52 Prayers of Faith week 4 Faith is knowing Jesus Christ is risen from the Dead

Faith is knowing Jesus Christ is risen from the dead - Lord increase our faith

As we consider our life in Christ, we must BELIEVE that Christ is risen from the dead. If he isn't risen from the grave, we have no hope. We must have faith that Christ is in fact sitting at the right hand of the Father other wise He is just another religious leader killed by the powers that be. His resurrection is our promise that we too, who are his disciples, will rise from the dead and be seated in the heavenly realms with him.

The hope of our Resurrection gives power to our faith. "Oh death where is you sting" We need no longer fear death and as a consequence can live lives free from fear. Productive lives, filled with hope and joy in the face of persecution and our soon and coming death.


As always, I encourage you to say this week's prayer out loud, to contemplate it and to journal what the Holy Spirit is revealing to you, Take this to heart and never let anyone rob you of this hope.

Christ is risen from the dead - Lord, increase our faith!

Faith Prayers Week Two - Faith is knowing Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God born of the Virgin Mary

Faith is knowing Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God born of the Virgin Mary  - Lord increase our faith

As we did last week. Speak the truth out loud, contemplate it, even journal it and ask God The Father, "Increase my Faith" just as the father of the epileptic child did when Jesus asked him if he believed that He could heal his child.

At first this may seem redundant in the light of last week's post but one of the things that sets Christianity apart from other religions is that our God chose to come to us in the from of a human by way of the Virgin Mary. The Gospels according to Matthew and Luke agree on this as does the Koran. His birth was a bona fide miracle. He wasn't like one of the Greek heroes who were birthed by Zeus or some other deity. God didn't create a human/god hybrid, but rather He took the form of a human zygote in womb of Mary, was born as all other humans are, but from the very beginning He was unique so much so that when Mary went to visit a close relative (Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist) the baby John still in his mother's womb responded to the present of the growing baby Jesus in Mary's womb. His birth was foretold by the prophets of old and even astrologers of the time could tell by the movement of the stars above that something remarkable was happening.

Sometimes people are tempted to downplay all of this and make Jesus just a kind man or a wise teacher. He is those things but He is not JUST those things. He is the only begotten Son of God, born of a virgin, who lived a sinless life who suffered and was crucified on the cross and who was raised from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God the Father.

Jesus is either God in the flesh or He is not. If He's not then we are the people to be pitied most but if He is the one and only Son of God, Emanuel, God with us, then we must respond to that. This is where faith must take root and grow. Not other assumptions or philosophies will suffice; He is God Eternal who came to save us from our sin that we might live lives free from the penalty and the influence of sin. He died once for all, that we may too be called to sons and daughters of God.

Jesus, you are the only begotten Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary - Lord, increase my faith.
Introductory Article

Prayers of Faith Week One -Faith is Knowing [that] God knows what’s best for us

Knowing [that] God knows what’s best for us

In order for us to say that we have faith, we have to acknowledge not only that our Creator exists but that He knows better than we do about what is best for us.  So for this year’s first prayer I am encouraging you to meditate upon this idea.  Say out loud that God knows better than you do, then sit and consider this concept and all the areas where you may think otherwise.  Ask the Lord to increase your faith, and then write down what is being revealed to you.

My thoughts on this:

(Although I must give credit to my friend Denis Goode for his sermon on this) 

Jesus asked Peter two questions when He came down from the Mountain of Transfiguration.

The First question that Peter was asked was, "Who do others say I am?"  I think this question is relevant today because it seems atheists are making a lot of stink lately trying to silence people of faith, especially followers of Jesus.  In Jesus’ time there were lots of people debating who He was.  Was he Elijah  returned?  Was He some new prophet of God or was He the Messiah - God's anointed one.

But the more important question was what Jesus asked Peter next and I believe it is still relevant to us today was,  “Who do you say I am?”  Peter responded that Jesus was the Son of God.  In other words Jesus was the Messiah sent from God for his people.  Now that was an entirely Jewish response loaded with all kinds of preconceived notions and some very specific expectations; Messiah/Conquering King who was going to kick the Romans out and make Israel a nation to be reckoned with.  Which is why shortly after this revelation from God, Jesus is rebuking Peter and saying, “Satan get behind me!” (Matt. 16:23) Peter had no room for a Messiah who was going to die.  He was sure of this and rebuked Jesus for suggesting otherwise.

We too have expectations which limit what it means for Jesus to be the only begotten Son of God.  We each have to deal with those preconceived notions.  Jesus is described as the God-Man; He is entirely God and entirely man. Many have struggled with this.  Some say He cannot be 100% both.  Either is half man half God or he is one or the other.  Many arguments have sprung from these concerns.  But for us modern Christians, we can accept this as one of the premises that define who Jesus Christ is to us.  Unless He is entirely human he cannot fully understand our struggles and if He isn't entirely God, He could not be the perfect and sinless sacrifice needed to pay for all the sins of humanity past present and future.

This is the tension that we need to hold Christ in, in our understanding of him.  We don’t want him so human as to see him wallowing in and approving of our sins and yet we do not want him so Holy as to be unapproachable.  It is a paradox of sorts.  He is holy and perfect, yet He lived among us a human being - as one of us.  He is both our Savior who lives in unapproachable light and He is the one who lives in our hearts and whom we strive to live like so that we too can be called Christians (little Christs).  

So as you ponder this point this week,remember that his ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts, but He has made a way that we can become more and more like him as we seek his ways though the Word of God and in the power of The Holy Spirit.

Lord, you know better than we do - Lord increase our faith.

Introduction to The Prayers of Faith

On one of my other Blogs, I recently posted a list of 52 prayers that I believe will help us in growing our faith and in walking out that faith day to day.  My hope is that this year (and maybe in subsequent years) we may be able to examine these prayers and expand upon them and what they mean to us.  So God willing, we will join in a journey of faith that will takes us to new heights in our pray walk and that this will help us to root out unbelief and see true spiritual growth.  That is my hope, so please be praying that I will be able to stay with this for the next 52 weeks (starting the first week in January of 2015).

The following is from the previous post and you should consider it both as a map as to where we are going but also as instruction in how we might carry out these new insights into living with and for God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Faith comes with the hearing the Word of God (knowledge) but it doesn't stop there.  First we know about God, but as time goes on our faith leads us to knowing Him personally.  That knowledge doesn't leave us where we are, but transforms us and changes the way we view the world and how we interact with it.  Faith changes how we act and how we treat others; without transformation there is no evidence of faith, there is only dead words and dead works.

The following was inspired by a post on Facebook that encouraged me to write a responsive prayer.  I pray that this prayer leads you from mere knowledge about God to living for Him and to living by his principles.  Real faith is carried out not just in the mind or the heart but once it has taken root in our hearts is is carried out by our actions; it becomes our life.   Faith must bear fruit in due season.

Instructions: There are 52 individual prayers so you can use it for a devotion for the next year.  Read each line aloud stopping at the hyphen contemplate the meaning of the words then read aloud “Lord, increase our faith!”  I encourage you to journal each of these points as Christ works in your heart by his Holy Spirit to increase your faith.  Write out what the Spirit is saying to you and make a plan of action for how you are going to petition God for help in this area and what you want to change about your attitude and actions that currently doesn't reflect living as a new creation in Christ.  As you read God’s Word, I also encourage you to write your own prayers as the Holy Spirit convicts you of areas that are not fully conformed to His will for you.  Feel free to reword the prayer if any line seems awkward to you.

I would also encourage you to ask yourself how knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior has changed your life.  I pray that you will have a holy dissatisfaction that will cause you to draw closer to the true source of faith and life which is found in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Faith is:

1. knowing God knows what’s best for us - Lord increase our faith
2. knowing Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God born of the Virgin Mary - Lord increase our faith
3. knowing Jesus was crucified for our sin - Lord increase our faith
4. knowing Jesus Christ is risen from the dead - Lord increase our faith
5. knowing Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit so that we might live for Him and by Him - Lord increase our faith
6. knowing that Jesus Christ is the only true way, truth and life; there is no other way to God the Father - Lord increase our faith
7. knowing Jesus is the Good Shepherd and following his voice - Lord increase our faith
8. knowing that Jesus Christ is our soon and coming King - Lord increase our faith
9. knowing that Jesus Christ is the one who baptizes us with fire and the Holy Spirit - Lord increase our faith
10. knowing that Jesus Christ is our Healer - Lord increase our faith
11. knowing that the circumstances and people God allows in our life help us to become more like Him - Lord increase our faith
12. knowing that trials and temptations can only make us stronger if we trust in Him - Lord increase our faith
13. knowing that God is more interested in our character than in our comfort - Lord, increase our faith
14. knowing that Christianity is not merely a philosophy but rather a supernatural relationship with the Creator of Eternity - Lord increase our faith
15. knowing that God knows all the dark recesses of our hearts and still loves us - Lord increase our faith
16. knowing that the Love of God transcends all things - Lord, increase our faith
17. knowing that nothing can separate us from the Love of God - Lord increase our faith
18. knowing that we are incompetent in and of ourselves but God still uses us - Lord increase our faith
19. realizing there is nothing good in us apart from Christ - Lord increase our faith
20. receiving Christ supernaturally in the communion elements - Lord increase our faith
21. loving God with all our heart, mind, strength and soul - Lord increase our faith
22. seeking first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness - Lord increase our faith
23. always forgiving others because, in Christ, God has forgiven us - Lord increase our faith
24. worshiping God with our whole being; body, mind, and soul - Lord increase our faith
25. faith is seeing others as created in God’s image - Lord, increase our faith.
26. loving the unlovable because God first loved us - Lord, increase our faith
27. caring for the widow and the orphan - Lord increase our faith
28. growing in love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control - Lord increase our faith
29. suffering for righteousness sake - Lord increase our faith
30. being condemned by the world while still living by the Law of Love - Lord increase our faith
31. living out the good works that God has foreordained for us to do - Lord increase our faith
32. not becoming tired of doing good - Lord increase our faith
33. not judging our or others' success by transitory worldly standards like wealth, popularity or physical appearance - Lord increase our faith
34. being ministers of reconciliation - Lord increase our faith
35. becoming slaves to Christ - Lord increase our faith
36. being freed from the fear of man - Lord increase our faith
37. giving up the right to avenge being wronged - Lord increase our faith
38. dying to self, that we might live for Christ - - Lord increase our faith
39. taking up our cross daily - Lord increase our faith
40. giving up our perceived rights yet defending others’ - Lord increase our faith
41. suffering abuse, while refusing to abuse others - Lord increase our faith
42. proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those perishing - Lord increase our faith
43. giving water to the thirsty, food to the hungry, clothes to the naked and visiting the prisoner -Lord increase our faith
44. living by the Spirit and not by the letter of the law - Lord increase our faith
45. respecting our parents and elders - Lord increase our faith
46. seeing that our real adversaries are not human but rather spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly realms - Lord increase our faith
47. not complaining about others but rather giving thanks in all things - Lord increase our faith
48. blessing those who curse us - Lord increase our faith
49. using our spiritual gifts to build up others - Lord increase our faith
50. realizing that its not all about us - Lord increase our faith
51. allowing ourselves to decrease that He might increase - Lord increase our faith
52. considering others before ourselves - Lord increase our faith