Week 20 of 52 Weeks of Prayer - Faith is receiving Christ supernaturally in the communion elements

Faith is receiving Christ supernaturally in the communion elements - Lord increase our faith

You might notice that this week, I have changed from "Faith is knowing" to "Faith is Receiving" Faith is an active word. Faith is not a passive thing. There is understanding and knowing things by faith, but there is also receiving and doing things by faith. This week I want to look at how faith can help us receive from God.

Now talking about communion this way may sound a bit Catholic to some of you, but if we take the word's of Jesus from the Gospel of John, there are a number of things to consider.  First in Chapter 6 of John, Jesus says, "He who eats my flesh will have life in him." He goes on to say, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will abide in me." This has relevance later in chapter 15 where Jesus says that we must abide in him in order to bear fruit.

Later then at the Passover meal (the first communion service) Christ doesn't say this wine is "like" my blood or this bread is "like" my body. He says they are his blood and body. I know that in protestant circles there are various ways of looking at the communion elements. One as an ordnance give to us by Christ - "Do this in remembrance of Me." Jesus said to it so we should do it. Others see it as a symbolic way of look at Christ in us. Others have gone so far as to see it as an almost useless, archaic ritual that has little or no meaning. I am not such a person.

I firmly believe that we must see faith as a supernatural act; something that is not necessarily logical or practical. Faith is believing in something that we cannot see, something that from a practical perspective that might even be considered impossible. Yet faith demands that we trust God and what his Holy Word says. Faith demands that we take Jesus Christ at his word and see the bread (host) and the wine as his flesh and blood. We may taste a wafer and fruit juice, but by faith we need to receive them as his flesh and blood.

We do this to be obedient to Christ's command, we do this to remember what He did for us and we do this so that we may abide in Him and have eternal life. The first two things we can do intellectually and with understanding but the third thing we must do by and in faith; believing that Christ's life will inhabit us as we take his flesh and blood in the form of bread/wafer and wine/juice.

Lord thank you for the life you give us supernaturally by accepting the communion elements. Lord, increase our faith.

Week 19 of 52 Prayers of Faith - Faith is realizing there is nothing good in us apart from Christ

Faith is realizing there is nothing good in us apart from Christ - Lord increase our faith.

This can be hard for us to accept, because many of us think we are pretty good people. We think that we are kind and loving and have forgotten what we are/were really like apart from Christ. One look at children and you can see the worst of us. Our childhood memories are both wonderful and terrible all at the same time. In children we say there is innocence, but if we look a bit closer we can see the dark side of human nature. Children are natural liars, tattletales, they are selfish and greedy. Unless constrained by strong parental control, they can become tyrants who try to dictate to their parents how things are going to be.

There is a quote once attributed to Socrates concerning children of his age - "The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise."

I am not full convinced that all children are bad, but in our children we can see some of the worst of our society at times.

We have all worked for or with people who are "the worst" who cheat and lie and steal in the work place. We have all met bullies in school and in the work place who have made our lives miserable. These people I believe exemplify the Biblical text, in Romans 5:10 where Paul tells us that we were once enemies of God. In 1 Cor 6:9-11 he gives us a big long list of those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God and he goes on to say that many of his readers were these detestable people. But now in Christ they were washed and sanctified and justified in Christ Jesus. It is only through Him and by Him that we have any hope of pleasing God.

Faith demands that we accept and believe that we cannot please God in and of ourselves, because apart from the redeeming work of Christ on the Cross and entering into his baptism, we have no hope of doing anything good or right. If we believe that we are good enough we will never be able to accept Christ's saving grace and we will never be more than Pharisees convince of our own righteousness and therefore forever lost in our sin.

Lord, we know that apart from you we can do no good - Lord increase our faith

Week 18 of 52 Prayers of Faith - Faith is knowing that we are incompetent in and of ourselves but God still uses us

Faith is knowing that we are incompetent in and of ourselves but God still uses us - Lord increase our faith.

I think most of us fall into one camp or another. Either we think we are incompetent and so we think God cannot use us Or we think we are so competent that we don't need to depend on God. Neither of these positions are positions of faith. Faith says two things, first that we need God; "We can do nothing apart from God" And the second thing is that with God we can do any thing; "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

It's okay for us to say that we are incompetent in and of ourselves, but we are never so incompetent that God cannot work in our lives. Only disbelief and disobedience hinder God's work in our lives. Admitting that we are incompetent in and of ourselves makes room for God to work when we admit we need His help.

This attitude can then lead to confidence, not in ourselves, but in believing that God can and will work through us. Through God the Holy Spirit, He has given us gifts to help others and through God the Son, Lord Jesus, He as given us ministries (places to serve). These gifts and opportunities give us what we need to bless and encourage others. These come through faith.

God is bigger and wiser than us. When He grants us gifts and talents He makes us useful to the body of Christ and to those around us hurting and lonely.

Faith says, God can and will use us to accomplish more that we can think or imagine. Faith says God is with us through the good and the bad.

This week continue in your meditation about what it means to walk by faith; living as a child of God.

Lord, thank you that our incompetence doesn't hinder You from using us to accomplish your will - Lord Increase our faith.