Inconsistencies: Prayer and Signs: Page 51

Inconsistencies:  Prayer and Signs
 

21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 

 

22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 

 

23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 

 

24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God (I Corinthians 1:21-24).
Jesus said to His disciples, 

 

18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 

 

19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 

 

20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:18-20). 

 

13 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 

 

14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. (John 14:13-14).

 

20b Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you (Matthew 17:20b). 

 

14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 

 

15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. (James 5:14-15). 

 

Many souls have lost faith or a degree of confidence in God when answers to their prayers have not been realized.

During and just after the time of Jesus’s earthly ministry, His people were being healed and being prepared to live long lives in a millennial kingdom. 

 

The Nation of Israel had had a long history of receiving signs and wonders (Genesis 17:17; Exodus 4:6; Numbers 14:11; Deuteronomy 26:8; Isaiah 7:14; Daniel 6:27; Matthew 12:38-39). 

 

Beginning in Acts 12:1-2, with the killing of James the brother of John by Herod, we see these signs and wonders of the prophesied Kingdom Program were beginning to decrease. 

 

Jesus had prophesied that this James would be one of the twelve apostles that would be judging the twelve tribes of Israel in the kingdom. 

 

This program was beginning to be set aside for an undetermined length of time.
 

BUT NOW we are assured that Christ is permanently alongside all saved individual all the time, and not only Christ, but the entire Godhead lives in us (Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 3:1; I Corinthians 3:16). 

 

God hears all our prayers when alone or when we are with two or more. 

 

But we are not assured that by prayer we can move mountains (I Corinthians 13:2). 

 

We are to trust in the power and the wisdom of God. In this present evil world, where the spirit of iniquity already works (II Thessalonians 2:7) 

 

we are to put on the whole armor of God, that we can stand against the wiles of the devil, pray always, align our thoughts with the mind of Christ, and set our affections on things above. 

 

Today, God wants us to have faith in the sufficiency of His grace that the power of Christ may rest upon us (II Corinthians 12:7-10). 

 

We are to trust in the sufficiency of His work on the cross on our behalf, trust in the sufficiency of His workmanship when He made us a new creation, and trust in the sufficiency of the work 

He will continue to do in and through us.
 

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).
 

13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).
 

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).
 

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us (Ephesians 3:20).
 

8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 

 

9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 

 

10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 

 

11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh (II Corinthians 4:8-11).
 

God has made us His new and perfect vessel for Him to work in and through. 

 

We are co-laborers together with God (I Corinthians 3:9). 

 

It is His power and His life that now lives in us. He can do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask and think, according to the power that worketh in us (Ephesians 3:20). 

 

We can trust in Him and relax in Him and glory in His sufficiency and His strength. 

 

We should not be ashamed of the difficulties and the infirmities we experience as we go through life. 

 

We are to be partakers of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God (II Timothy 1:8b). 

 

We need to remember that we are living in a sin cursed world and time and chance happens to all men (Ecclesiastes 9:11). 

 

God is not the author of our troubles. He is not chastising us. We are God’s witness to the world and to the angels as they watch us rely on His sustaining might (Ephesians 1:19). 

 

We glorify God when we are demonstrating His power resting on us and God glorifies us as he gives us His peace, which passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:7). 

 

We are not to walk after the flesh but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1, 14) 

 

7 by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7). 

 

Our faith will grow as we learn to trust in what He has told us about His accomplishment on the cross, the work He is doing in and through us, and the eternal glorious future He has prepared for us in the everlasting eternity.
 

17 Pray without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:17), 

 

20 giving thanks always in all things (not for all things) unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20), 

 

8 lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubting (I Timothy 2:8). 

 

6 Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer (general communication), intercession (request for others) and supplication (requests for self) with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6). 

 

1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men (I Timothy 2:1). 

 

We are not to doubt God’s ability to uphold us. Trusting God through our difficulties pleases God. 

 

5b The Lord is always at hand (Philippians 4:5b). 

 

Trusting God with the outcome of our prayers pleases Him. 

 

6 Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
 

We do not always know how to pray, but the Holy 

 

10 Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God (I Corinthians 2:10) and 

 

26 ...maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered 

 

27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27). 

 

Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and man (I Timothy 2:5). 

 

Christ does His intercession from heaven, and the Holy Spirit does His from earth. Both go directly to the Father. 

 

We see the entire Godhead working together on our behalf; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 

 

They live in us and we live in them (Ephesians 4:6; Galatians 2:20; I Corinthians 6:19). 

 

This is God’s gift of grace to each one of us. 

 

He works in and through us to empower and strengthen our inner man (Ephesians 3:16). 

 

Knowing the great depth of His great love for us, blessing us with His grace, inspires us to show others grace and share the means by which they can restore their relationship with God the Father thru a new identity with His Beloved Son. 

 

We desire to serve and bring glory and honor to God.
 

The Word of the Lord speaks expressly to us, asking us these questions. 

 

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own (I Corinthians 6:19)? 

 

19 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you (I Corinthians 3:19)? 

 

The designer of all of creation (Zechariah 12:1; Ecclesiastes 3:21; 12:7) 

 

has chosen to live in and through our frail bodies. 

 

And we can choose to be a temple of praise, 

 

16 singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3:16). 

 

We can thank God for all the good things in our lives:  

 

the edification we receive from other members of the Body of Christ, 

 

for all our spiritual blessings and for what He is teaching us. 

 

When things in our lives are unsettling, we can thank God for the strength and comfort we receive from our favorite scriptures. 

 

God is for us (Romans 8:31). 

 

God will stand by us (Acts 23:11; II Timothy 4:17).
 

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3:16).
 

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8).
 

It pleases our God when we are in continual communication with Him, when we walk by faith trusting Him with the outcome of our prayers; we rest in Him. 

 

We need to recognize that, like with the twelve apostles, the gift of signs and wonders were also given to the apostle Paul to confirm his apostleship (II Corinthians 12:12; Romans 15:19). 

 

When the completion of the scriptures was nearing, when God would give us no further revelation (I Corinthians 13:10; Colossians 1:25; Revelation 22:18-19), 

 

like for those in the Kingdom Program, these gifts subsided, as demonstrated when Paul states he left Trophimus sick at Miletum (II Timothy 4:20) 

 

and he told Timothy, 

 

23 drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities (I Timothy 5:23). 

 

We can learn to trust the Lord as we go through life’s light afflictions. 

 

As our faith matures, we learn to rest in the Lord’s work and receive His comfort. We become more able to comfort others knowing also that this present distress is a temporary state, not our eternal state.
 

3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 

 

4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. (II Corinthians 1:3-4).

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (II Corinthians 4:17).