Power Needed
May 25, 2015
May 25, 2015
Acts 4:7 "They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: 'By what power or what name did you do this?'"
Peter and John, disciples of Jesus, performed many miracles during their ministry. It wasn't the disciples who performed the miracles directly, but were vessels through whom the Lord used to direct the miracles on earth. There was a power needed for the miracle far above the physical power of a man. One such miracle allowed a man to walk, a man who had never walked even one day in his life. Naturally, such a miracle warranted questioning, the leaders of the day wanted to know by what power the disciples had performed such a miracle. Today, we pray, but seldom do we pray for that same power to be displayed for a similar miracle.
I sat in a room of four-year-olds and the teacher asked the group of children for their prayer requests. Their sense of a prayer request was much different than yours or mine. One asked that a small cut on her finger, hidden by a band aid, would be healed. One asked that his family's pet rabbit, which had just died, would come back. Another asked that his father, who was divorced from his mother would move back from out of town and live with them once again. One child asked that she would be able to go do Disney World. Another asked for a certain new toy that was on the market. Their prayer requests were varied and you and I might not pray for the same things. We rationalize them away. We don't pray for the cut on a finger because it will be healed in four to seven days anyway. We don't pray for a Disney vacation or a new toy because that is selfish. We don't pray for the family pet to come back to life because that is just never going to happen. We don't pray for a marriage to be reconciled after divorce because divorce is final.
As adults, our concept of power needed for a miracle is skewed by our thinking. To a child, it is all a miracle, and power is needed. As adults, sometimes we think that power won't be there for the prayer request, so we don't even give it a second thought. In most of my prayers, I usually ask for the Lord's help, as if I will try as hard as I can on my own and He should provide that extra ten percent at the end. Seldom do I have prayer requests that take true power, miraculous power. Most adults have stopped praying for miracles at some point in their lives. But the Bible says that we must have faith like a little child. This is actually counter intuitive in a rational adult's mind. We are smarter than a child, therefore will have better prayer requests. I think the Lord appreciates the prayer requests of a little child more than an adult. The child's requests come from a sincere heart, believing there is power needed for a miracle above what can be seen or understood in the natural realm.
The fact of the matter is, there is power needed for any and every prayer request or miracle. Whether you believe it or not, power is needed to heal the cut on your finger or reconcile your marriage. Your efforts and mine are not needed for the miracle. In fact, it is usually better when we back off and pray, putting it in the hands of the Lord altogether, like a child. Peter and John, when they were questioned about the mighty healing miracle and the power needed to perform such an event, answered wisely. They simply said they had nothing to do with it other than a faith to believe in the name and the power of Jesus the Christ for such a miracle. The declared it was all the Lord's power.
What are the miracles for which you've stopped praying? What power is needed for the miracle in your life?
Don't take my word for it; look it up: Matt 18:2-4, Mark 10:15, Acts 4: 1-31
I sat in a room of four-year-olds and the teacher asked the group of children for their prayer requests. Their sense of a prayer request was much different than yours or mine. One asked that a small cut on her finger, hidden by a band aid, would be healed. One asked that his family's pet rabbit, which had just died, would come back. Another asked that his father, who was divorced from his mother would move back from out of town and live with them once again. One child asked that she would be able to go do Disney World. Another asked for a certain new toy that was on the market. Their prayer requests were varied and you and I might not pray for the same things. We rationalize them away. We don't pray for the cut on a finger because it will be healed in four to seven days anyway. We don't pray for a Disney vacation or a new toy because that is selfish. We don't pray for the family pet to come back to life because that is just never going to happen. We don't pray for a marriage to be reconciled after divorce because divorce is final.
As adults, our concept of power needed for a miracle is skewed by our thinking. To a child, it is all a miracle, and power is needed. As adults, sometimes we think that power won't be there for the prayer request, so we don't even give it a second thought. In most of my prayers, I usually ask for the Lord's help, as if I will try as hard as I can on my own and He should provide that extra ten percent at the end. Seldom do I have prayer requests that take true power, miraculous power. Most adults have stopped praying for miracles at some point in their lives. But the Bible says that we must have faith like a little child. This is actually counter intuitive in a rational adult's mind. We are smarter than a child, therefore will have better prayer requests. I think the Lord appreciates the prayer requests of a little child more than an adult. The child's requests come from a sincere heart, believing there is power needed for a miracle above what can be seen or understood in the natural realm.
The fact of the matter is, there is power needed for any and every prayer request or miracle. Whether you believe it or not, power is needed to heal the cut on your finger or reconcile your marriage. Your efforts and mine are not needed for the miracle. In fact, it is usually better when we back off and pray, putting it in the hands of the Lord altogether, like a child. Peter and John, when they were questioned about the mighty healing miracle and the power needed to perform such an event, answered wisely. They simply said they had nothing to do with it other than a faith to believe in the name and the power of Jesus the Christ for such a miracle. The declared it was all the Lord's power.
What are the miracles for which you've stopped praying? What power is needed for the miracle in your life?
Don't take my word for it; look it up: Matt 18:2-4, Mark 10:15, Acts 4: 1-31
No comments:
Post a Comment