What Jesus Said About Prayer - Part 3

Disclaimer: Please note this is not a review of the Hagin Ministry Series. This post was made to share with you the journey I am going on while reading this book and studying Gods word. It is here posetd in my own words, while sharing some quotes of the book and for encouragement purposes only!

Brief Recap: In this continued lesson we studied Matthew 6 and Matthew 7. In Matthew 7 we covered the following:

Bible Texts: Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 11:5-13


Thought To Ponder: God loves us and wants us to have good things, just as we love our children and want them to have good things.
 
Knowing God as Father

• Ask.. Seek.. Knock.. Believe
• The Prayer of Importunity

At the bottom of this post you will be able to link back to the previous posts covering this series on prayer.

Now let us begin with the next lesson.
Bible Text: Matthew 21:18 - 22;  Mark 11:12-14 & 20-24;  John 15:7-8

Thought To Ponder: Where the word of God abides, there faith abides.

(NLT) Matthew 21:18-22 In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up. The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”

•  Pray, Believe, Recieve

Above is another scripture where Jesus teaches on prayer. In this chapter, in the verses above, we see that Jesus is talking about Faith and Prayer. We can not talk about faith and not talk about prayer, nor can we talk about prayer with out faith. They go hand in hand. In the book of Mark there is one account on prayer that relates to the above scriptures. Only Matthew speaks of this in five verses and Mark speaks of the same story but in twice as many as verses.

Mark 11:12-14, 20-24 ¹² The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³ He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. ¹⁴ Then Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!” And the disciples heard him say it.        20The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. 21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!” 22Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.
In John's account of what Jesus said about prayer, not one time does he use the words,"faith" or "believe."  An example is in John 15:7-8 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

Why is it necessary to use the words, Faith or Believe in this passage of Scripture about prayer? It is because, there is no problem with faith if His words abide in you. There is only a lack of faith when the Word doesn't abide in you, because if the Word doesn't abide, something else does. If the Word abides in you, Faith abides in you. NLT Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

A person may be giving mental assent to belief in the Word of God. He could stand up, shake his fist, an declare with fervor that he believes in the verbal inspiration of the Bible, that he believes it from cover to cover from Genesis to Revelation     yet never have the Word abdiding in him. Hagin continues to point out, Jesus didn't say, "if you remain in me..." and stop there. If He had stopped there we would automatically have it made as born-again Christians, because with the New Birth we do abide in Christ. We can read on in John 15 and see the scripture continues on to say, "and my words remain in you.."

• The Word of Faith

Mr. Hagin brings out a great point in saying, "It is good to study and compare different Gospel writers accounts of the same story, because we get different views on the same incident."



In Matthew's account of the above story, in verse 22, Jesus said, "You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” Mark puts it differently in verse 24, saying, "I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours."

Both writers gave the basic formula for faith: Pray, Believe, Recieve.

What if I didnt receive? Then you didnt ask believing! The scripture says, If you pray and believe, you shall recieve!

The word is called, "The Word of Faith"      NLT Romans 10:8 In fact, it says, "The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” If the Word abides in you, it will cause Faith to spring up in your heart.

• The Light of The Word

Psalm 119:130 The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.

When we know the Word, we are not praying in the dark. We have light.

Psalm 119: 105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

We are not walking in the dark. Our pathway is lighted when we have the Word!

Memory Text:  John 15:7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!

 To get a copy of this book please visit:
http://www.rhema.org/store/the-will-of-god-in-prayer-book.html  

To read post number 2 and lesson 2 please click the link below:
http://hissevencones.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-jesus-said-about-prayer-lesson-3.html