Wednesday, November 16th
Edition 9 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 (possible answers I have found below them):
Edition 9 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 (possible answers I have found below them):
- How long should I pray?
1) Continually.
2) Enough to be willing to do God’s will and not mine.
2) Enough to be willing to do God’s will and not mine.
- How should I pray?
1) I should pray with action.
2) As many times as it takes to be content in MY heart.
3) Silently or by speaking is irrelevant, it’s the attitude of the heart.
2) As many times as it takes to be content in MY heart.
3) Silently or by speaking is irrelevant, it’s the attitude of the heart.
- How long should I fast?
1) Enough to make it a true sacrifice.
2) Fasting should take place in private.
3) Forty days signifies a long time.
2) Fasting should take place in private.
3) Forty days signifies a long time.
- 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.
Note: Now that we have validated God and looked in-depth into prayer, I want to focus a little more on fasting. When I think of fasting, the first thing I think about is Jesus’ temptation.
Matthew 4:1-11
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
7 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Mark 1:12-13
12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13 and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
Luke 4:1-13
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
12 Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Note: I think it should be noted that Satan knew the scriptures just as good, if not more so than anyone else and used them to his advantage. Just because you have the right doctrine, doesn’t mean you are right with God. Jesus went away from everyone to fast. He did it a long time (forty days).
Sacrifice (noun):
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.
Note: Now that we have validated God and looked in-depth into prayer, I want to focus a little more on fasting. When I think of fasting, the first thing I think about is Jesus’ temptation.
Matthew 4:1-11
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
7 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Mark 1:12-13
12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13 and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
Luke 4:1-13
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
12 Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Note: I think it should be noted that Satan knew the scriptures just as good, if not more so than anyone else and used them to his advantage. Just because you have the right doctrine, doesn’t mean you are right with God. Jesus went away from everyone to fast. He did it a long time (forty days).
Sacrifice (noun):
- Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.
- Something so forfeited.
So, when I fast is it a sacrifice? Am I fasting for the world to see or God? I must consider Luke…
Luke 18:9-14
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Note: What is my motivation not before or after, but during my fast? Do I boast about it throughout the fasting period? If I am fasting from bread and someone offers me bread, do I take it or do I go, “I am super spiritual and am fasting, so I can’t have bread right now.” The whole concept of being in private and in secret is compromised by doing so and takes away glory from God. I want to be good in the eyes of God and not man. I was thinking that this study would carry me out until 2006, but I feel I am nearing the end on this one. But time will tell. Johnny Out.
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