By Pastor William Y. K. Brown Ph.D
(Resident Pastor)
Seventh-day Adventist Church
Osu-Bethel.
Tel: 0244165628/0243310773.
wykbrown@gmail.com
MONDAY
THEME: PRAYING FAITH: PART II”
SCRIPTURE: Acts 4:31
“And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
REFLECTIONS
There is power for every soul that recognizes their need for the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). There is strength and wisdom for anyone who abides in Jesus Christ (John 15:4,5). When God calls us, it is a call to be favored, blessed, empowered, receive answers to our supplications, and enlisted for holy use. John 15:16 says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” Is there any difficulty depending on Christ for Him to unleash your potential?
We receive little or nothing because we do not exercise our faith through prayer. James 4:3 cautions, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, . . .” The prayer of faith will accomplish great things to the glory of God. Praying faith is a recognition of the power of God and acceptance of the gift of God. Jesus said in Luke 11:13, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” There are innate but dormant, undeveloped, and unimproved talents that every child of God has. The Holy Spirit will unleash these through the prayer of faith.
Upon His ascension to heaven, Jesus Christ left behind a group of discouraged, weakened, fearful, and crestfallen disciples. But He assured them to wait until His promise of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled. The waiting was for persevering prayer to be offered and for faith to grow. In our relationship with Christ, if fear dominates us, our faith will fail to pray. Any faith that does not thrive on prayer is not a genuine faith but a presumption. When we allow anxieties and the problems of this life to weigh us down, we fail to see the power of God, but instead, we see a chain of unsurmountable mountains. But faith manifested in prayer can dislocate the mountains on our path.
The believers and the apostles of Christ are our examples of effectual prayer. Praying faith brings release, freedom, power, boldness, confidence, miracles, and character transformation. In Acts 4:31, “. . . when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” You can come to the throne of God in faith through prayer, for Psalms 34:17-18 declares, “[17]The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. [18]The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”
MY SONG OF COMMITMENT
SDAH 518 – “Standing on the Promises”
LET US PRAY
– Praise and thank God for ushering you into the ninth month of the year; thank God for His specific actions in your life; commit to let your faith find expression through unceasing prayer;
– Pray for Christians who take prayer for granted, families that do not pray, Churches that downplay the power of prayer, and youth and Church leadership that do not pray;
– Pray for victims of war, terrorism, and violence; pray for peace in families that the devil is breaking apart; pray for someone you hardly pray for;
– Pray for the country’s safety and development, for those seeking divine healing, for the aged and the unemployed, for families in need, and for boldness to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
