Prayer is probably the most effective tool in the Christian’s life, yet it is without doubt the most neglected tool. Many Christians I talk to have given up on prayer. Perhaps an illustration will reveal the reason for the prevalence of the neglect of the practice of prayer among believers.
Years ago there was a young pastor who was greatly loved by his people. He was a compassionate pastor and an accomplished speaker. When it was discovered that he had cancer, his people immediately went to prayer. Prayer was being offered for this young man literally around the clock.
During his time of struggle, he was doing everything humanly possible to defeat this dread disease. He was seeking both medical help and the prayers of those who claimed to have the gift of healing. He found while he was going through this period that people would often stop by and tell him, “Pastor, God has told me that He is going to heal you.” At times that did appear to be the case.
Eventually the time came, however, when this young pastor called his family to his bed-side, said his goodbyes, fell into a comma and died. In light of those tragic events, one woman was heard to comment, “In light of the fact that God did not answer all those prayers that were offered, I’m never going to bother him with another request again! Why should I? I’ll only be disappointed.”
I have been in ministry many years now–32 years of full time ministry to be exact. In that time, I have found that many Christians struggle with the sentiments of the disappointed woman mentioned above. In all honesty, I too have struggled at times with feelings of disappointment and confusion when God didn’t do the thing I thought he was going to do.
How do we respond in such circumstances? I think the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews gives us a Biblical perspective on this perplexing issue. Hebrews 11 is known as “The Hall of Fame of Faith.” It is a marvelous chapter. In it we read of some of the great things God did to deliver his people. We read of Daniel, and Gideon, of Moses and Abraham, of David and others, who through prayer conquered kingdoms, closed the mouths of hungry lions, walked safely through the sea, and the list goes on. I get goose bumps just thinking of it!
I believe that the God who did these marvelous acts is the same God we serve today. His arm is not shortened so that the cannot act. He has not gone on vacation. The Bible says he always remains the same (Hebrews 13:8). Any theology that doesn’t recognize this is deficient.
However, as you read through Hebrews 11, beginning in the second part of verse 35 there is another group of people mentioned–a group we don’t like to acknowledge. These people weren’t
miraculously delivered, they suffered and they died for their faith. (See verses 35-39).
Sadly, there are those in the church today who would say that the reason these people were not delivered was because they did not have enough faith! The theological word for such teaching is baloney. These people are included in this great heros of faith chapter which means in God’s eyes they were heros even though they were not delivered the way others had been.
Unfortunately space has eluded me and I must conclude. We will continue our look at this important subject over the next few days.
Let me conclude by observing that what makes this second group great heros of faith is they kept on believing God in spite of their circumstances. And this is where we will pick up tomorrow
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