Pray with such faith that it is no longer necessary to pray

Luke, Chapter 7, beginning with verse 1. In this time when we are seeking the face of the Lord with more strength, more power this week, we want to renew that faith in our hearts of the power of Christ to overcome any situation. And for me this text that I am going to read illustrates something, and it is the simplicity of prayer. That is the focus that God has placed on my heart for this passage.

Sometimes we make prayer something so complicated and so ritualistic and we put so many requirements on it, and in reality prayer is something simple when we look at this passage and we can approach the Lord with all confidence, and in reality what is needed is something very easy to unleash the power of Christ in our lives.

We are going to see this, I am not going to get too far ahead of the text itself, let's read it and then in light of the text I can make this comment that I want to make. It says here:

“…After he had finished all his words to the people who heard him, he entered Capernaum and the servant of a centurion whom he, the centurion, loved very much, was sick and about to die. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, begging him to come and heal his servant. And they came to Jesus and pleaded earnestly, saying, "It is worthy that you grant him this, for he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue." And Jesus granted their request, he went with them. But when they were no longer far from the house, the centurion sent some friends to him saying, “Lord, do not bother, for I am not worthy of you coming under my roof. So I didn't even consider myself worthy to come to you, but say the word and my servant will be healed."

Notice how simple this is. Say the word and my servant will be healed.

“…Because I too am a man placed under authority and I have soldiers under my command and I say to this one, go and go, and to the other I say, come, and he comes. And to my servant I say, do this, and he does it. Hearing this, Jesus marveled at him and, turning, said to the crowd that followed him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant who had been sick well..."

Blessed be the name of the Lord. You know that all the passages in Scripture about the life of Jesus are put there because they want to illustrate a truth about the ministry of Christ or the spiritual life that we live as members of the Kingdom of God.

I see something here about... there is a type of character that appears many times in Scripture and it is what I call the stranger, the person from outside, the person who does not necessarily belong to Israel.

You can think, for example, of the woman with the issue of blood, who was a woman who should not be in the crowd, should not have the right to even approach Jesus. She was an impure woman, in other words, ritually.

We think of Plunder that he was also an immoral man, in a sense, he was a thief, he was an oppressor and he was outside, in a sense, of God's grace, he had no right to approach Jesus.

Let us also think of the friends of the paralytic who the Bible says wanted to bring their friend so that Jesus would heal him, but when they tried to enter the house where Jesus was, the house was so full of people that they could not enter with the stretcher where he was his paralyzed friend.

And I could tell them other stories like that. There was also Bartimaeus who was a blind man, the Lord was on his way, he was not looking for him, and Bartimaeus shouts, shouts and shouts, Lord, listen to me, Lord, listen to me and the disciples tell him, shut up, leave the Master alone. But he goes on and finally has access to the person of Jesus, but at first he had no right to be there in the presence of God.

And the more I think, I think of the Syro-Phoenician woman as well, she was not from Israel, the Lord initially rejects her, “you are not a member of any tribe of Israel. You have no right for your daughter to be healed.” But she persists and finally gets what she needed.

And if you look at all these people, none of them had the right to receive what they needed and what they asked for. But they had something in common which was great faith and confidence that Christ would not reject them if they approached him in any way.

By the way, I don't want to complicate the issue too much because in reality what interests me is that simplicity. But also pay attention to us, that many times we have to overcome obstacles to be able to come into the presence of Jesus and receive what we need. All these people persisted and overcame obstacles to get into the presence of Jesus and receive his blessing.

And that happens to us in our life of prayer, by the way, I would love that the first time I knock on God's door, the door would open right away, not even when I touched it... so one goes through on top of it because it opens before one... But unfortunately we know that it is not like that, that many times we have to touch, and touch, and touch and the weeks and months go by and we ask the Lord for something and we do not receive it immediately as we wish it.

It's a mystery, that physical part of prayer, that kind of requires an exercise, an effort, a job that we have to do here in the world, because for some reason we have to see something very important like the miracle that we want to receive and we have to strive and work and do our part to receive what God wants to give us.

I want you to understand that, apart from everything else, that it is important that if you are asking the Lord for something in your life, a solution that you need, a provision, look, you have to deal with it, as we Dominicans say, there is You have to fight, you have to do your part, you have to work hard, you can't give up too easily. Have to fight.

This is not for the lazy. Have to fight. Something that touches me a lot from that passage that centurion, he was a foreigner, he was a Gentile, he had no right to ask Jesus for anything, but he dared to ask Jesus to heal his servant.

How many of us sometimes feel like I really have no right to come into the presence of God. If last week I slept in on Sunday morning and didn't go to church, how can I come...

If I committed a sin or had a bad thought or did something wrong, or have a bond, an addiction, or whatever, what right do I have to come before the presence of God? God won't listen to me.

Or some of us are perfectionists by nature and we believe that to have everything well ironed and well arranged, and to have everything in order so that then God can hear us.

And how many of us have gotten into a mess because of our bad head and when we are in a mess we say, well, I can't ask the Lord to get me out of here if I was the one who got into it, how can I ask the Lord to I helped myself?

And you know what? The devil is well prepared and ready to help us in that process, making us feel guilty and deserving of coming into the presence of God.

How many parents sometimes look back, did we make mistakes with our children? Perhaps we did not know the Lord and those first years that we raised them, we raised them in a very imperfect environment, where all the things that happen in a house where the Lord is not known, these children participated in them and they reach adulthood and have those wounds , and they are already young and rebellious, they do not want to come to church, after we converted to the Lord and we know that many of what they are suffering is because we unfortunately made mistakes and then we feel like, what right do I have to ask God to help my son, to get him ahead because I was the one who put him where he is right now.

Or we disobeyed our parents, we married someone who is not the right person and now we have to smoke that piece of meat that is there that we are not happy, we are suffering, it is mistreating us and we say, well, what right do I have to ask him to convert my wife, not just the men, my wife, and Lord, and what I have to do is suffer until I die and that's all, because I was the one who got into this mess. I disobeyed my parents, I disobeyed my pastor, whatever, many times that can also happen. Then we believe that we have no right to come before the Lord to get us out of trouble.

You know what I always see, brothers, God tells me that over and over again in my life and in the lives of my loved ones and the people I observe, and that is that the heart of God is much simpler than what that we give credit to him. God is a simple God. I am not saying this, brothers, so that we abuse the mercy and love of God, understand me.

What I am saying is that over and over again I see that, brothers, what God is looking for is a contrite and humiliated heart that recognizes that no one has the right to come, ultimately, before the presence of God, no one.

Many times we are suffering and whipping ourselves on the back and believing that we have to walk to Rome on our knees and climb all the stairs of Saint Peter's Cathedral for God to hear us. And God is there laying himself off and saying, why is this boy suffering so much if I already told him that the only thing he has to do is come confidently before the throne of Grace and ask and I am going to give him, because he is my son She is my daughter, I love her, I love her, I have forgiven them and I am fine.

I think we suffer too much. The heart of God is a father's heart, it is a generous, tolerant heart, more than we think.

And I believe that if one were able to understand that heart of God, I believe that we would wear out less in life and we could achieve more, even be more holy with God.

God is infinitely complex, but he is also simple at heart, brothers. And the only thing that God wants is for us to reach that point of acknowledging, Father, I am nobody, I have no right to you, however, you love me and I am your son and I can confidently enter your throne and ask you, as my daughter asks me or asks my grandson, my granddaughter or someone I love so much, and I am more than willing to give it because I love him, period, and that's all.

When your heart is given to God, when you love him above all things, when you want to glorify him with your life, even if you mess up, God is always willing to heal you, forgive you, lift you up and bless you. That is what I see through all the Scripture, you must not complicate your life too much, brothers.

You know what? That when you learn to live within the acceptance of God that releases some energies in you that then even allow you to be more pleasing to him and then live the life that God wants you to live, instead of your living tormented and condemned and continuously in uncertainty believing that you have to do this and that for God to give you something. It is not like this.

Look at this word that is found, not in the New Testament, because one could understand it in the New Testament, grace, forgiveness, mercy. No, but this is in the Old Testament, Micah, Chapter 6.

I'm going to leave you in a little while brothers, 40 more minutes and we're done. Look at Chapter 6, verse 6, take this word with you, brother, sister, tonight and meditate on it, Micah says here, and he's asking this rhetorically, because the answer is already known, it's not a question… no, he knows the answer and is asking the question, he says:

“…With what shall I appear before Jehovah and worship the Most High God? Shall I appear before him with burnt offerings, with calves one year old? will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousand streams of oil? Will I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my bowels for the sin of my soul?..."

In other words, this is what people believe, that to come before God and get something from him you have to stick a knife in and rip your guts out and you have to bleed and sacrifice your youngest son, and you have to do something tremendously sacrificial and agonizing for God to then say, oh, are you talking to me? And pay attention to what you are saying. I will approach with this, with the other.

Look, what it says, what is the answer to this question, it says:

"...Oh man, or woman, he has declared to you what is good, and he has told you what you have to do, what is necessary, what is good and adequate..."

There is like a note of impatience. God in Dominican, but boy, but man, but well, I have not told you what you have to do. And what does Jehovah ask of you? only, say everyone, only do justice, love mercy and humble yourself before your God.

In other words, you know, brethren, that's what makes you happy, ultimately, you can come to church and be here 24/7, fast every day, turn upside down, and stand on a walk 24 hours, do what you want that is not what moves the heart of God.

There are many people who believe that because they do all these things, that somehow they are going to bribe the heart of God and they are going to change the needle a little in their direction. The heart of God is very simple, brothers, and what pleases him is when the man, the woman, serve him with sincerity, with love, with dedication, they love him, above all things passionately. That is what God cares about the most.

And that is why this man, the centurion, [inaudible] what is the connection with the centurion [inaudible] because this man is not from Israel, he has no right to be in the presence of Jesus, he sends other Jews to him speak to Jesus and intercede for him and he as if he were putting a very complex machine into operation. Jesus comes with a large entourage, the Kingdom of God is mobilized in his favor, he does all the right things, and then, like the machinery of heaven, begins to move to comply with his request to heal his servant. But look what happens here.

But for now the machinery stops and this man says, you know what? He sends someone over and says, look, wait, my light bulb went on. He does not have to come to my house because this is so simple, simply that he says the word, that he says the word and that is all that is needed for my servant to be healed.

The heart of this centurion was a noble heart, he loved the Jews, he loved his servants. How many centurions would be upset because their servant was sick. What they'd do is just kick him out and get another cool minion to replace him. But this man had a simple heart, he loved God, he loved his servant, he loved Israel.

And then he says, Lord, you don't have to do all that. Know what? I have realized, I am a soldier and I am an officer and I tell my subordinates to do this, and they do it, so I just say the word, that's all, Lord, say the word and everything is done. it will be solved. You don't have to come to my house, just say the word because I don't consider myself worthy.

Do you see the thing? That humiliation, that simple heart. I do not consider myself worthy of you entering my house. And in reality, ultimately, it is not necessary, if you agree say the word and everything will be resolved.

That is to say, there was no great ceremony, he did not have to use the phrase or expressions of Judaism, he was not even a Jew, he did not even know Judaism. But her heart was full of faith, love, and trust in Jesus and the ways of the kingdom, and that was all it took.

And do you know what is interesting about this passage? Nowhere does it tell me here that Jesus said, Roman centurion, your servant is healed, go because I have given the word and he is healed when you get there. He does not say anything. It says absolutely nothing.

It is that the Lord was so amazed at the faith that he even forgot the problem of that blessed servant. That is to say, that simply happened as second place. The Lord marveled at faith, rejoiced. And I believe that the joy of the Lord was transmitted and manifested in a healing. The Lord did not even say, may your servant be healed, because that is the way things are in the Kingdom of God.

Brothers, I would like that in my life, that my faith towards God was so great, that I did not even have to pray. Do you know that I believe that this is possible? The faith of a man, a woman, is so great that they do not even have to ask the Lord for anything because something of him or her opens the keys of heaven, closes, opens, demolishes, builds, because our hearts are full of faith and from that faith comes all the good we need.

Let me tell you something, and this sounds like a Buddhist, Zen type, but many times the most powerful prayer is the one that is not said, it is the one that is there in the heart so real that it does not even occur to us because we believe so much that we don't have to verbalize it. Do you understand what I'm telling you?

There are many times that God tells me, look, don't pray to me and do it as an offering of faith for me, don't ask me what you're going to ask me, just shut up and believe that I'm going to give it to you. And God grants me that request.

Sometimes when you have asked the Lord a lot and he already knows and you have put it in Spanish, in Chinese, in English, in French, look, rest, shut up and leave it there to the Lord and thank him and rest because Your prayer has already been answered.

So, brothers, let us remember that simplicity of the heart of God tonight. I believe that the miracle of that sanctuary is already in the heart of God and now what we have to do is move in that security, do our part, trust in the Lord, God already has that in his heart and that is going to give.

And tonight, if there is something in your heart, a request that you want with God, something big, serious, important, I ask you to adopt the centurion's faith tonight.

We are going to stand up right now and we are going to put that request, that need before God and tell him, Lord, I trust that you give me what my heart longs for. I believe it tonight, and I thank You for it, Lord.

Rest now in the Lord, surrender it to the Lord, trust in the Lord. You can continue praying for it, I am not telling you not to do it, but do it from a position of faith and trust that your request has been granted because your heart is right with God. God loves you. God rejoices with you, rest in him tonight. God is.

So, Lord, in the name of Jesus we hold onto that centurion faith tonight and declare that we will live a life from victory to victory, from power to power, you will give us the desires of our hearts. Thank you because we don't have to squeeze because you already want to give us the desires of our hearts.

Thank you for your love for this Congregation. Thank you for the dreams you have put in our spirit. Thank you because you take us from victory to victory, from height to height and we believe that the generous heart of our Dad will always be willing to give good things to those of us who ask for them.

Thank you Lord because you are a merciful God. On this night fill us with the joy of your heart, bless our brothers. I bless you in the name of Jesus. We declare the grace of the Lord over your life. Joy and peace and blessing, prosperity and power, the desires of your heart and the requests of your soul may God [inaudible] grant you your land and heal your family and your home and give you his peace tonight.

I declare the good will of God over your life. I declare the breeze of God that takes away all the bad and the negative that the devil wants to throw on your life. I declare blessing and hope over your life. Thank you Lord, we love you, we adore you because you are good and because your mercy is forever, Lord. Hallelujah!

Give a big round of applause of joy and gratitude to the Lord. Thank you, Jesus we love you, we bless you. Hallelujah! Thank you Lord because you are good, for your Father's heart, because you love us and we are safe in you Lord. Amen.