101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT HEALTH AND WEALTH

PART 27

53. Do you believe that prayer without faith and works are just empty words? Yes. The entire purpose and reason behind communicating with God is not only being convinced that He is concerned and responding to our request, but to listen to what He is telling US to do within the situation. When discussing about our health and finances, it is not always about what people can do to help us, but we must understand that God has given us a responsibility to help others. Hiding in isolation or withdrawing from civilization can many times expose our selfishness. It has never been God’s idea for us to absorb all of His blessings as we peek through the keyhole while the world suffers. Faith is directly connected to works and crucial to igniting the power that produces miracles. Remember, we are God’s hands and feet. Without faith He knows we are not serious about our love, and without having charity we are just playing an empty religious game. It is sad that many church goers do not have a clue about what it means to pray or study the Bible. So, we can see why the general state of the church is anemic and lifeless.

We can actually take this a step further and realize that many church goers do not do the works of Jesus or become directly involved with the great commission because they do not care! If Christians are not willing to sincerely pray for those in need, what makes us think they will physically respond? If the church crowd does not love their neighbor enough to intercede in prayer for the ones they know who are hurting, then we can know they cannot be counted on to help or give. James has a very sobering message that should speak to the hearts of every child of God who wants to do what is right. “What does it profit, my brothers, though a man say he has faith, and have not works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; yet you do NOT give them those things which are needful to the body; what does it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yes, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show you my faith BY my works. So, you believe there is one God; you do well: but the devils also believe and tremble. But you need to understand, O vain man, that faith without works is dead” (James 2:14-20).

54. Will God bless a person with divine favor if they ask for it? I believe yes. Divine favor is a very important component when we are studying about physical healing and being blessed in our finances. We are reminded again in the book of James, that we are invited to “ask” for wisdom and we have no reason to think that anything we need in this life cannot be added to our list of prayer request as long as they line up with God’s will – His Word. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ASK of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given to him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For do NOT let that person presume that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8). One of the tragedies with the churches is they have lacked teaching about having an intimate relationship with Jesus and instead have influenced the people to focus on a historical perspective of religion. Humans have a tendency to be generally lazy especially when it comes to serving Christ and love the idea of having all the blessings they can get but do not really want to study and discover the spiritual responsibilities that are associated with being in covenant with God. When we learn the revelation about the power of intercession, we will then become much more confident to believe that miracles can become reality. When we learn the revelation of love, we will begin to see that God is not Santa Clause but the master and keeper of our soul. We do not need luck, wishes, schemes or ideas to receive from the Lord, and even positive confessions can become meaningless if we are not being sincere within our heart. God said that He creates the fruit of our lips but we must also remember that He is not mocked and does not honor our selfish pretenses.

Holiness is not an option when it comes to divine favor; it must become a passionate desire and a strong determination to LIVE with a Godly attitude. There is a legitimate spiritual principal of sowing and reaping but we are not to turn this into a manipulative business strategy. God works within the measuring scale of sanctification and purity and is not a coin operated machine that we can exploit or gerrymander. Our motives are as clear as glass and we are fooling no one but ourselves if we entertain the thought that we are using God’s generosity for wicked intentions. We are to be a truth seeker not a hypocrite and living in the flesh while trying to appear religious only makes things worse. For example, if someone is really serious about turning away from a specific sin, first they must become literally sick over how it is damaging their relationship with Jesus and be willing to suffer whatever it takes to become victorious. A desire like this can be included as a prayer request where they can go to God with a pure conscience and by faith ASK Him to give them strength to resist temptation so they can be set free from bondage. Another example of simply asking God for help is – parking favor. Some may believe this is silly and that God has more to do than help us find a front row spot to park in but I believe this real. For many years my wife has prayed and confessed about parking favor and she receives it constantly. God cares about the little things in our life BUT is waiting for us to activate our faith by ASKING Him to intervene. Divine favor can include not only landing a job but being placed into a position where you would have normally been overlooked and then anointed with the ability to do it! Everything from receiving raises and advancements, to finding the best price, and being in the right place at the right time; these can be open doors of divine favor. “My son, do not forget my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments.  For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: so shalt thou find FAVOR and good understanding in the sight of God and man” (Proverbs 3:1-4). If you will believe – you can receive.