18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. 20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked. 21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:18 – 22, New International Version)
Theme: Discipleship
Context:
We will continue to fan the flames of passion for prayer. In pursuit of this objective, we can draw from our rich Christian heritage built over more than two millennia. Last week, we considered thoughts on prayer from the Old and New Testaments. This week we will consider thoughts from disciples of Jesus from the first century of Christianity to today. We will hear from disciples of Jesus who have demonstrated a passion for prayer.
Let’s start in the 4th century AD and hear from Saint Augustine of Hippo. Saint Augustine was a theologian born in North Africa in 354 AD (died in 430 AD). He made many proclamations on the topic of prayer. We will consider a small subset from one of Saint Augustine’s sermons (Sermon 65 on the New Testament) that addresses the important virtue of faith. Because it was written in a different era, the wording of the sermon may be a little strange but the message is powerful. Read the short passage below from St. Augustine a few times and let the message minister to you:
“The lesson of the Holy Gospel builds us up unto the duty of praying and believing, and of not putting our trust in ourselves, but in the Lord.. If faith fail, prayer perishes. For who prays for that which he does not believe?… So then that we may pray, let us believe; and that this same faith whereby we pray fail not, let us pray. Faith pours out prayer, and the pouring out of prayer obtains the strengthening of faith. Faith, I say, pours out prayer, the pouring out of prayer obtains strengthening even for faith itself.”
Bible Passage:
Please prayerfully read today’s Scripture passage and consider the questions below.
Question:
- How would you summarize St. Augustine’s view on the relationship between faith and prayer?
- How does the relationship between faith and prayer impact your prayer life?
Sharing your thoughts could be a big help to someone else. Please leave a comment on the blog.