How to Pray in Faith — The Parable of the Son who Asks (Matt 7:7-11)

  • What does it mean to pray in faith?
  • How should you go about praying for a sick person?
  • Here is a survey of all that Jesus taught on prayer, resulting in some simple steps.

 

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Video cover image by Public Domain Pictures

  • This is the first of a short series on the Parables

Matthew 7

  1. Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
  2. Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
  3. If you then, although you are sinful, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

“Bread”

Bread

Learning How to Pray in Faith

  1. Overview of Jesus’ teaching on prayers of faith
  2. The Parable of the son who Asks
  3. So what has God promised?
  4. How this Applies in our Lives

1. Overview of Jesus’ teaching on prayers of faith

“The trust of a child”

The trust of a child
  • Jesus’ teaching on prayer
    • 3 parables (not including today’s)
      1. The Friend at midnight
      2. The Unjust Judge
      3. The prayers of the Pharisee and Tax collector
    • Condemns prayers of Pharisees and heathens
    • The Lord’s prayer
    • Some teaching moments with the disciples
    • This mini-parable of the “asking son”

Mark 11

  1. On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.
  2. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
  3. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
    …
  4. And when evening came they went out of the city.
  5. In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.
  • Not that Jesus was vindictive against fig trees, it was a “living parable”
    • There are those who God is expecting fruit from but their lives are worthless

Mark 11

  1. Peter remembered and said to him, “Teacher, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.”
  2. Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God.
  3. I tell you the truth, if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
  4. For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
  • Does this mean that if you believe hard enough...?
  • This text is the basis of much dangerous teaching, mostly from what is called “the prosperity Gospel” or “Word of Faith” —make affirmations!
  • Story of a couple with a two-year old daughter dying of cancer…
  • We believe that God wrote the whole Bible, so it must be self consistent
    • Some examples of the difference between general and specific
    • So we need to take all of Jesus’ teaching on prayer and see how this fits in

1 John 5:14–15 states “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”

  • Two promises, but some qualifications:

John 15:7–17

  1. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you.
  2. My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples.
  3. “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; abide in my love.
  4. If you obey my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commandments and abide in his love…
  5. My commandment is this — to love one another just as I have loved you.
  6. No one has greater love than this — that one lays down his life for his friends.
  7. You are my friends if you do what I command you…
  8. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that abides, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
  9. This I command you — to love one another.
  • Begins and ends with the promise
    • What is the condition at the start?
      • abide in me
    • how do we abide?
      • commandments v10
    • What is the commandment?
  • What is the condition at the end?
    • fruit? —it’s the same thing. The fruit of the Spirit is love etc.
  • If we were to look at the larger context we would see Jesus talking about the Holy Spirit
    • Abiding in Jesus is the same thing as being filled with the Spirit
    • The Spirit produces these fruits
    • The Spirit is leading our desires in prayer
  • So in John 15 there is a condition put on the prayer: that we are abiding in Jesus
    • We abide in him by keeping his commandment to love one another
      • which we can only truly do by the power of the Spirit in us
  • So let’s go back and look at the previous verses:

Mark 11

  1. Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God.
  2. I tell you the truth, if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
  3. For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
  • So reading this in the context of Jesus’ teaching, there is an implied “if your prayer flows out of my presence abiding in you”
  • The word “Faith” has become polluted in our culture—abstract & vague
    “Trust” is more accurate because it must be in something
  • But this passage must be saying something
    • If this is not a faith that we work up, what is it?

“The trust of a child”

The trust of a child

So let’s get practical

  • how do we do this?

Learning How to Pray in Faith

  1. Overview of Jesus’ teaching on prayers of faith
  2. The Parable of the son who Asks
  3. So what has God promised?
  4. How this Applies in our Lives

2. The Parable of the son who Asks

Matthew 7

  1. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.
  2. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
  3. Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
  4. Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
  5. If you then, although you are sinful, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
  • I’m going to argue that this statement here is one of the main pillars of faith
  • I’m going to give you Four Pillars plus an occasional extra step
    • You need to believe This! v.11 God is a father who gives good gifts to his children in response to them asking
  • What does it mean to pray in faith?

What is Faith?

  • Faith is a trusting response to a promise or commitment (which must come God’s word)
  • “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Rom 10:17
  • So faith is always a response to God’s promise or revelation about himself
  • e.g. Heb 11 God said to Abraham “leave your country and I will make of you a great nation”
    By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called
    to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance,
    and he went out without understanding where he was going.
  • Faith is a response
  • Did Abraham get up one day and say “I think I’m going to have faith for a great nation today?”

There are two parts to faith

  1. the promise
  2. trust in that promise
  3. We are not told to have faith in something God never promised
  • There are so many weird ideas today about faith
    • People talk about “the power of faith”
      • Faith has absolutely no power in itself, it is God who has the power
  • Example of a chair.
  • People who don’t even believe in a personal God talk about “the power of prayer”
  • It’s the same word in Greek that we translate “Trust” and “Faith”, but in English “faith” is a bit abstract
  • Repeat: There are two parts to faith
    1. the promise
    2. trust in that promise
  • Did Jesus ever turn down any requests? (think carefully)

Matthew 20

  1. He said to her, “What do you want?” She replied, “Permit these two sons of mine to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
  2. Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.”
  3. He told them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give. Rather, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
  • Was this a lack of faith?
  • So Faith has Two Parts:
    • a promise or commitment by God
    • a response of trust from us

Learning How to Pray in Faith

  1. Overview of Jesus’ teaching on prayers of faith
  2. The Parable of the son who Asks
  3. So what has God promised?
  4. How this Applies in our Lives

3. So what has God promised?

  • Sam Storms’ five kinds of faith for healing (Spiritual Gifts p.56f)

Five steps of faith for healing

  1. Faith that God is your sole source for blessing & total dependence on the Spirit
  2. Faith in God’s ability to heal
  3. Faith in God’s heart for healing
  4. That God not only can heal today, but he actually does
  5. (Sometimes) faith in a revelation that it is his will to heal right now
  1. Faith that God is your sole source for blessing & total dependence on the Spirit
    • that he is your hope and he alone
    • that without the Spirit you can do nothing
  2. Faith in God’s ability to heal
    • Matt 9:28–29 Jesus asked the 2 blind men if they believed he was able to heal them
    • They said “Yes Lord”, and Jesus said “Let it be done according to your faith”
  3. Faith in God’s heart for healing
    • Parable we read of the son who asks
  4. That God not only can heal today, but he actually does
  • So when I pray for someone here who is sick, I believe that
    1. God is the only one I depend on
    2. God is able to heal
    3. God has a heart of kindness and loves to heal his children
    4. That God still heals today
  • But what I don’t know if it is God’s will to heal that person right now
  1. Sometimes a revelation that it is his will to heal right now
    • When God wants to heal someone through prayer, he sometimes gives specific revelation that he wants to heal right now
    • (we could have lots of examples from Scripture here)

Acts 9

  1. Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha…
  2. At that time she became sick and died. When they had washed her body, they placed it in an upstairs room.
    …
  3. So Peter got up and went with them, and when he arrived they brought him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him, crying and showing him the tunics and other clothing Dorcas used to make while she was with them.
  4. But Peter sent them all outside, knelt down, and prayed. Turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” Then she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
  • Walk in whatever revelation God has given you.
  • As you do that, he may give you more
  • But if not, don’t worry, just pray out of what you have

4. How this Applies in our Lives

Learning How to Pray in Faith

  1. Overview of Jesus’ teaching on prayers of faith
  2. The Parable of the son who Asks
  3. So what has God promised?
  4. How this Applies in our Lives

Steps of Prayer

  1. We trust you Lord. We trust in you alone. You are our only provider. Holy Spirit, you are our only source of strength. We invite your presence now.
  2. Lord we believe in your power. You are able to heal right now. It is nothing for you. Your power has no limit and you are able to heal the worst sickness in just a moment
  3. Thank you that your heart is full of love for your child. Thank you that you love to heal and you delight in giving the gift of healing to your children.
  4. Lord you have told us to pray “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Lord, your kingdom is about healing as well as freedom from sin. Lord I pray that your kingdom will come in the body of this person here.
  5. What do you pray if God gives you a revelation that he wants to heal this person right now?
    “Be healed in Jesus name!”

based on NET Bible

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