Hi Pastor John.

The Lord put it on my heart early this morning to ask Him to teach me to pray more appropriately; i.e., to pray in His will, and in the manner by which my prayer will be honored—and answered—by Him. (Oftentimes I’ve found myself merely praying for things that I want, rather than giving my desires over to God for Him to provide, as He sees fit.  But God is not our servant; not our “butler” to obey our every whim, whatever we might ask for.)

I know that Jesus explained this “manner” of prayer to his disciples, in the garden of Gethsemane, but it would be in vain to repeat that particular prayer in our present time, wouldn’t it? (…as Christians do)   

But Jesus’ instructions were to pray like that…

What do you think He meant, exactly?

Could you elaborate on those details in that prayer, and if we ought to use that template for our prayers today?

Brad

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Hi Brad.

I appreciate your sincerity in asking this of the Lord.  Include me in your prayer, please.

Yes, it is a vain exercise to repeat, as a ceremonial form, the words Jesus told his disciples to pray.  That prayer was only for Jesus’ followers to pray before they were born again on Pentecost morning.  It would, as you know, be foolish of me to suggest a specific prayer with specific words for anyone to pray.  In this covenant, effective prayer is prayer inspired by the Spirit.  In fact, we being as ignorant as we are of things to come and as ignorant as we are of the many wicked spirits around us, Jesus gave us the great blessing of the Spirit to help us pray “as we ought”. to use Paul’s phrase.

Other than point you to the Spirit, to wait to pray until the Spirit leads you to pray, and to say in prayer only what you are moved by the Spirit to say, it could be pointed out that in the disciples’ prayer (what Christians call “the Lord’s Prayer”), there is great reverence and humility before the Father, and great hope in His love.  But then, even all that, when it is real and not a ceremonial form, is from the Spirit; so, we’re back to the Spirit inspiring the prayer.

There’s just no way around it.  Be led by the Spirit, or your prayer is in the flesh.  What a precious opportunity we have, to be led by the Spirit!  If we live after the Spirit, Paul said, we will live forever!  But if we live after the flesh, he said, we will die.  May God give you and me, and all of us, the grace to follow after the holy Spirit of life, and truly be sons of the living God.

Thanks for writing, Brad.  I believe that the Lord will guide you and add to your faith whatever you need to make your prayer ever more effective.

Your servant,

Pastor John

Can you explain Acts 2:4? Is it different then 1 Corinthians 14:2…Please need help on this one!! 

Jacob F.  

Bryant, IL.

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Hi Jacob.

In both cases, the Spirit is moving people to speak a language that they themselves have not learned.  In that way, there is no difference between Acts 2:4 and 1Corinthians 14:2.  In one case, those who heard God’s saints speaking understood what they were saying, and in the other case, no man will understand what is being said, but that is actually beside the point.  For what the Spirit does is God’s choice, not man’s; human will has nothing to do with it.

Don’t be dragged into controversies over such matters.  Those who resist the power of the Spirit will never experience either of those two blessings.  WE should rejoice that our precious Jesus suffered and died to make such blessings freely available to us, and pray to be counted worthy of them.

Just move on, and stay happy.

Thank you for the question.

Pastor John

Does 1 Timothy 1:17 apply to the Father?  I thought it was referring to Jesus because it mentions the eternal King.

17. Now, to the King of the Aeons, immortal, invisible — the only wise God — be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.

Tom

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Hi Tom.

The Son is the Prince of life, but the Father is the King.

Paul again refers to the Father as King in chapter 6 of 1Timothy:

13. Before God, who gives life to all things, and Christ Jesus, who made the good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you

14. that you keep this commandment without blemish, free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15. which at its appointed time will show who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

16. who alone is immortal, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.  To Him be honor and power forever!  Amen.

Hope that answers your question.

Pastor John

Pastor John, 

I left Christianity 25 years ago and have not fellowship with another follower of Jesus since.  I came across your website and it was wonderful to read about your journey out.  Thank you.

William

Scotland, UK

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Hi William. 

Thank you for your recent email.  People in various places ask me at times if I know of a congregation near them like what they see/hear in the assembly here.  I wish I knew of thousands of such places!  However, though we have searched diligently, we have found only individuals, not groups, who have heard the call of Jesus to come out to where he is.  So, I understand your comments. 

You can watch our meetings live online.  If you want to, let me know, and I will give your email address to brother Stuart Hiser, who takes care of that.

God bless you and yours!  And please stay in touch.  We’d love to know more of your story.

Your servant, 

John

Hi Pastor John,

I have a question about this.  How did Peter know that the two men who appeared to them were Moses and Elijah? Moses and Elijah were ancient people at that time. No one had seen their faces, so how could anyone know what they look like?

Matthew 17:

Jesus Transfigured on the Mount

“Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

Thank you,

Leika

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Hi again.

That is how it is in the Spirit.  In the resurrection, for example, you will know everyone in the kingdom of God, and everyone in the kingdom of God will know you. There will be no need for introductions because the Spirit will create within the children of God the knowledge of who is who.  For another example, if Jesus visited you today, you would know who he is, without being told.

By the way, Peter is not the only one who knew who Moses and Elijah were in Matthew 17.  James and John would have also known.

Pastor John

Why did Paul say “that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in”?

Leika

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Hi Leika.

In that verse, Paul is speaking of the Second Coming of Jesus, when the Jews will finally realize that Jesus was their Messiah.  The time for Gentiles to come to Jesus apart from Israel will have passed, and the blindness of Israel will be taken away.

Pastor John

Hi Pastor John,

Romans 11:25-29 says, “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.’  Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

In this verse, is Paul saying that all Israel (Jews from the 12 tribe) will be saved?

Thank you

Leika

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Hi Leika.

No, Paul is not saying that.  He is speaking of those whom he calls “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16).  Paul explained in Romans that “they are not all Israel which are of Israel” (Rom. 9:6). That is to say, not everybody who is a physical Israelite belongs to the Israel that truly belongs to God.  THAT is the Israel which will be saved.

Pastor John