Pentecostal Language

[john6809]

Homer wrote, I see nothing wrong at all in humbly petitioning God to change His mind.

This is my position. It can be consistently defended. If you can't explain why your prayers are sometimes answered but sometimes not, from whence do you get your faith?

[backwoodsman]

Oswald Chambers says something along the lines that if you are walking with the Lord you ARE the will of God.

True enough as far as it goes; the problem is that pesky little word "IF". Most, it seems, think of themselves as walking with the Lord a little more closely than most others except those they see as authority figures. Those who follow the teachings and practices that are the subject of this thread generally have much more of that attitude than others, whom they generally view as rejecting and missing out on the real power and blessing God wants us to have.

All that to say: Most, it would seem, are not qualified to say that it's they, themselves, to whom Chambers is referring, even though (or maybe, especially if) they think they are. I've noticed that when Christians have a higher opinion of their own spiritual maturity and wisdom than is warranted by reality, they're very quickly misled into all sorts of errors; those who can then get themselves into positions of influence can cause a truly shocking amount of damage in the church. Of course that mistake isn't unique to pentecostals/charismatics, but they certainly have most of the really spectacular examples of it.

[willowtree]

If you can't explain why your prayers are sometimes answered but sometimes not, from whence do you get your faith?

I read this last week and it reminded me of how I see faith working:

'This is the confidence we have in approaching God : 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 what we asked of him.' 1 John 5:14-15

Our faith comes, not from what we ask for, but from hearing his acknowledgement that he has heard us.

My favourite verse on faith is Romans 4:20 'Yet he [Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.'

[john6809]

Willowtree wrote, Our faith comes, not from what we ask for, but from hearing his acknowledgement that he has heard us.

I like that. I was going to include that in may answer regarding the purpose of prayer. It is part of a relationship with God. Why bother relating? That's what we are designed to do.

Willowtree wrote, Romans 4:20 'Yet he [Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.'

And Abraham never did see the fulfillment of this promise, but he still had faith.

By the way, hello to a fellow British Columbian!
Regards, John

[willowtree]

John6809 wrote:
By the way, hello to a fellow British Columbian!
Regards, John

Hello to you as well. I hadn't noticed where you are from until I replied to your post.
Greetings
Graeme