Doctrine of Faith and Prayer

By Glen E. Butterfield

Many in our world hear and read the words faith and prayer without a clear understanding of their relationship in ones personal life. Scripture stresses the importance of the clarity of these words. If we expect to live with Jesus Christ in eternity, these words must correctly communicate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 14, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449760687

Glen E. Butterfield

Glen Butterfield is a member of Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hartland, Michigan. He has read a number of translations of God’s Word many times for sixty years of his life to date. Being a student of the Bible and authoritative Christian authors, hundreds of pages of notes transpired, to be utilized in this book. Motivation for this work stems from a serious need for clarification of Christian doctrine. Overcoming confusion, as a result of misunderstanding Scripture and other Christian literature, is a challenge for all.

Book preview

Doctrine

of Faith

and Prayer

Glen E. Butterfield

logoBlackwTN.ai

Copyright © 2012 by Glen Edward Butterfield.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1-[phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-6068-7 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/07/2012

Contents

Part One      Faith

Understanding Faith

Doubt and Uncertainty

Faith Determines Action

Salvation

Knowledge

Teaching Faith

Faith Further Exemplified

Love

Unity of Faith

Reason

Conclusion

Part Two      Prayer

What is Prayer

God’s Desire in Prayer

Request and/or Command

Pray to Whom

How to Pray

When do we Pray

Why we Pray

Thy Will be Done

Thanksgiving

Exemplification

Collect

Amen

Conclusion

Introduction

This book was prompted by the thought that if there is a book that you really want to read, but is yet to be written, write it.

It is my observation that members of a Christian Church, as well as those who do not attend church, do not understand faith and prayer completely. This is somewhat supported by a study that 58% of the adult population in The United States do not read another book after high school.

In early Church, worship was inseparable from doctrine. Doctrine is something taught as principles or creed of a religion. Doctrine in this elaboration is the teachings of Scripture. The rule of faith and prayer is the rule of doctrine. Our practice teaches theology, or God’s words. We cannot hold to true doctrine while changing our worship practice.

Many concepts involving faith and prayer will be presented as the reader peruses this book. It is hoped that this book, which concentrates on faith and prayer, will be widely read toward benefiting all.

Part One

Faith

Understanding Faith

The writers of old failed to emphasize faith sufficiently. Not one of the ancient teachers taught pure faith. Virtues and good works they often commend, rarely faith.

For forty years in the seventeen hundreds, almost nothing about faith was preached resulting in a great falling away from the Christian communities. In 1817 many pastors began again to preach about faith. Today we read and hear the word faith used extensively. It is used 271 times in the New International Version of the Bible.

Faith can be defined as the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, concept, or thing. In a religious or theological context it refers to a confident belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Faith in general is the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true, which cannot be demonstrated or proved by the process of logical thought. Informal usage can be quite broad for the word is often used as a substitute for the words trust or belief. In Hebrews 11:1, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Genesis 15:6, Abraham believed the Lord and He accounted it to him for righteousness. This is the first text in Scripture that mentions faith. Previously there has been faith. The earlier texts that Moses presented promote nothing but faith without extolling, praising or honoring faith itself. This text is one of the most prominent texts in the whole of Scripture. It is important to tell people about faith since we lack a proper understanding of this matter.

The word faith can be understood informally or we could envision faith as a heartfelt commitment, unquestioning belief, or a living bold trust in God’s grace. We must be careful to prevent it from becoming another expression or idea that has become trite. It is a word that deserves in-depth study and consideration. Understanding its meaning and usage in Scripture is important for correct communication. The word faith is derived from mercy. When we are receptive to the mercy of God we are faithful. Mercy is God’s grace in action.

Faith alone saves a man or woman in Christianity. It is based in and on the work and teaching of Jesus Christ. In this way Christianity declares not to be distinguished by its faith, but by the object of its faith. Faith is an act of trust or reliance. Rather than being passive, faith leads to an active life of obedience to the one being trusted. It sees the mystery of God and His grace and seeks to know and become obedient to God. To Christians faith is not static, but causes one to learn more of God and grow in the comprehension of the Word of God.

In Acts 7:55, Luke writes, But St. Stephen being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God’s right and said, ‘behold, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ If everyone could experience this, we would not need faith. It is enough that it happened one time to comfort and strengthen every Christian’s faith. For as we believe, so will it happen to us, even if we do not see it.

Faith is not simple obedience to a set of rules or statements. Before a Christian has faith, he or she must understand in whom or in what he or she has faith. Without understanding, there cannot be true faith. That understanding is built on the foundation of the community of believers, and the personal experiences of the believer. Where there is true faith, there is reverence toward Scriptures.

Faith is that which grasps God’s free mercy because of God’s Word. This includes the understanding that if one accounts justification to faith, he must remove works, law and nature. If we would want to become righteous through the law, there would be no need of faith. In Galatians 3:23-26, we read, But before faith came we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Sometimes faith can be used in the sense of a creed, as when the pastor says, let us confess our faith in the words of the Apostles Creed. Faith in this sense is something outside us, something objective, something that can be described, like an automobile or a dog. When the word faith is used to describe an attitude or feeling, something within the human personality, such as love, fear, or hatred, it is subjective. Subjective faith is a combination of knowledge and confidence.

No trust or confidence is possible in what is not known; on the other hand, it is also possible to have knowledge of something or someone without trust in it or him or her. As knowledge and trust, Christian faith is parallel to all sorts of faith: faith in a certain political party, in one’s homeland, in beauty or oneself. But Christian faith is in a class by itself. Human faith or faith in general is a product of human thinking, willing or deciding.

It is erroneous to believe that man can produce faith. That would turn Christian faith into a human work. In Romans 10:17 Paul said, So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. In Ephesians 2:8 Paul wrote, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is a gift of God. Christian faith is God’s gift by way of the Holy Spirit. Faith itself would have no use apart from this present or gift. We only become righteous and please God through faith since faith is the only thing that grasps and beholds this treasure, which is the Son of God.

We do well to understand that all I