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Scenes of suicide bombers
murdering innocent bystanders and children are
becoming regular fare on nightly television news
roundups. Reports of sinister plots dreamed up
months or even years in advance by people bent on
destroying all who stand in the way of their plans
for world conquest keep slithering across the bottom
of television screens. The existence of secret
cells in scores of nations awaiting some signal to
rise up and destroy at some predetermined or
secretly ordered signal adds to the trauma of these
tense times. How do we cope with ever present
danger?
We fight fear with faith.
???You will hear of wars and
rumors of wars,??? said our Lord; then added: ???See
that you are not troubled??? (Matthew 24:6). Not one
network newscast has ever taken God by surprise, so
those who trust in Him can start and end each day
resting in His care.
Dr. V. Raymond Edman, former
president and late chancellor of Wheaton (Illinois)
College wrote: ???Faith is dead to doubts, dumb to
discouragements, blind to impossibilities, knows
nothing but success. Faith lifts its hands up
through the threatening clouds, lays hold of Him who
has all power in heaven and on earth. Faith makes
the uplook good, the outlook bright, the inlook
favorable, and the future glorious.???
Great faith is built on the
conviction that God can do anything. Many say they
believe this to be true but few act on their
professed belief. They accept omnipotence
intellectually but their attitudes and anxieties
reveal this profession makes little difference in
their lives. Consequently, problems loom large,
burdens become too heavy to bear and
the future is faced with
fear. Faith rejects all imaginary impending
disasters, counting on God to come through.
Strong faith also enables us to
pray big prayers, expecting answers.
When a guest at churches, I am
frequently surprised at how few prayers call for the
defeat of worldwide terrorism, guidance for national
leaders, the end of drug and alcohol bondage, a
return to sexual morality, a fresh appreciation of
the value of life, whether in the womb or nearing
the tomb and greater compassion by those in the
church for people in the community who never darken
a church door.
Why this timidity in prayer?
Do we think God isn??™t
interested?
Have we concluded some problems
are too difficult for God to solve?
Is our faith so weak that we
despair of life changing answers?
Are afraid to ask and ask
again.
In his book, ???Getting Things
From God,??? another former Wheaton College head,
Charles Blanchard, said: ???In all of His dealings
with men, there is not one instance in which He
found fault with men for coming too frequently, for
asking too largely.???
And Dr. Blanchard was simply
restating a Biblical principle on puny praying: ???You
do not have because you do not ask??? (James 4:2).
This is no time for frail
faith.
Let??™s pray big headline
changing prayers. And expect answers.
?© 2005 Roger Campbell
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