Edition 2 on the NO ANSWER study

Sunday, November 6th

Edition 2 of the NO ANSWER Study

“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed,… nothing will be impossible for you.”

Questions that come to my mind are this:

• How long should I pray?
  
• How long should I fast?
  
• What accounts for a “mustard seed” of faith?

Matthew 7:7-12
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, 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! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 17:14-20
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."

17 "O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me." 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"

20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Matthew 21:18-22
18 Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered.

20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked.

21 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

Mark 11:20-25
20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"

22 "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Luke 11:5-13
5 Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'

7 "Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

11 "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Note: So here is what I know from just these five scriptures: Matthew 7:11 – the good gift is the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). The mustard seed of faith was actually the smallest common thing about in the “day.” So when Jesus says that a mustard seed of faith is all that is needed, he is saying it isn’t much faith needed to do something. Verse 9 of Luke 11 says that I have to ask and it WILL be given. When I ask, I should not doubt (Mark 11:23). The kicker is verse 24, believing I have already received it. I have heard that God has a sense of humor. He did make the Laughing Hyena and the Platypus Duck, so I believe it. I wonder when God hears our prayers, if he answers like that of a Genie sometimes. Here’s a story to elaborate:

• There were 3 friends stranded in an island. Exploring the island, the 3 men found a bottle so they opened it. A genie came out, and she said that she would grant them 3 wishes.
  
• The first man said, "I wish I was with my family" then poof he was with his family.
  
• The second guy said "I wish I was in a steak house with my friends" then poof he was gone.
  
• The third guy was feeling bad and the genie asked, "What's wrong?" The man said, “I'm lonely I wish my friends were here.”
  
• Poof, his two friends were back in the island.

Granted, that is a joke, but still, Genie’s can take something a run with it. They are known for trickery. I am not saying God is a trickster, but what I am saying is that if I were to pray to be rich, per se. And God responds with giving me a ton of friends. In essence, I would be rich with friendship. So, when I prayed for this woman to live, God may have given her new life. I don’t know… what kind of bread was I looking for – white or wheat? (Luke 11:5) There is a number of things I want to look at. First, prayer in that of itself. Prayer in combination with fasting. I want to also ask the question of does prayer need to be said out loud or can you say a silent prayer to be heard by God? Johnny Out.