Reading:
But
let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of
the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he
shall receive any thing of the Lord.
Commentary:
These words from James are regarding prayer. When we bring our petitions to the Lord, we
are to ask in faith, nothing wavering.
To waver is to doubt, and doubt is an insult to our God of Grace who has
sent and given His Son for our salvation.
In prayer the basis of our request must always rest upon the
graciousness of God, and His sure promises in the Word. In the area of faith without wavering, much
can be learned from Abraham's prayer, regarding Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen.
18). Knowing God treats believers
different from unbelievers, and likewise knowing God is just, Abraham appealed
to the Lord to spare the city so as not to punish the believer with the
unbelievers, as if they were the same. On
the other hand Abraham still prays in a way, where he knows his own
unworthiness before God. He relies on
God's mercy alone. We should never waver
or doubt regarding God's grace in our prayer, and from this grace our faith can
be bold. Our catechism says we should
pray "with confidence, that is, with firm trust that for Jesus' sake our
prayer will be answered." Jesus
Himself said, "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye
shall receive."
No comments:
Post a Comment