VITAL INGREDIENTS OF PRAYER

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if
ye have ought against any: that your Father also which
is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. MARK
11 : 25.
READ : MARK 11 : 22 - 26 :
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith
in God.
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say
unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast
into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall
believe that those things which he saith shall come to
pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye
desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them,
and ye shall have them.
25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have
ought against any: that your Father also which is in
heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father
which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
MESSAGE :
Our Lord Jesus Christ did not only give us an outline
for prayer in what is popularly called "The Lord's
Prayer" ( Luke 11 : 2 - 4 ), He also gave us some vital
ingredients of prayer. The first in our consideration
is faith. The Almighty God demands that we have
faith in Him. A man that prays without faith cannot
get anything substantial from the spiritual exercise
of prayer. When we pray, we should be assured that
God is capable of doing whatever our desires are.
Doubt is a grievous offence before the Almighty God.
The children of Isreal that doubted the capability of
God were consumed by the fiery anger of the God who
had been erstwhile benevolent to them, however, as
many as believed in His Almightiness received great
recompense for their faith.
"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he
that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with
the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that
he shall receive any thing of the Lord." James 1 : 6 -
7.
Another vital ingredient of the prayer that God will
answer is forgiveness. This is a two-edged sword.
Blessed is he that is forgiven, sin is a hinderance to
prayer. Unless we are forgiven, our prayers cannot be
answered. This is why our Lord Jesus put an aspect of
confession of sin in the prayer outline ( Luke 11 : 4 ).
No matter how old we may be in the Lord, if we
discover any sin ranging from lying, outburst of
unwarranted anger etc in our lives while we are
getting set to pray, we must confess that sin first.
The Bible says :
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1 : 8 - 9
On the other hand, our Lord Jesus Christ said :
"And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought
against any: that your Father also which is in heaven
may forgive you your trespasses." Mark 11 : 25.
Many of us come to the throne of mercy without the
milk of mercy in our hearts. We come for mercy
while we are not merciful; we come for forgiveness
and we are not forgiving. What an irony? In Mathew
18 : 32 - 35, our Lord told the parable of the wicked
servant who jailed his fellow worker that owed him a
little after he himself had received pardon for a
greater debt. His unforgiving spirit made him to
forfeit the pardon for the debt he earlier received.
Beloved, let us cultivate the habit of forgiving one
another, at least for the fact that our Father in
Heaven forgives every of our sins.
PRAYER POINT :
Father, please increase my faith and put in me the
spirit that freely forgives.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : GALATIANS 4 - 6 AND
PSALMS 18 : 1 - 19.
AUTHOR : PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE.
HYMN 9 : MY FAITH HAS FOUND A PLACE
My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device or creed;
I trust the ever living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.
Chorus:
I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.
Enough for me that Jesus saves,
This ends my fear and doubt;
A sinful soul I come to Him,
He'll never cast me out.
Chorus:
My heart is leaning on the Word,
The living Word of God,
Salvation by my Savior's Name,
Salvation through His blood.
Chorus:
My great Physician heals the sick,
The lost He came to save;
For me His precious blood He shed,
For me His life He gave.