Come thou fount of every blessing
My hope is built on nothing less
Saviour like a shepherd lead us
What a friend we have in Jesus
Sweet hour of prayer
Lead on oh king eternal
Laud and honour to the father
[16] If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. [17] All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
(1 John 5:13-17 ESV)
Some Christians are starting to think the same.
Remember we have confidence in Jesus.
We have eternal life.
If we believe In Christ, that we believe in the son of God.
So we can come to him in confidence, if we come according to his will, he will hear us.
Prayer is not coming to God and trying to tell him what to do, but it is coming to him in the confidence of a child asking for something.
True prayer must be made in the light of who God is.
So prayer grounded in the written word of God will be heard.
So if we prayer, Lord make me holy, he will hear that prayer.
But what about sickness, danger, jobs, homes etc... how do we know the will of God?
We don't know if God has a deeper purpose in whatever struggle God has placed in their lives.
Know that you are living a life of disobedience, don't expect God to hear it because you are cherishing that sin above the will of God.
Know that if you pray according to God's will, know that your prayer is heard and is already answered.
So should we keep praying for the same thing over and over. The widow and judge... we should keep praying because he is not like the unjust judge, he hears you and will answer you. So we can pray confidentially.
He gives us the answer that we need most of all.
So how about these difficult next verses
What is sin that leads to death?
Here the Lord's instruction...if you see your brother or sisterr in Christ committing a sin, he should first pray. We should ask God to deal with it. That God would turn his people back to him.
People keep trying to figure what kind of sin is this.
Sin that leads to death...
All sin is wrongdoing.
Pastor thinks...Sin in general...all sin deserves death. This is foundational from Genesis, and Roman 6.
All sin leads to death.
So when we pray we need to pray from God's perspective...of seeing the horror and blight that sin is.
So we need to pray that God will turn them away from their sin. That he would move them to repentance.
Prayer is not useless, it act of confidence, it is knowing the word of God so that you can pray what you know you are praying according to his will.