Individual sins (lying, stealing, fornication, murder, etc.) arent what send you to hell. Your sins have been forgiven, but the sin thatll send you to hell is not accepting Jesuss payment for those sins. Everything revolves around how you respond to Jesus.
When you arrive in heaven, God wont ask you, What about this sin and that sin? No, Hell want to know, What have you done with Jesus? Your relationship to Jesus Christ, whether you bowed your knee and made him Lord or not, determines if youll be accepted or rejected.
Prayer is not so you can turn God from His wrath. Its not so you can be like this persistent person who says, I know You dont have to give it to me, but I wont leave until you bless me.
See if this is how you pray. If so, it means you dont have a clue that God has already provided everything you need, including healing. He loves you and He wants you to have it!
Jesus continued in His illustration of this truth by using the same logic with another human relationship. In Luke 11:11-13 He says, “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”
Do you see what He is saying? If you wouldnt even consider treating your children so cruelly, why do you think God would refuse or hesitate to meet your need? On the contrary if you, being evil, know how to good gifts to your children how more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?
Most people think God is against meeting their needs. Thats why they beg and plead with Him in prayer, because they believe He is angry at their ungodliness. So they see God with His arms crossed saying, Im not going to give you what you need. So they pray and pray, until they think the asking and begging wears God down, and He has to answer them.
No, Jesus taught the exact opposite! Its people who have twisted these verses and called it importunity in prayer. What a rotten attitude! – Ray Fourie is taking a break for a few months. All columns in this series are available at www.thezimbabwean.co.uk. Contact Ray: email: rhf3@yahoo.com
Post published in: Opinions