____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ September 1, 1991 ____________________________________________________ Requirements for Answered Prayer by Tom Edwards Prayer is a great privilege for the Christian who is faithfully following in the footsteps of Jesus. Actually, he is the only one who can make supplications, intercessions, and thanksgivings acceptably. This is so because, as we shall see in the following, there are certain preconditions that one must meet which only pertain to the FAITHFUL child of God. For anyone to simply convey unto God the desires of his or her heart, whether verbally or silently, is not the only requirement the Bible shows for answered prayer. There are other stipulations just as needful -- if not more so. For example, consider the following prerequisites: 1) One must have the PROPER INCENTIVE -- James 4:3, ``When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures'' (NIV). 2) One must be of a MERCIFUL NATURE -- Mark 11:25-26, ``And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses'' (NKJ). 3) One must pray IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOD'S WILL and KNOW THAT THE LORD LISTENS -- 1 John 5:14-15, ``Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him'' (NKJ). 4) One must BELIEVE GOD CAN ANSWER -- James 1:5-6, ``If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind'' (NKJ). 5) The husband must be TREATING his WIFE PROPERLY -- 1 Peter 3:7, ``Likewise you husbands, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered'' (NKJ). 6) One must NOT be LIVING IN SIN, BUT OBEYING THE LORD -- 1 John 3:22, ``And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight'' (NKJ). Obviously, the non-Christian is not fully keeping the commandments of the Lord for he has not even begun by doing what God has asked in order to be redeemed. It is equally true, however, that the Christian who falls back into sin is no longer fully keeping the commandments of God and should, therefore, realize that he has lost the privilege of having God to answer his prayers. While he remains in this sinful state, the only prayer the Christian can pray is one that would follow his repentance, as he seeks after God's mercy and restoration (Acts 8:22; 1 Jn. 1:9; Rev. 3:20). Sometimes our wayward brethren overlook this truth. A crisis arises and naturally they feel led to pray for God's help -- whether for others or for themselves -- but without even the slightest thought of turning from their waywardness and returning unto God in order to once again live as one of the Lord's faithful servants. Let us each remember that John shows that one of the reasons why God answers prayer is on the basis that ``we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight'' (1 John 3:22). If this is not true in our lives then we should not expect the Lord to answer our requests. In closing, it is also interesting to note that the above scriptures illustrate for us the need to get the overall view of the New Testament and not just one isolated passage that speaks of a particular subject. For instance, if we considered only Mark 11:24, we would probably conclude that one needs to just believe that a person will receive those things he asked for as being the only prerequisite for answered prayer; but the above passages further illuminate us in this matter. They show that one must ask for that which is ``according to God's will'' and not just anything ``whatsoever''; and they also instruct of the need for unselfish motives, proper marital relationships, merciful dispositions, and to sum it up -- obedience unto the Lord. This principle also applies to any other subject in the Bible as well. Let us, therefore, always strive to get the full scope, lest our beliefs and practices be found lacking in the Judgment Day; and the pronouncement we hear be not the answer we expected. ___________________________________________ SCRIPTURE ACTION RESULT Acts 2:21 "call on...name of...Lord" "shall be saved" Acts 2:38 "repent, and be baptized" "remission of sins" Acts 16:31 "Believe in the Lord Jesus" "shall be saved" Since the Bible teaches there is only ONE plan of salvation (Jude 1:3) for the alien sinner to become a Christian, then "calling on the Lord" means the same as believing, repenting, and be baptized; and "believing" in Jesus to the saving of the soul also involves repentance and baptism. This also shows that "calling" on the Lord does not mean merely to pray. -- Tom Edwards ___________________________________________ True Reverence by Tom Edwards Recently, I enjoyed the lesson brother Les brought to us about our need to reverence God. He shared it with so much feeling that it was rather easy to join in with him and give glory to the Lord together in one spirit. Often times many of us take the Lord for granted and don't truly give Him the honour that He so verily deserves. Sometimes it is due to becoming so caught up in the activities of the world that we just don't take the time to seriously meditate upon all that God has done for us. This is one good reason for Bible study. Examining the Scriptures helps us to set our affections on things above (Col. 3:1,2). God's word has been designed to not only instruct us in how to become a Christian and live as one, but it is also for our needed comfort, encouragement, hope, and an ever increasing faith (Rom. 15:4; Rom. 10:17). Our reverence to God is more than merely a feeling or a state of mind. It's interesting to note that true reverence is taught by God Himself; and it is, therefore, something that man without God's instructive help would not be able to correctly do. In the case of Moses at the burning bush, the Lord made what might seem as an unusual request, but it was required of Moses in order that he might show his deep respect toward the Almighty God. The Lord told him to ''...remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground'' (Exo. 3:5). Just as reverence was sometimes showed by making oneself prostrate before the Lord, the act of standing upon this parcel of ``holy ground'' shoeless was a sign of Moses' supreme honor toward God and his submission to Him. Later on in his life, however, Moses denied the Lord of this reverence by not obeying Him completely. It happen in the wilderness of Zin at Kadesh where Miriam died and was buried. Here the people assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron in order to vent their complaints of being brought to such a desolate region where there were no figs, vines, pomegranates, grain, nor water. The Lord had then told Moses to speak to the rock while in the sight of all of Israel and water would gush from it. Moses, however, sounding rather irritated at the people and presumptuous, struck the rock instead of speaking to it. As a result, the Lord reproved Moses for not treating Him ``as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel''; and, as a further consequence, Moses would not be allowed to enter into the Promised Land (Num. 20:1-12). An application we can make in this incident at Kadesh is that true reverence involves not only the proper attitude, but also the right actions. Is this not also what the Lord was emphasizing when He said to the woman at the well that ``God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth''? (John 4:24). Not only must one be in the right spirit (frame of mind, attitude, etc.), but one's worship must also be according to the truth (the gospel). Undoubtedly, many of the early Christians who were persuaded to continue with Judaistic teachings, such as the need for circumcision and to maintain other requirements of the Law of Moses, felt that this was needful for not only their salvation, but to also show their reverence unto God by respectfully complying with what they believed to have been His laws for them. Unfortunately, their zeal had been misdirected for it was wrong of them to bind the Law of Moses and its requirements along with the gospel of Christ. As a consequence, their reverence was vain and not acceptable (Gal. 5:1-4). To worship God acceptably we must know His word and put it into practice in our lives. May we help you in this by mailing to you one of our free Bible lessons? If so, then merely mail your name and address to the address shown in this bulletin. Thank you. ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 713 13th Street, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________