Walk by Faith and Not by Sight

Mea e 'ai e tatau ma le aso

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glow at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet 1:7)

Faith grows by reading and meditating upon the Word of God.  Most, and best of all, faith thrives in an atmosphere of prayer.

It would be well, if all of us were to stop, and inquire personally of ourselves: “Have I faith in God? Have I real faith,—faith which keeps me in perfect peace, about the things of earth and the things of heaven?”  This is the most important question a Christian can ask and expect to be answered.

And there is another question, closely related in significance and importance—“Do I really pray to God so that He hears me and answers my prayers? And do I truly pray unto God so that I get direct from God the things I ask of Him?”

It was claimed for Augustus Caesar that he found Rome a city of wood, and left it a city of marble.  The pastor who succeeds in changing his people from a prayerless to a prayerful people, has done a greater work than did Augustus in changing a city from wood to marble.

And after all, this is the prime work of any preacher/ missionary.  Primarily, you are dealing with prayer-less people—with people of whom it is said, “God is not in all their thoughts.”  Such people you meet everywhere, and all the time in this rat race environment.

As a Christian missionary, your main business is to turn people from being forgetful of God, from having lack of faith, from being prayerless, so that they can become people who habitually pray, who believe in God, and remember Him constantly and do His will.

The pastor is not sent to merely induce people to join the Church, nor merely to get them to do better.   It is to get them to pray, to trust God, and to keep God ever before their eyes, that they may not sin against Him.

The work of the ministry is to change unbelieving sinners into praying and believing saints.  The call goes forth by Divine authority, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”  We catch a glimpse of the tremendous importance of faith and of the great value God has set upon it, when we remember that He has made it the one indispensable condition of being saved.

“By grace are ye saved, through faith.” Thus, when we contemplate of the great importance of prayer, we find faith standing immediately by its side.  By faith are we saved, and by faith we stay saved. 

Prayer introduces us to a life of faith.  Paul declared that the life he lived, he lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved him and gave Himself for him—that he walked by faith and not by sight.

Prayer is absolutely dependent upon faith.  Faith has no existence apart from it, and accomplishes nothing unless it be its inseparable companion.   Faith makes prayer effective, and in a very important sense, must precede it.

Ia manuia,

failauga p. anoa'i