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PRAYER

PRAYER. Hurtful Theories 1. God is Unchangeable = no effect 2. God knows already 3. Miracles have ceased – God must use miracles, therefore no use. What Good does it do to Pray?. James 5:16 “effective, fervent prayer…avails much.” What does this verse TELL US and NOT TELL US about prayer?

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PRAYER

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  1. PRAYER Hurtful Theories • 1. God is Unchangeable = no effect • 2. God knows already • 3. Miracles have ceased – God must use miracles, therefore no use

  2. What Good does it do to Pray? • James 5:16 “effective, fervent prayer…avails much.” • What does this verse TELL US and NOT TELL US about prayer? • Prayer can be very effective • Does NOT Tell us How

  3. What Good does it do to Pray? • James 5:16 “effective, fervent prayer…avails much.” • “Effective” & “Fervent” from One Greek Word • “communicate energy & efficiency… to be active, be in operation, towards a result… in action, operative.” • “Working, effective..An effective supplication.”

  4. What Good does it do to Pray? • James 5:16 “effective, fervent prayer…avails much.” • Prayer that produces an Effect is sincere, earnest, hearty & persevering. • Some Revealed, Some the Bible says Nothing About! • Be Careful Not To Speculate – 1 Corinthians 4:6

  5. “The Will of God” • Revealed Will of God – Hebrews 10:7,10 • Providential Will of God – James 4:15 • Acts 18:21 “if God wills” • 1 Corinthians 4:19 “the Lord wills” • 1 Corinthians 16:7 “if the Lord permit”

  6. What is God Doing in The World Today? • Upholding The Universe – Hebrews 1:2,3 • Saving His People From Their Sins- 1 Peter 1:22,23; Hebrews 1:14; Romans 1:16 • God is working providentially in the World.

  7. How Does Providence Work Today? • “divine guidance or care” • “preservation, care & government which God exercises over all things that He has created in order they may accomplish the ends for which they were created.”

  8. How Does Providence Work Today? • “…we set limits to God’s ability to act without doing miracles. God can bring about certain things by miracles, & it seems but reasonable to suppose that He can do some things without a miracle.” McGarvey

  9. Misconceptions • Pantheism – “God is matter” Prayer to him makes no sense. • Deist – Personality of God and Creative Work, denies providence – prayer meaningless

  10. Laws that Govern Spiritual Realm & Material Realm • God established Laws in Both Realms • Capable of answering prayer in BOTH – or He cannot answer prayer in either.

  11. “Natural Law” • One of the ways God expresses His will • Christ upholds the World – Hebrews 1:3 • “Word of His power” = “natural law.” • NOT Result of “impersonal force, self-originating & sustaining.”

  12. “Natural Law” • God is a God of Order • Sustains Universe in an Orderly Fashion • Does not mean Physical Laws are Inflexible. • Man limited in his understanding of God’s creation.

  13. “Natural Law” • Science accepts there is no such thing as physical laws being absolute & unchangeable • Physical laws a product of man’s observations. • IF man has not observed it OR if his observation is faulty, he cannot make an ABSOLUTE STATEMENT concerning such laws.

  14. “Natural Law” • Many today no longer define a miracle as something contrary to the “laws of nature.” • God’s providential acts are the ways in which He accomplishes His will in the world through these chosen channels. • A Miracle is when God works above & beyond ordinary ways

  15. “Natural Law” • We walk by Faith & Not by Sight- 1 Corinthians 5:7 • Accept what we CAN know – leaving the rest up to GOD! • “This world of ours is not governed by law; it is governed by God according to law.”

  16. “Natural Law” • Whenever we pray to God, we are NOT asking Him to interrupt the order of the universe, but rather to ask Him to manifest His power through the operation of “natural law.”

  17. “Natural Law” • What about providence & suffering? • “God’s intentional will, Circumstantial Will, Ultimate Will, Perfect & Permissible Will?” • NONE explain the WHY?

  18. Other Forces at Work • Hostile to God & His Creatures – Ephesians 2:2 • “Evil is evil & loss is loss, but God has the power, out of, & through the evil & the loss, to bring good & gain, just as the farmer can make the filth of the midden the source of renewed fertility to his land.”

  19. Thoughts for Consideration • “Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:34 • How? Drop from the sky? • God already knows our needs before we ask – Matthew 6:8 • Three verses later, He tells us to pray for it anyway. • WHY? • Jesus TOLD US TO DO IT!

  20. Thoughts for Consideration • When we receive our daily allotment of bread, is it the result of the circumvention of God’s natural laws? • NO! • It is the result of Divine Providence.

  21. Thoughts for Consideration • Many questions regarding HOW, WHY, and WHEN. • Many of them come under Deuteronomy 29:29 “the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us…”

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