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When Only Prayer Will Do
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
Matthew 17:19–21
While Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, a desperate father brought his demon-possessed son to the other disciples and sought for help. Despite the fact that they had cast demons out of other people, they could do nothing with this one. It was not until Jesus returned, that the young man’s father’s prayers were answered and the boy was delivered. When the disciples asked the Lord what made the difference, He told them it was a lack of prayer on their part.
Dr. John Rice said, “My greatest sin, and yours, is prayerlessness. My indecision, my lack of wisdom, my lack of guidance come directly out of my prayerlessness. All the times I have fallen into sin, have failed in my duties, have been bereft of power, or disconsolate for lack of comfort, I can charge to the sin of prayerlessness. Oh! Horrible sin, the lack of prayer!”
So many Christians are frustrated because they are trying to do in their own strength what can only be accomplished through the power of God. And the means by which God has ordained to release that power in our lives is prayer. Yet despite the fact that we are told this again and again in the Bible, how often we fail to pray? Intense, serious, passionate prayer, even to the point of fasting, is required to deal with the issues that life throws at us. Without prayer we will falter and fail.
Matthew 17:19–21
While Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, a desperate father brought his demon-possessed son to the other disciples and sought for help. Despite the fact that they had cast demons out of other people, they could do nothing with this one. It was not until Jesus returned, that the young man’s father’s prayers were answered and the boy was delivered. When the disciples asked the Lord what made the difference, He told them it was a lack of prayer on their part.
Dr. John Rice said, “My greatest sin, and yours, is prayerlessness. My indecision, my lack of wisdom, my lack of guidance come directly out of my prayerlessness. All the times I have fallen into sin, have failed in my duties, have been bereft of power, or disconsolate for lack of comfort, I can charge to the sin of prayerlessness. Oh! Horrible sin, the lack of prayer!”
So many Christians are frustrated because they are trying to do in their own strength what can only be accomplished through the power of God. And the means by which God has ordained to release that power in our lives is prayer. Yet despite the fact that we are told this again and again in the Bible, how often we fail to pray? Intense, serious, passionate prayer, even to the point of fasting, is required to deal with the issues that life throws at us. Without prayer we will falter and fail.
Today’s Growth Principle:
God’s work will not have the power to succeed in our lives unless we are truly people of prayer.
When Only Prayer Will Do
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
Matthew 17:19–21
While Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, a desperate father brought his demon-possessed son to the other disciples and sought for help. Despite the fact that they had cast demons out of other people, they could do nothing with this one. It was not until Jesus returned, that the young man’s father’s prayers were answered and the boy was delivered. When the disciples asked the Lord what made the difference, He told them it was a lack of prayer on their part.
Dr. John Rice said, “My greatest sin, and yours, is prayerlessness. My indecision, my lack of wisdom, my lack of guidance come directly out of my prayerlessness. All the times I have fallen into sin, have failed in my duties, have been bereft of power, or disconsolate for lack of comfort, I can charge to the sin of prayerlessness. Oh! Horrible sin, the lack of prayer!”
So many Christians are frustrated because they are trying to do in their own strength what can only be accomplished through the power of God. And the means by which God has ordained to release that power in our lives is prayer. Yet despite the fact that we are told this again and again in the Bible, how often we fail to pray? Intense, serious, passionate prayer, even to the point of fasting, is required to deal with the issues that life throws at us. Without prayer we will falter and fail.
Matthew 17:19–21
While Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, a desperate father brought his demon-possessed son to the other disciples and sought for help. Despite the fact that they had cast demons out of other people, they could do nothing with this one. It was not until Jesus returned, that the young man’s father’s prayers were answered and the boy was delivered. When the disciples asked the Lord what made the difference, He told them it was a lack of prayer on their part.
Dr. John Rice said, “My greatest sin, and yours, is prayerlessness. My indecision, my lack of wisdom, my lack of guidance come directly out of my prayerlessness. All the times I have fallen into sin, have failed in my duties, have been bereft of power, or disconsolate for lack of comfort, I can charge to the sin of prayerlessness. Oh! Horrible sin, the lack of prayer!”
So many Christians are frustrated because they are trying to do in their own strength what can only be accomplished through the power of God. And the means by which God has ordained to release that power in our lives is prayer. Yet despite the fact that we are told this again and again in the Bible, how often we fail to pray? Intense, serious, passionate prayer, even to the point of fasting, is required to deal with the issues that life throws at us. Without prayer we will falter and fail.
Today’s Growth Principle:
God’s work will not have the power to succeed in our lives unless we are truly people of prayer.
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