I would like to say a few more words about prayer. For one thing, prayer mixed thoroughly with God’s Word is a Christian’s greatest weapon.

Prayer is like flour and the Bible like the egg. Flour would be flying all over the kitchen if it weren’t for the egg to bind it all together. Sometimes our prayers are thrown out haphazardly like the flour, but the Word of God brings it all together to form what will soon be the blessing … the cake.

The subject of prayer is somewhat like the subject of salvation. To obtain salvation is very simple. God made it that way. Even a child can understand it. So why do adults have such a hard time with it? Maybe it is because we try to complicate the simple. So how does one become saved? How does John 3:16 (and many other passages) work? Put all your trust in Jesus. Believe Him and follow Him. Otherwise, that’s it. There is no other way. Jesus is the only way God provides for us to know Him as one of His own.

(Why do I say, “Believe Him and follow Him?” If we believe Him, we will follow Him. We may stumble and fall along the way, but our desire will be to follow Him.

If we do not believe Him, we will not follow Him. There will be little to no real interest in Him.)

So is prayer a simple subject to understand? It is, when we understand a few basic truths.

God only listens to the prayers of those who have come to Him through His Son Jesus, the true Christian.

He will listen to the non-Christian IF they are calling upon His Son (Jesus) to be saved (the sinner’s prayer). Otherwise, He never listens to those who are not a Christian.

“We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.” (John 9:31)

What is the will of God?

“For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”” (John 6:40)

Does God listen to the prayers of His own children if they are out of fellowship? I think David and Solomon can answer that question.

“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.” (Psalms 66:18-19 emphasis mine)

“Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD.” (Proverbs 1:28-29 emphasis mine)

So if a true Christian wants to resolve the problem of sin in their life so they can be restored to fellowship with the Father, how do they do that?

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

RECAP

• God WILL listen to the prayers of His children if they are in fellowship.
• God WILL NOT listen to the prayers of His children if they are out of fellowship.
• God WILL NOT listen to the prayers of anyone who is not one of His children (a true Christen).
• BUT He WILL listen to the lost sinner’s prayer to be saved through His Son Jesus.

But wait! Am I saying that if I am His child, and I am not in sinful rebellion against Him that He will hear my prayers and give me everything I ask for? Absolutely not!

How many prayers have gone up for someone who is sick or dying? How about those under addiction to alcohol, drugs, sex, spending, gambling, etc.? What about the prayers for those who are jobless, in financial straits, and having marriage problems? Have ALL of those prayers been answered in the way we asked? We both know that is not the case.

I realize that prayer can be confusing to many. I’ve been in that confused state myself at times and most assuredly will again at some point. Maybe this verse is the answer.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

All I can say is that our God answers many of our prayers as we ask, but usually in a much better way. However, there are also many times it seems that those prayers didn’t get past the tree line.

The only answer I can give is the one provided to us from Jesus, our Savior and Lord. He said the following:

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10 emphasis mine)

“He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42 emphasis mine)

Folks, we cannot get a better example for prayer than from the lips of Jesus Himself. “Your will be done.” That is the best place to leave our prayers.

Grant Phillips

Email: Phillip5769@twc.com

Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com

Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html

When speaking of the “Word,” I am speaking of what we commonly call the “Bible.” The Bible is composed of 66 books, written by 40 different authors. In reality, it is one book, and over 1,500 years God used 40 different authors to write down His Word for our benefit. Specifically, the Bible is the Word of Jesus Christ and Jesus is the Word of God. (See John 1:1-5)

“He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.” (Revelation 19:13)

The entire Bible is the Word of Jesus Christ and not just the red letters by the way.

I would like to provide some interesting information I obtained from the Internet concerning the Bible.

• More than 2,100 languages have at least one book of the Bible in that language.

• There are more than 168,000 Bibles sold or given to others in the United States every day.

• There are 20 million Bibles sold each year in the United States.

• The Gideon’s International distributed 59,460,000 Bibles worldwide last year. That’s more than 100 Bibles per minute.

• Zondervan, a leading Bible publisher, has more than 350 different versions of the Bible that are in print right now.

• 92% of Americans own at least one Bible, whether it was given to them or purchased.

• There are 1,300 translations of the Bible in new languages.

• 100 million Bibles are printed every year.

• In the world today, more than 80,000 different versions of the Bible generate at least one sale annually.

• YouVersion, a top downloaded Bible app for mobile devices, has over 100 million total downloads and counting. (I have this app myself.)

• More than 66,000 people are using a Bible app at any given second.

• Three people share a Bible verse on their social network every second.

• Isaiah 53:5 is the most shared Bible verse on the internet today.

• 77% of people say that they read the Bible more frequently because they have it available on a mobile device.

• In 2005, Thomas Nelson, a leading publisher, published 60 different editions.

• There are 900 different versions of the Bible just in English.

Now this is interesting.

• A Gallup survey found that less than 50% of Americans can name the first book of the Bible.

• Only 1 in 3 Bible owners know that Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount. Billy Graham is a more popular answer than the correct answer.

• 12% of Christians believe that Noah was married to Joan of Arc.

Nearly everyone has a Bible in their language, especially in this country. Will anyone really have an excuse when they are judged by God? Actually, they will have no excuse even if they do not have a Bible. (See Romans 1:18-32.)

Jesus and His Word are being maligned today in ways I never thought I would see in my days upon this earth. As we have seen, the Bible is very plentiful but ignored by most. It is not only ignored. It is mocked, purposely mistranslated to promote evil, and rejected as an outdated book of fairy tales.

Jesus, the 2nd person of the Trinity came to earth and gave His life then rose again and returned to Heaven. He made the impossible possible. He provided one way for anyone to be saved if they will believe in Him by simple child-like faith. However, many today use His name as a curse word, mock His Word the Bible and hate all Jesus stands for.

When Jesus returns to earth, and He will, He won’t return as a lamb, but as a lion. After the Church is removed, He will unleash judgement upon this world beyond what we can imagine. He has warned us and revealed all this in His Word – the Bible!

In the book of Revelation we see Him in His brilliance and His Word will be like a double-edged sword coming from His mouth.

“In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” (Revelation 1:16)

“Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” (Revelation 19:15)

“The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.” (Revelation 19:21)

If you recall, supposedly Isaiah 53:5 is the most shared verse on the Internet today. That surprised me. I thought it would be John 3:16, but regardless, notice what this Scripture passage states.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

If folks are reading this verse (or John 3:16 for that matter) and still ignoring Jesus, they are rejecting the only lifeline they have for a Heavenly eternity.

I’ll share one final verse with you and it is the most frightening of all.

“There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.” (John 12:48)

All who mock, hate, misrepresent, ignore and reject the Word of God today, will be judged by it – by that very book! Notice that Jesus says in John 12:48, “the very words I have spoken.” This is past tense for our benefit. He is speaking of the very Word that we call the Bible.

The very Word of God that is being trashed by folks today will be their judge. They will be judged by the very book they had no regard for today.

Don’t allow Satan to make a fool of you. Recognize that the Bible is God’s Word. Its words can lead us to salvation in Jesus Christ or be heard to condemn us.

Grant Phillips

Email: Phillip5769@twc.com

Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com

Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html