Jesus placed a lot of emphasis on faith. Faith in who or what?
I like Andy Stanley's definition of faith: "Faith is believing that God is who he says he is and that he will do what he says he will do."
That tells me that my faith is to be in God, not in myself or in someone else.
Faith is key to prayer. We don't pray to God unless we believe he can answer our prayers.
But what about the times we don't get the answer we were looking for?
Over the years, some Christians have argued that people are not healed because they haven't enough faith. The implication is that they don't have enough faith in God - or, they don't believe they can be healed.
Charles S. Price offers his own views in his book The Real Faith for Healing.
Price had a powerful healing ministry in Canada and the U.S. in the first half of the last century.
The outset of his book, he asks:
"Why have our prayers so often gone unanswered? Why are our churches filled with the sick and dying who listen to sermons on divine healing that are true to the Word and promises of God, and yet are not healed when they're prayed for?"
In Price's view, we try to crank up our faith mentally when we should be seeking God's grace of faith.
Faith is a gift of God, he says. He points to the apostle Paul's statement in Romans 12:3 that God has given each of us a "measure of faith".
Price gives numerous examples of people who came to him for prayer, but he felt no faith for healing for them. Then, when they went to Jesus in prayer - seeking him - they would return with calm assurance that they would be healed. And they were.
In one case, a woman had been unable to walk and her legs had shriveled up. She had to be carried around by her husband.
When Price looked at her, he realized he needed God's faith - not his faith, but God's - for her healing and she needed that faith, too. He urged her to spend time before the Lord. Over several nights, she arrived at personal surrender to God and Jesus "gave her a vision of himself".
That night, she was healed - able to walk again.
In summing up this story, Price says "our mission was to draw close to Jesus." After that, it is God's work as he gives us faith.
I am sure that Price's views are controversial in evangelical circles. There will always be a lot of arguments about faith for healing.
But Price's thoughts make sense to me.
God gives us the initial faith to believe in him and to give our lives to him. Isn't it reasonable to expect he gives us faith for healing?
It is God we believe in - not our own merit.
I like Andy Stanley's definition of faith: "Faith is believing that God is who he says he is and that he will do what he says he will do."
That tells me that my faith is to be in God, not in myself or in someone else.
Faith is key to prayer. We don't pray to God unless we believe he can answer our prayers.
But what about the times we don't get the answer we were looking for?
Over the years, some Christians have argued that people are not healed because they haven't enough faith. The implication is that they don't have enough faith in God - or, they don't believe they can be healed.
Charles S. Price offers his own views in his book The Real Faith for Healing.
Price had a powerful healing ministry in Canada and the U.S. in the first half of the last century.
The outset of his book, he asks:
"Why have our prayers so often gone unanswered? Why are our churches filled with the sick and dying who listen to sermons on divine healing that are true to the Word and promises of God, and yet are not healed when they're prayed for?"
In Price's view, we try to crank up our faith mentally when we should be seeking God's grace of faith.
Faith is a gift of God, he says. He points to the apostle Paul's statement in Romans 12:3 that God has given each of us a "measure of faith".
Price gives numerous examples of people who came to him for prayer, but he felt no faith for healing for them. Then, when they went to Jesus in prayer - seeking him - they would return with calm assurance that they would be healed. And they were.
In one case, a woman had been unable to walk and her legs had shriveled up. She had to be carried around by her husband.
When Price looked at her, he realized he needed God's faith - not his faith, but God's - for her healing and she needed that faith, too. He urged her to spend time before the Lord. Over several nights, she arrived at personal surrender to God and Jesus "gave her a vision of himself".
That night, she was healed - able to walk again.
In summing up this story, Price says "our mission was to draw close to Jesus." After that, it is God's work as he gives us faith.
I am sure that Price's views are controversial in evangelical circles. There will always be a lot of arguments about faith for healing.
But Price's thoughts make sense to me.
God gives us the initial faith to believe in him and to give our lives to him. Isn't it reasonable to expect he gives us faith for healing?
It is God we believe in - not our own merit.
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