Faith Without Works is Dead
While listening to a talk show the other day a caller called
in to speak to the host. He identified himself an evangelist. The talk show
host issued a question to his listening audience. The question basically was,
“Where is the outrage by the Christians for recent decisions made by the Obama
administration against the Christian church.” The caller’s answer to the
question is that Christians are doing something. They are going into their
prayer closets to pray. They are enacting the power of God over the current
situation to allow God to handle it. As I pondered the caller’s answer I realize
the problem we have today with the Christian church.
First, most Christians are not going into their prayer
closets to pray. It would be my guess that most “Christians” do not even pray
for meals, let alone pray in a “prayer closet.” Jesus spent hours in prayer. He
devoted himself to speaking with the Father daily. He went to secluded spots to
be alone with God. However, Jesus did not retreat to pray. Jesus advanced to pray
so that he might advance the Gospel to the world.
This brings us to the second problem of the American church.
Americans retreat to prayer and they never reappear to advance on the enemy.
The worst words of the American church when asked to help in a given situation
are, “Let me pray about that.” Ninety-nine percent of the time that means, “No,
I don’t want to help, but I can’t think of any other way to avoid the
question.” The Church uses prayer as an excuse for no action.
When Jesus cast the spirit out of the boy with convulsions
he said believers should pray, but that was followed by the action of getting
out of the prayer closet and going out to where the enemy was to pray for the
boy (Mark 9:14-32). Peter and John devoted themselves to prayer (Acts 2:42),
but then they left their prayer time to go where the enemy was and pray for the
lame man at the Temple gate and preach the Gospel.
Colossians 4:2- 4 says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being
watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our
message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in
chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” Being watchful
requires an action. Being watchful requires one to get off of one’s knees and
get up on the wall. When the watchman sees danger he is not to run back to the
prayer position, he is to shout, “THE ENEMY IS COMING, THE ENEMY IS COMING!”
Prayer requires action! The action is to advance to the
prayer room and then advance to the where the enemy is. The battle is won by
action. For too long the Christians of America have been content to watch the
battle rather than to fight it.
Please do not misunderstand this message. I believe in an
all-powerful God who will fight for me. Nevertheless, it has never been God’s
mode of operation for believers to cower in prayer while he does all of the
work. Noah had to build the ark, Moses had to go to Egypt, Joshua had to take
the troops to Jericho, Peter had to preach in hostile territory, Paul had to go
to Rome and Jesus had to carry the cross. After all of the praying, there was
an action that was done for the freedom of the Gospel to be preached.
James 2:17 says, “Faith without works is dead.” If you have
no works, you have no faith. If you have faith you will work. You are not saved
by your work, but if you are saved you will work. That includes advancing to the
prayer room and continuing from prayer to the battlefield.
