Tag: prayer

MY FAITH JOURNEY

March 17th, 2024

BY

KEVIN R SCHULTZ

THE PRAISES AND BLESSINGS OF FAITH

FAITH

FAITH, n. [L. fides, fido, to trust; Gr. to persuade, to draw towards any thing, to conciliate; to believe, to obey. In the Greek Lexicon of Hederic it is said, the primitive signification of the verb is to bind and draw or lead, as signifies a rope or cable. But this remark is a little incorrect. The sense of the verb, from which that of rope and binding is derived, is to strain, to draw, and thus to bind or make fast. A rope or cable is that which makes fast. Heb.]

3. In theology, the assent of the mind or understanding to the truth of what God has revealed. Simple belief of the scriptures, of the being and perfections of God, and of the existence, character and doctrines of Christ, founded on the testimony of the sacred writers, is called historical or speculative faith; a faith little distinguished from the belief of the existence and achievements of Alexander or of Cesar.

4. Evangelical, justifying, or saving faith, is the assent of the mind to the truth of divine revelation, on the authority of God’s testimony, accompanied with a cordial assent of the will or approbation of the heart; an entire confidence or trust in God’s character and declarations, and in the character and doctrines of Christ, with an unreserved surrender of the will to his guidance, and dependence on his merits for salvation. In other words, that firm belief of God’s testimony, and of the truth of the gospel, which influences the will, and leads to an entire reliance on Christ for salvation.

Being justified by faith. Rom 5.

Without faith it is impossible to please God. Heb 11.

For we walk by faith, and not by sight. 2 Cor 5.

With the heart man believeth to righteousness. Rom 10.

The faith of the gospel is that emotion of the mind, which is called trust or confidence, exercised towards the moral character of God, and particularly of the Savior.

Faith is an affectionate practical confidence in the testimony of God.

Faith is an affectionate practical confidence in the testimony of God.

Faith is a firm, cordial belief in the veracity of God, in all the declarations of his word; or a full and affectionate confidence in the certainty of those things which God has declared, and because he has declared them.

5. The object of belief; a doctrine or system of doctrines believed; a system of revealed truths received by christians.

They heard only that he who persecuted us in times past, now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. Gal 1.

6. The promises of God, or his truth and faithfulness.

shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? Rom 3.

7. An open profession of gospel truth.

Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Rom 1.

Matthew 8:5-13; Matthew 9:27-31; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 5:17-26; Luke 18:35-43;

Acts 15:7-11

PRA’YER, n.

1. In worship, a solemn address to the Supreme Being, consisting of adoration, or an expression of our sense of God’s glorious perfections, confession of our sins, supplication for mercy and forgiveness, intercession for blessings on others, and thanksgiving, or an expression of gratitude to God for his mercies and benefits. A prayer however may consist of a single petition, and it may be extemporaneous, written or printed.

2. A formula of church service, or of worship, public or private.

3. Practice of supplication.

As he is famed for mildness, peace and prayer.

Matthew 17:20-21, 21:12-13, 21:22, 23:14; Luke 2:31-37, 5:33, 6:12; Acts 1:14, Acts 2:38-42, 3:1-10

PRAISE

PRAISE, n. s as z. [L. pretium.].

2. The expression of gratitude for personal favors conferred; a glorifying or extolling.

He hath put a new song into my mouth, even praise to our God. Psa 40.

3. The object, ground or reason of praise.

He is thy praise,and he is thy God. Deu 10.

PRAISE, v.t. [L. tollo, extollo; pretium.]

1. To commend; to applaud; to express approbation of personal worth or actions.

We praise not Hector, though his name we know

Is great in arms; ’tis hard to praise a foe.

2. To extol in words or song; to magnify; to glorify on account of perfections or excellent works.

Praise him, all his angels, praise ye him, all his hosts. Psa 148.

3. To express gratitude for personal favors. Psalm 138.

4. To do honor to; to display the excellence of.

All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord. Psa 145.

Matthew 11:25-30, 21:14-16; Luke 1:57-68, 2:25-32; Romans 2:25-29, 9:1-5; Ephesians 1:3-5; Philippians 4:1-9

BLESSINGS

BLESS’ING, ppr. Making happy; wishing happiness to; praising or extolling; consecrating by prayer.

BLESSING,n. Benediction; a wish of happiness pronounced; a prayer imploring happiness upon another.

1. A solemn prophetic benediction, in which happiness is desired, invoked or foretold.

This is the blessing wherewith Moses–blessed the children of Israel. Deu 33.

The divine favor is the greatest blessing.

3. Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee. Gen 33.

Luke 24:50-51; Acts 13:34-40; Romans 4:1-8, 9-16, 15:29-33: Galatians 3:10-14; Ephesians 1:3-6; Hebrews 12:14-17; 1 Peter 3:8-9; Revelations 5:11-14

   In this blog I will be touching on some of the things I talked about in my last three blogs, and some that I did not touch on.

  Almost all the praises and blessings that happened came about because of prayer.

  It would take up a lot of time and space to list all of them, so I will only mention some of them.

  Now we need to understand that all these praises and blessings come through prayer and faith to and in our creator Jesus Christ.

  We are told that when we pray we should always pray to God the Father (after all how is He going to hear us if we are not talking to Him) and ask for His will to be done in whatever we are praying for. This is stated in Matthew 6:9-10.

Praise and Blessings # 1

  When I was sixteen years old I had prayed (this was before I had asked you into my life) that you would lead me away from the lifestyle I was living at the time. The praise is that you answered my prayer before I was saved.

  Let me explain… Shortly after I said my prayer some street evangelists gave me the gospel message, this was at a bus stop in front of the West Allis City Hall so I had to listen or get into legal trouble, I listen to what they said and then prayed the prayer with them otherwise they would not let me go if I did not.

  Shortly after this event I started to get into less trouble. There were other prayers that God answered, and this was before I was actually saved. I got to meet people who came from the same background, who could answer my questions without judging me.

Like I said these prayers were answered before I was saved.

The blessings are… I got to meet people who could guide me in the right direction, where I could find the information I needed. Because of answered prayer I am still here to do the work the Lord has set aside for me to reach out to others. Like writing this blog. Without God in my life, the friends He has put in my life, both new and old.

Praise and Blessings # 2

  The prayer… Asking Jesus to come into my heart. Gaining my salvation because of my Faith in who Jesus Christ is. My Lord and Savior.

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary of American English

SALVATION, n. [L. salvo, to save.]

1. The act of saving; preservation from destruction, danger or great calamity.

2. Appropriately in theology, the redemption of man from the bondage of sin and liability to eternal death, and the conferring on him everlasting happiness. This is the great salvation.

Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. 2 Cor 7.

3. Deliverance from enemies; victory. Exo 14.

4. Remission of sins, or saving graces. Luke 19.

5. The author of man’s salvation. Psa 27.

6. A term of praise or benediction. Rev 19.

The praise… That Jesus answered my prayer.

The blessing… The joy of working with fellow christians, doing the Lord’s as He gives to us, using our life’s experiences.

  Knowing I have a place to retire to when my body finally dies. Also knowing that my wife is saved and has a place in heaven.

Praise and Blessings # 3

  The prayer… Lord, when will I have that special someone in my life? (I touched on this with my Memories post.)

  The praise… God answered my prayer.

  The blessing… The blessing I got to spend 431/2 years and still going, with a very special woman who was there for me through thick and thin. This was despite her physical disabilities. If I needed a hug, she would give it to me, she would make me dinner when I was not feeling well, and she would scold me if that was what was needed.(by the way she got good at the scolding part.) In other words God made sure I married up.
My Faith Journey

December 22nd, 2023
MY FAITH JOURNEY

By Kevin R. Schultz

Prayer Or The Power Of

11-23-2023

Two small notes. When I post these blogs you will see two dates and here is why.

The first date is when I start the blog and the second one is when I actually publish it.

You see when I start these blogs I research them first and I go by two rules and they are…

1. Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

2. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Now what does this mean? It means I always start with God, meaning that I start with prayer asking God to guide me, grant me the wisdom to understand the knowledge He has given us in His word (the bible). It means that I go through each verse of scripture to get to know it. This even before I start writing.

Matthew 6:5-8

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

Here we are being told not to pray in a manner that draws attention to ourselves, but to keep our personal prayers private. Those who pray to bring attention to themselves will get their full reward here on earth.

Where as we will get our reward stored in heaven.

Mark 11:25; Luke 18:10-14; Matthew 23:5

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary of American English

PHYLAC’TERY, n. [Gr. to defend or guard.]

1. In a general sense, any charm, spell or amulet worn as a preservative from danger or disease.

2. Among the Jews, a slip of parchment on which was written some text of Scripture, particularly of the decalogue, worn by devout persons on the forehead, breast or neck as a mark of their religion.

3. Among the primitive christians, a case in which they inclosed the relics of the dead.

6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Here we are given instructions where we should be praying, in private. This is not say you cannot have more than one person praying, you can. But you still have to do it in private. Like a group of friends getting together, or at a bible study.

There is one rule you should have and that is what is said in prayer stays there and not spread about like gossip.

If we do this God’s way all of our rewards will be stored in heaven, waiting for us when we get there.

2 Kings 4:33; Daniel 6:10; Matthew 6:4, 6:18; Luke 20:47

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

We are told to keep our prayers short and to the point, not to ramble on like the Pagans (Gentiles).

God will hear our prayers as long as they in His will.

Ecclesiates 5:2; 1Kings 18:26-29; Matthew 6:32; Mark 12:40

8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Again we should not be praying like the Gentiles. If we pray long prayers God might not answer us. Since God already knows what we need we don’t need to be long worded in our prayers.

Matthew 6:32; Isaiah 65:24; Luke 12:30; Romans 8:26-27;Deuteronomy 2:7; Psalms 38:9, 69:17-19

The Lord’s Prayer

Matthew 6:9-13

9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

We are told by God, that we should pray to God only, no one else. Only God can answer prayers. Not men or the dead saints.

God hears our prayers, He does not need help or hearing aides. As long as what we are praying for is in His will and not against it, He will answer it in His time not ours.

Luke 1:49; Malachi 2:10; 1 Peter 1:17; 2 Samuel 7:26; Isaiah 29:23; Matthew 23:9; Luke 11:1; John 16:24

10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

We should always ask for the will of God in whatever we are praying for. God will always give us the correct responsee, the guidance from God’s will and us His children following His will can only lead to good things happening for us.

David Guzik says it this way in his commentaries.

We must remember that the purpose of prayer is not persuade a reluctant God to do our bidding.

The purpose of prayer is to align our will with His and in partnership with Him, to ask Him to accomplish His will on earth.

Matthew 26:39; Psalms 135:6; Matthew 12:50, 26:42; Luke 22:42; Acts 21:14

11 Give us today our daily bread.

Here we are asking God to feed us. In some cases we ask for food because we need it. It also covers spiritual food (God’s Word).

Proverbs 30:8; Job 23:12; Isaiah 33:16; Ruth 1:6; Luke 11:3, 4:3-4; Deutetronomy 8:3

12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

God has already forgiven us with the death of Jesus on the cross, who has washed us clean with His blood. So if God is willing to give up His only begotten Son for us I am more than willing to forgive those who have sinned against me.

Matthew 18:21-35; Exodus 34:7; Psalm 32:1; Matthew 9:2, 26:28; Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 1:7-9; Matthew 6:14-15

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’

God does not lead us into temptation. We do a good enough job of leading ourselves into temptation, we don’t need any help with it.

James 1:13; Matthew 5:33-37; John 17:15; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 John 5:18

We almost always are the ones getting ourselves into trouble. But God is always there for us. He promises us that there will never be more than we can handle and that He will guide us through it.

Matthew 26:41; 2 Peter 2:9; Revelation 3:10; 1 Corinthians 10:13

Now why go through the Lord’s Prayer? To show the importance of prayer and the proper way to do it.

We should never do it to make ourselves look good.

While the Lord’s Prayer is a prayer onto itself, it is also instructios on how to pray properly.
1. We are to pray to God only.
2. We are to seek God’s will in whatever we are praying for.
3. The daily bread mention here is refering to spiritual food (God’s Word)
4. To forgive those who have sinned against us. For if we cannot find it in our hearts to forgive someone why would God want to forgive us?
5. Know that God will deliver us from whatever problems we get involved in.
Now look up these scriptures,read them and see what they tell you.

Ephesians 6:18-20; Jude 1:20; Matthew 5:16

Tag: prayer

MY FAITH JOURNEY

My Faith Journey