Tuesday, November 8th
Edition 4 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 (answers I have found below them):
Edition 4 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 (answers I have found below them):
- How long should I pray?
1) Continually.
- How should I pray?
1) Examples in the bible show that they prayed out loud. No examples of a silent or quiet prayer.
- How long should I fast?
- What accounts for a “mustard seed” of faith?
1) We have seen that a mustard seed is a very small thing. It takes very little faith to do the impossible.
2) The mustard seed would need to grow, so this is a growing faith. This faith is, in a sense, to be harvested, or as I see it, to become useful.
3) I should test my faith.
James 2:14-26
14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Note: Now, one question I have thought about was quiet prayer (praying to oneself) or praying out load so I can be heard. So, I searched and searched on this, and found that “Silent Prayer” - no scripture referring to praying quietly or silently. Silent is used in 59 scriptures; quiet is used in 51 scriptures, none in the context of praying in a quiet or silent fashion.
Genesis 20:6-7
6 Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. 7 Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die."
Note: Here in Genesis, an example of prayer for someone to live and it works. The interesting thing I see is that the one who wanted to live had to do the work… it just stood out to me. He had to make a decision of wanting to live and then have someone pray for him so that it could happen.
2 Samuel 12:7-18a
7 Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'
11 "This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.' "
13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD."
Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die."
15 After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.
18 On the seventh day the child died.
Note: God made his decision before David started praying. If God makes a decision, prayer may or may not change the verdict. He has changed his mind in the past, but it is also obvious that to save many, he is willing to sacrifice some (IE: his son, Jesus). David, in this example, was going into the prayer time knowing good and well he was trying to change God’s mind. God came out and said that this was going to happen, and it did. David’s son death was a direct result of a sin in David’s life. One thing I think about is how my sin can hurt others. The consequences of my sin branch out and affect other people. Adultery – it would hurt my wife and the one I cheat with. Excessive Gambling – it negates the responsibility of my bills and has a trickle down effect. Lust – it minimizes the one being lust after and becomes objectification and other sins result. Who am I hurting today?
2) The mustard seed would need to grow, so this is a growing faith. This faith is, in a sense, to be harvested, or as I see it, to become useful.
3) I should test my faith.
James 2:14-26
14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Note: Now, one question I have thought about was quiet prayer (praying to oneself) or praying out load so I can be heard. So, I searched and searched on this, and found that “Silent Prayer” - no scripture referring to praying quietly or silently. Silent is used in 59 scriptures; quiet is used in 51 scriptures, none in the context of praying in a quiet or silent fashion.
Genesis 20:6-7
6 Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. 7 Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die."
Note: Here in Genesis, an example of prayer for someone to live and it works. The interesting thing I see is that the one who wanted to live had to do the work… it just stood out to me. He had to make a decision of wanting to live and then have someone pray for him so that it could happen.
2 Samuel 12:7-18a
7 Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'
11 "This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.' "
13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD."
Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die."
15 After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.
18 On the seventh day the child died.
Note: God made his decision before David started praying. If God makes a decision, prayer may or may not change the verdict. He has changed his mind in the past, but it is also obvious that to save many, he is willing to sacrifice some (IE: his son, Jesus). David, in this example, was going into the prayer time knowing good and well he was trying to change God’s mind. God came out and said that this was going to happen, and it did. David’s son death was a direct result of a sin in David’s life. One thing I think about is how my sin can hurt others. The consequences of my sin branch out and affect other people. Adultery – it would hurt my wife and the one I cheat with. Excessive Gambling – it negates the responsibility of my bills and has a trickle down effect. Lust – it minimizes the one being lust after and becomes objectification and other sins result. Who am I hurting today?
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