Chapter 12
"Faith in the promise is the fruit of faith in the promiser; the prayer of faith is rooted in the life of faith. And in this way the faith that prays effectually is inded a gift of God."
"We think of prayer as teh power to drawn down good gifts from heaven; Jesus as a means to draw ourselves up to God. We want to stand at the door and cry; Jesus would have us first enter in and realize that we are friends and children."
Both of these quotes have to do with the same thing - the essence of faith and the essence of prayer lies not in a secret code, discipline, or calling - it lies only in God Himself. Knowing God's promises are good, and beleiving in His promises is even better, but knowing God himself is what we are made for. When knowing God is your target, having faith in Him and growing in your prayer life will be byproducts. Yet, even when mystery replaces faith and our prayers go unanswered, the knowledge of God can remain strong. This is why God would have us pursue Him as our first love and why He pursues us relentlessly; God desperately wants us to be close to Him and with Him.
"Faith is surrender" Which is funny, faith requires such confidence as well: to be SURE of what you hope for and CERTAIN of what you do not see.
ReplyDeleteWhen you surrender to someone, you concede that he/she knows better than you do. When this happens, there is an opportunity to be teachable. New revelation can come, new knowledge, new confidence, straight from heaven. Surrender is linked to Faith, as well as confidence to receive. Imagine you are guaranteed by an angel there is a bridge across a vast expanse, but you don't see one. Knowing there is a bridge that you can't see in comparison to walking across an invisible bridge provide two difference faith experiences. One is doubtful, one is tested. Both require faith, but in different measures. One says, sure, why not, another says HOLY MOLY I just walked across an invisible bridge! I think that is what Murray means when he refers to a "life of faith."
interesting line: "intercourse with God will lead to an invigoration of your spiritual life" no kidding! sophdawg, get your mind out of the gutter. nah, I dont think I will. yeah I totally posted that, we'll see who's reading these I guess. schwatever.