Sound teaching, hard passages, prophecy, and errors to avoid.
The Pharisee was not sober when he went to pray. The Pharisee was high on himself. He was high on his sense of being better than others religiously. He was high on his religious achievements and activities. His prayer did not receive an answer from God because he was high. Unless you are sober, your prayer life is a waste of time. Be alert and sober so that you can pray!
Does the Bible at this point suggest that physical suffering is a path to perfection and sinlessness? Are we being told that if we suffer physically we will be done with sin? Is it possible to reach a point where you are done with sin?
Demon possession, membership in secret societies, and identification of witches are some of the areas where conspiracy theories thrive. You find institutions in serious tension because a student is thought to be a devil worshipper. Hours and hours are wasted on prayer to cast out demons until it seems like the demon has overcome the prayers. Yet in reality, it is not demon possession, it could be teenage challenges, mental health issues, etc. Demon possession exists but not every case that masquerades as demon possession is demon possession. You find religious leaders engaged in a frenzy of activities casting out demons that refuse to go. Have nothing to do with such!
Prayer gets corrupted when we treat it as a requisition form to get stuff from God. Prayer ceases to be prayer when it becomes an opportunity to hand over a list of needs to God. A relationship where the only communication is making requests and demands will not survive for long. Communication should be an opportunity to interact, appreciate and express concerns, fears, and expectations as we do to our friends.
The needs will not be met according to our list of needs but according to the riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Many times when we think of this text, we think of needs being met according to the list we have developed. Our list may not match the list that is developed in the riches of the glory in Christ Jesus. When the list we have and God’s list differ, we expect God will use our list, but He uses His own list for our needs. Therefore when we say Amen to this text, many times we do not have God’s list of our needs in mind. That is why it is easy to misunderstand this verse.
When troubles occur we ask so many questions. We ask why it is us who must suffer. We wonder how long it will last. We even question why a loving God would allow this. We sometimes feel our life has just been all trouble.
In our text today Paul tells us that in our outward visible life we suffer greatly. Outwardly we are wasting away. Outwardly we are thoroughly beaten. Then the Apostle writes that, but inside is the opposite of the outside. On the inside, we are getting renewed and strengthened daily. How is your inside?
What power do we rely on? What power influences us? What power do we subscribe to? What power do we believe in? The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. Talk is nothing power is everything!
Faith faces the reality that saying no to sexual advances may cost me dating partners. Faith faces the reality that honesty and integrity may cost me the favor of my bosses. Faith faces the reality and the obvious harm, then faith walks in the opposite direction of that reality believing that God will make the impossible possible. Faith faces the reality and then walks in the opposite direction!