A verse for 5/16/12

Mat 21:21  And Jesus answered them, "Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen.

Mat 21:22  And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."

Please read and consider the following:

The prayer of faith. The prayer of 21:22 expresses dependence upon God;

cf. the parallel in Mk 11:22, "Have faith in God." "True prayer takes hold of God's

strength" (Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, 2). Prayer is "impotence

grasping hold of omnipotence." One is to "ask for" certain things, and to "receive" them.

Things are "done for" the one who prays (Mk 11:23). The sovereign God remains in

control. His sovereignty is not supplanted by a sovereign faith to which God in turn is

forced to yield. The unqualified and comprehensive promise, does not alter the fact that

the response to the prayer is a gracious gift of God to his children. "The power to

believe a promise depends entirely, [and] only, on faith in the promiser" (Murray, Prayer,

57). Not merely the account of Gethsemane, but this passage too, teaches submission to

God's will. Could one really trust God without depending on his will?

 Interpreting Scripture by Scripture. A cardinal principle of Biblical interpretation

is that Scripture must interpret Scripture. Thus the promise of Mt 21:22 must not

be divorced from the rest of Mt. This means, e.g., that it must be taken together with the

the petition of 6:10 ("Thy will be done...") - which occurs in fairly close proximity to the

promises of 7:7-11. It is also helpful to compare 1 Jn 5:14-15: "This is the assurance 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." Prayer's true freedom depends upon the protection of God's will.