Faith, the Essence and the Joy of Prayer

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Heb. 11:1-3, 6, 24-27 and 12:1-2; Mk. 9:23; Lk. 17:5; Rom. 10:17; Jas. 1:5-6; I Jn. 5:4

What Is God Saying?

The Jewish recipients of Hebrews were new Christians to whom the loss of regulatory laws and the sacrifice of sacrifices were things they were finding hard to handle They were being taunted by their persecutors reminding them that accepting Christ was rejecting the old, cherished traditions. They had been born and bred in a time-honored culture, so it was an identity crisis. They felt like persons set adrift in a rowboat without oars. They were looking back and drifting back into their religion of rites and ceremonies and traditions. The Letter to the Hebrews gave them oars to keep moving in the right direction. The supreme fact that would give direction to their thinking and a strong foundation for their faith was the realization of who Jesus Christ is. This is the recurring theme of the book. Jesus Christ is the perfect fulfilment of all they had held onto in their traditions. They were the shadow, Christ was the substance. They were good, Christ was better. Moses was a servant, Christ is the Son. The whole theme of Hebrews is the superiority of Christ. The most often-used word is ‘better.’ ‘You are not giving up anything. You are getting everything of value.’

How Does This Apply To Us?

This is what gives impact to the opening verse of Chapter 11. You have a better anchor to hold you fast, a better goal to seek, a stronger arm to hold you up, a brighter future to hope for, and a more constant Friend to walk by your side. Trusting in God's gift, His only Son, you have something for faith to grip. You have assurance and conviction because of Him. Your faith rests on Him. It is neither guesswork nor good works, only His grace and love.

We also need the ancient but timely counsel of Hebrews. We, too, must persevere, run with patience, and keep our eyes on Jesus. As He did not give up when the going was hard, so we also must not give up. God still cares. God still has a purpose. God is still in control. To be strengthened for this race and in this race, keep looking to Jesus, keep acting on all you know about God's Word, and keep obeying because of love, then assurance and conviction will come, and with them faith and hope.

Pray With Me

Lord, help me more and more to live by faith. Let my faith be rooted and grounded in the fact of Your proven and eternal love. A vague sort of optimism will not do, Lord. Wishing that a dream would come true is for fairy tales. I must have faith that grows out of assurance and conviction. Without assurance and conviction, faith is like a sandcastle near the breakers. With them, faith has a strong foundation with girders of steel; it will stand against the wind of adversity. Without assurance and conviction, faith is guesswork. With them, faith can do the right things at the right time in the right way for the right reasons. Without assurance and conviction, faith is drifting on a stream toward a destination we neither know nor can change. With them, faith means living purposefully, knowing God knows all the where's, the why's, and the how's. Without assurance and conviction, faith is whistling in the dark. With them, faith sings the praise of God in the darkest night and the dawn of eternal goodness and love.

For faith to be faith, it must have assurance and conviction. My need is to go where assurance is found and to be found where convicti0n is given. I want to hear Your Word. I want to see Your Word incarnate in Jesus Christ. Bring to me a deeper understanding of Your Word, for then assurance will be found. Let me be found in more loving obedience to Your Word, for then conviction will be given. Fortify my faith, dear Lord, with assurance and conviction, and all of life, present and forever, will glow with real meaning and proceed with real purpose.

To the glory of Him whose love has brought assurance and whose faithfulness-unto-death has brought convicti0n. Amen.

Moving On In The Life of Prayer

There is no better platform on which to stand (or kneel) than the platform of faith in prayer. In prayer, we hope and find assurance in God. In prayer, we are reaching out to things that can neither be seen nor touched, but we are convinced that they are real and that God will make the best things real in our lives. Assurance and conviction equals faith and faith is the reason, the essence, and the joy of prayer.