like a sort of lack of faith for me to have to depend on others to go before my Heavenly Father to ask Him for me, when I know God has opened His doors wide open for me to go & ask Him personally for what I want... His Word encourages me to walk in faith before the Throne of Grace... It is our Dad, our Daddy who wants to hold us in His Arms & let us know how much He loves us... remember Heb 4:16
Another very important point when we are talking about having faith for the impossible, it is knowing in our hearts who we are in Christ. I am going to give you a link where you can read more in depth about the subject of “Who we are in Christ”, without which we would remain mediocre Christians for the rest of our lives, because many pastors continue to preach condemnation to God’s people, instead of helping their congregation to know that 1Jn 4:4 You are of God, little children, and you have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 2Co 5:21 For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Having the knowledge that we are Sons/Daughters of the Most High makes us part of God’s Family & Heirs with Christ of all of God’s riches… Gal 4:6-7And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So that you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, also an heir of God through Christ.
I will end up by now sharing my own experience about what I do when I don’t see the answer to my prayer right away.
I simply keep saying that what I prayed for is mine, as I walk believing that God’s promises are more real than the external reality of what I see in the world around me, as I walk by faith, not by sight 2Co 5:7, & I keep my eyes on Jesus… Heb 12:2 looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right of the Throne of God.
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that which we do not see, then we wait for it with patience.
See Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Throne of God, interceding in our favor… So if God is for me… who can be against me?
The written above does not undermine the hard work of thousands and thousands of Christians who work hard to minister and help the lost and needy by giving all they can according to the faith they possess, many times in the midst of persecution. As the passage says...
Mat 10:41-42 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a just one in the name of a just one will receive a just one's reward. And whoever shall give to one of these little ones a cup of cold water to drink, only in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, He shall in no way lose his reward.
1Co 3:11-15 For any other foundation can no one lay than the one being laid, who is Jesus Christ. And if anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, each one's work shall be revealed. For the Day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try each one's work as to what kind it is. If anyone's work which he built remains, he shall receive a reward. If anyone's work shall be burned up, he shall suffer loss. But he shall be saved, yet so as by fire.
So at the end, the reason why we want to be like Jesus is not to get any glory to ourselves, as all the glory goes to God, but because He loved us so much that we want to love Him back & allow Him to fulfill his Will in our life, allowing His love to flow to as many as we may be able to reach with his wonderful Love.
I pray this reading is a blessing in your life & will inspire you to never be satisfied with second best. Make sure you write all your questions & send them to me…
Blessings… Alejandro
Please leave your comments & questions below; also if this reading has been a blessing to you, please don’t hesitate to share it with the world. We need to be a blessing to others today, tomorrow may be too late. John 9:4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me, while it is day. Night comes when no man can work.
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