Faith Prayer Biscuits Gravy

There is no expiration of a prayer, for a prayer once made has wings, a life, and a force that reach far into the future and into eternity, all for the glory of God. Prayer for it to have this life force must be backed by faith. There is a time for both, friends.

In Ecclesiastes we see, to everything there is a season, and a time, to every purpose under the heaven, a time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which was planted. This is true in the spiritual realm, as it concerns faith and prayer. There is a time to pray, and a time to believe.

One must not hinder the other, but be in harmony with each other, to activate a beautiful concert where earth meets heaven, mortal man touches God, as faith is empowered to move God Almighty to answer that prayer of faith. There can be confusion on what the prayer of faith means, and one must be careful, for this can be taken to extremes, but the reality of the prayer of faith is the combination of faith and prayer, which creates the heavenly combustion, which produces answers from on high, and strengthens the people of God to trust him for even bigger and grander things. For faith and prayer go together.

You pray with faith, and you exercise your faith through prayer. They go hand in hand like biscuits and gravy. One adds to the other in a delightful way, but there is a time where emphasis is placed upon one or the other.

At times, it is past the time of prayer, and time only for faith to be activated. This is clearly seen in Exodus chapter 14, in the life of Moses, as he was shut up to God at the Red Sea. There stands Moses with the multitudes of Israel, complaining to him, because there were no graves in Egypt.

Has thou taken us away to die in this wilderness? The restless eyes are upon him, as their divinely appointed leader. Moses is in the hard place, with his back against the craggy rocks by the sea, and the Egyptian army raising dust as they're fast approaching from land. Moses tells them, the Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Then Moses begins to pray to God, and God speaks to him in a strange way. He kindly rebukes Moses for praying by saying, wherefore cries thou unto me? As if to say, if I may so speak, why are you crying to me? It's past the time of prayer. Praying time is over.

It's time to act on your faith, and to look and believe. Lift up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and behold what I shall do. God was telling Moses that his prayer was heard, and already answered.

Prayer was no longer necessary. God had come down from heaven to take care of the situation. All that was required on the part of the people of God was to look and believe.

And it's true, friends, even now. If you know what I'm talking about, there's a time for prayer, and a time for faith. Yes, they go hand in hand, like biscuits and gravy, but there's that distinction between them, and one affects the other, and can alter the outcome.

If our faith is weak, we will cave in with fear, and do something regrettable or unalterable. If our faith is strong, God will strengthen it even more, as he works his will in our lives to bring effectual change to us, as all things work together for good, to them that love God, who are called according to what? Our purpose? No, according to his purpose, his perfect will. I'll never forget a story that my homiletical mentor, Dr. Stephen Oldford, related to me.

He said his uncle was a pharmacist in England, and when Dr. Oldford was pastoring a church in England, he went to visit his uncle at his pharmacy. Stephen Oldford entered the shop, and no one was there, so he walked to the back of the store, and there in the back room was his uncle, standing over a long table with glass vials of different colored liquids, and various bowls before him, and Dr. Oldford watched him as he took one bottle of a green liquid, and poured it into the mixing bowl, and then he reached for another vial of a chemical powder, and he took a little bit of that, and poured that in there upon it all, and then mixed it all together to make a medicine that would bring a cure to the ill patient, and Stephen Oldford made the observation that God was the divine alchemist who takes a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, of the trials and tribulations in our lives, and he mixes them all together in his divine mixing bowl of purpose for us, for our good and his glory. God is continually developing faith in us, and deep in our prayer life as we walk with him.

Yes, friends, prayer and faith go hand in hand like biscuits and gravy to satisfy our deepest needs. Let us pray.