Welcome to this Come to Jesus Daily Devotional as we continue in our Luke, Exploring Who Jesus is series. At present, I'm only posting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Today, from Luke 17:5-6, we consider how powerful prayer is that which is inspired by true faith - which is the gift of God.
To watch this devotional, select the link below
‘The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.’ (Luke 17:5-6)
1. ‘Mustard seed’ faith says…
Firstly, our faith will be seen in the fact that we actually pray! A failure to pray is a confession that we don’t believe in God or that we don’t believe or know His promises. Even if we have tiny faith, we will pray. In big or small things are we praying?
2. ‘Mustard seed’ faith achieves impossible things
Jesus gives us this impossible outcome as this large mulberry tree is uprooted and planted in the sea in obedience to a prayer of command! Does this mean that every Christian should offer their services to the construction industry in place of the diggers and cranes that are normally required for doing very hard things? This is the kind of text that gets many Christians perplexed, confused and can cause some to go ‘wacky’ as they declare things that, oftentimes, do not materialise! The key to understanding this text, and others that speak of faith leading to great outcomes, is to understand true faith is the gift of God. In faith, for example, we are to pray for anyone that is sick or in need, however, the Holy Spirit will determine the measure of our faith. And the amazing promise is that even if your true faith is tiny - like a mustard seed - you will see great things!
3. The size of our faith is the gift of God
My view is that true faith is the gift of God. True faith for salvation or for signs and wonders is the gift of God. I don’t believe that we can operate outside of the will and gift of The Holy Spirit. The Christian is to be sensitive to, and act in accord with the gift of faith that the Spirit is giving in each situation. Sometimes our faith, inspired by the Spirit, will pray for something with commanding authority, but oftentimes we pray ‘your will be done’ because this is the gift and measure of faith that the Spirit has given us in that incidence. For example, the parting of the sea as Israel escaped from Egypt teaches about the gift of faith; Moses doesn’t begin by praying with big faith. Rather, his faith grew through revelation from God. We read:
‘Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.’ (Exodus 14:15-16)
It was in a place of prayer, as Moses ‘cried out’ to God that the gift of greater faith came! Likewise, it’s as we pray for people and situations with a certain measure of faith that God can impart to us the faith for great breakthroughs. God honours and grows the faith of those who will cry out to Him for things.
I hope we can understand that we can’t just appropriate this kind of story for ourselves and command hard things - the ‘seas’ that confront us - to part. We must all beware of thinking that the mature Christian comes to a place of independence when they can announce and command things regardless of how the Spirit may be leading.
It’s healthy to pray according to the faith that you have in any particular situation. Powerful prayer is that which is inspired by true faith - which is the gift of God, and will achieve things that are impossible because our prayers will be in step with God, for whom nothing is impossible for God!
Let’s pray together as we finish
“Holy Spirit, please keep inspiring my faith. May I see signs and wonders done for your glory. I commit myself to praying for big things and being ready to respond to your inspiration to pray with greater faith. Amen.”
Community Group Notes
1. Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
2. Icebreaker
How has God been speaking to you from His Word this week, and how has this helped you?
3. Worship together
Let’s begin our time together by lifting our eyes and hearts to worship our great God. Perhaps you have readings and songs that you would like to use together. Let’s be open to the gifts that the Spirit wants to give in order to encourage one another.
4. Study and pray together
On Sunday our message from Luke 17:5-6, was entitled, ‘Jesus wants to teach us about faith’. In summary, Disciples of Jesus need to learn about what faith is and how to use it, particularly in the realm of prayer.
Please read Luke Luke 17:5-6 and discuss:
Did God speak to you about any from Sunday’s message that would encourage others?
Why, in the context of the passage, do the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith?
What is faith?
How does faith grow?
In what things would you like to see breakthrough in at the moment? and let’s now pray for these things.
SIV - How will faith, even tiny faith, affect our involvement in seeking to bring people to Jesus?
SIV - Do we have any stories of how we have ‘Served, Invested, and inVited’ recently?
SIV - Spend some time together talking and praying about who and how you are seeking to bring your community to Jesus; alternatively, pray for the ‘people of peace’ that you regularly meet with.
Let’s pray together: Pray for one another out of our study together and for anything else for which people would like prayer.
Comments