We want God, but only on our own terms. Until we have a serious illness, financial problem, etc.
We want religion to serve us, we don’t want it to interfere with our plans.
The devil has cleverly neutralized the Christian world. They have become academic believers without the power of God. They are scholars and they have different books and translations of the Bible. They think that they are wise because they have Scripture knowledge but they don’t have the power of God. The power of the Gospel is in preaching the Words of Jesus, faith in Jesus, believing His words and DOING THEM.
If faith is so powerful, why are the saints so powerless?
If faith is so potent, why are the saints so impotent? If faith is so powerful, why are the believers so powerless? If your faith is not yielding results, something is definitely wrong with your understanding of faith. The problem might be that you don’t fully understand what faith is.
We organize our church life to fit into our lifestyle. I mean church is ok, but lets not get out of control. We really don’t want God to lead us. I mean if we let God be in control, He might interfere with “The American Dream”. If I get too into God and this religion thing, I may have to leave my comfort zone. We don’t see miracles today and we have created a whole doctrine to explain them away.
Will He Find Faith on the Earth?
I’ve studied what the Bible says about miracles and healing for years and years, and two things remain clear to me. One is that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Another is He said anyone with faith in Him would do the things He did (John 14:12).
But the results we’re experiencing in much of the Western church today are far different from those attributed to Him in the Bible. A logical mind can only conclude that something has changed. Since it can’t be Him, that leaves only us.
I’ve concluded that many of us have formed our opinions about Miracles and healing either from hearsay, traditional teachings, or personal observation rather than God’s Word, while the Bible tells us to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). To prove my point, count the number of times when you’ve personally witnessed someone being healed. Not heard about, but personally witnessed. If you’re like most people you won’t know of any.
Maybe we don’t see people being healed because we no longer expect to. Somewhere along the way there’s been a disconnect to the point where many believers are convinced that without giving us any warning God simply stopped healing people. Some of those who promote this idea say it happened once the New Testament had been compiled. Many protestant denominations hold this view today. It should not surprise us that supernatural healing does not occur in those denominations.
Some of these folks hedge their bets by assuring us that God can heal people and sometimes does, so we can still pray for healing. But we shouldn’t be surprised it doesn’t happen. Our healing may not come until the resurrection. At least they leave the door open for God to heal someone if He decides to.
DO YOU JUST FEEL LIKE GIVING UP?
Sometimes we can all feel like we are very dry, so far away from the warm presence of God. In these moments of dryness sometimes you just won’t want to even read the Word; and sometimes others will read from just a sense of obligation.
Did you ever notice during these dry empty times you feel little compulsion to pray. You know that your love for Jesus is strong and your faith is intact. You know that there is no desire in you to taste the things of this world. It’s just that you can’t seem to touch God right now in those days and weeks of spiritual dryness.
Have you ever just kinda watched other around you that are getting blessed, while you feel nothing? They cry; they pray; they worship with tremendous feelings. But you are not moved at all. You start then to wonder if there is something wrong with your spiritual life. Christians all around you are telling great stories about how God is blessing them and answering all their prayers. They seem to live on the mountaintop of happy experiences, while you just drag along, loving Jesus but not setting the world on fire.
Some of your prayers still have not been answered. You don’t shout or put on an emotional display. You have no big stories to tell about some fantastic miracle you’ve witnessed. It almost makes you feel like a second-class believer. I believe all true believers experience dry spells at various times in their Christian lives.
I must maintain a life of prayer. Why is it that none of us pray as we should anymore? We know God is wanting to comfort and help us. We know our burdens can all be lifted when we are shut in with him. There is something deep within us that keeps calling us to prayer. It is the voice of the Holy Spirit saying, ”come!” come to the water that satisfies that soul thirst. Come to the father, who pities his children. Come to the lord of life, who promises to forgive every sin committed. Come to the one who refuses to condemn you or forsake you or hide from you.
It is not really dryness, it is lukewarmness. It is growing coldness caused by drifting along, getting away from the holy place. Nothing dispels dryness and emptiness more quickly than an hour or two shut in with God. Putting off the date with God in his secret closet causes guilt.
We know our love for him should lead us into his presence, but we busy ourselves in so many other thing; then time slips away, and God is left out. We try to throw in his direction a whole array of ”thought prayers.” but nothing can take the place of that secret closet with the door shut, praying to the Father in that seclusion. That is the solution to every dry spell.
No wonder we are so dry and empty. We have simply neglected the secret closet of prayer. It is not really dryness – it is lukewarmness. It is a growing coldness caused by drifting along, getting away from the holy place.
Nothing dispels dryness and emptiness quicker than an hour or two shut in with God. Putting off that date with God in His secret closed causes guilt. We know that our love for Him should lead us into his presence, but we busy ourselves in so many other things – time slips away, and God is left out. We throw in His direction a whole array of “thought prayers.” But nothing can take the place of that secret closet – with the door shut – praying to the Father in that seclusion! That is the solution to every dry spell.
I Want God!
Oh God, cleanse my desires. Make me desire those things You know to be best for me. If you gave me everything I desired, it would be a bedlam of confusion, with no order or harmony left. All my human desires are blind! They are usually out of keeping with my real needs and are often contrary to God’s moral laws.
Why is it that none of us pray as we should anymore? We know that God is wanting to comfort and help us. We know that our burdens can all be lifted when we are shut in with Him. There is something deep within us that keeps calling us to prayer. It is the Holy Spirit saying, “Come.” Come to the water that satisfies that soul thirst. Come to the Father who pities His children. Come to the Lord of life who promises to forgive every sin committed. Come to the One who refuses to condemn you, or forsake you, or hide from you.
God does not hide from us when we sin. Never! That is only our fear condemning our hearts. God did not hide in the garden when Adam and Eve sinned. He still came to them, calling and yearning for their fellowship and love. We ourselves hide – because of our guilt and condemnation. We can’t imagine God still loving us, when we are so disobedient and ungrateful.
Come boldly to His throne of grace – even when you have sinned and failed. He forgives – instantly – those who repent with godly sorrow. You don’t have to spend hours and days in remorse and guilt. You don’t have to earn your way back into His good graces. You don’t have to pretend a superficial kind of sorrow or feign tears. Go to the Father – bend your knees and open your heart – and cry out your agony and pain. Tell Him all about your failings – all about your struggles. Tell Him about your loneliness, about your feelings of isolation, about your fears, about your failures.
We try everything but prayer. We read books, looking for formulas and guidelines. We go to friends, to ministers, to counselors – looking everywhere for a word of comfort or advice. We seek mediators and forget the one Mediator who has the answer to everything.
We don’t pray because it’s so hard to do-most of the time. It’s not hard when trouble comes unexpectedly. Cancer strikes – or a loved one dies suddenly of a heart attack. Then we are so broken in spirit, we cry and pray. That’s all right. But we should be leaning on Jesus through the good and the bad. We should be getting our strength and help long before the crisis overwhelms us. We should be pouring out our hearts to Him every day of our lives.
Get Hungry For the things of God again!