Possible

“Who then can be saved?”  But Jesus looked at [the disciples] and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” —Matthew 19:25b-26

I had a completely different plan for this verse, but as often happens, God had a different plan.  Something happened today that rattled me to the core and broke my heart.  

Someone close to me professed to be an atheist.  

I’ll refer to this person simply as Friend to maintain gender neutrality and anonymity.  Please don’t ask me to reveal more or attempt to guess who it might be.  

Friend believes that God is not superior to other gods, that science is more logical, and that certain faith tenets are merely lies.  This is so hard for me to understand when there is evidence all around us that God indeed does exist, evidence that He loves us, and instances of circumstances that can only be explained by His involvement in our lives.  And though I want so badly for Friend to see these things and agree with me, God does not force us to love Him.  He gave us free will to choose or reject Him.  And He sent His Son to die for us knowing full well that some won’t accept the gift that action provided.  

I’ve certainly argued my point with Friend, but sometimes the only, and always the best, thing one can do is pray.  My prayer is that God will make Himself so obvious to Friend that His presence, His sovereignty, His superiority, and most of all, His love will be undeniable.  I pray that Friend’s heart will soften and beliefs will change.  

Today’s verse answers Friend better than I ever could.  NO ONE can save us except God.  No man, no list of rules, no theories or scientific claims can do what only God can.  

Will you join me in praying for Friend?  Please comment below if you will.

Example

Pray then like this:  “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.—Matthew 6:9-13

The Lord’s Prayer is a piece of scripture many of us memorized, likely in the old King James version, as children.  I can even remember reciting it daily before lunch in my public elementary school!  And though it may still be committed to memory, have you ever considered why this is such an important prayer?

I believe the most important part of this prayer lies in the first four words, “Pray then like this”. Jesus taught this prayer to give us an example of how to talk to His Father.  I certainly don’t think He meant for us to only pray this prayer every time.  If that were the case, perhaps He would have just said, “pray this”, but he said “like this”.  

So, “Like what?”, you may ask.  Look how the prayer starts.  It starts with offering respect and praise to God—hallowed be your name— simply for who He is.  Next comes a promise of submission—your will be done.  That’s a tough one, huh?!  It’s not always easy to ask God simply for His will to be done, especially if we haven’t matched up our will with His yet.  Next finally come the requests for help and forgiveness.  It’s tempting sometimes to just jump right in asking God for what we want or need, forgetting that God deserves our respect and obedience first, without expectation of receiving anything.  

Just as a student textbook is filled with examples of how to do the homework problems, the Bible serves as our textbook of how to be followers of Jesus.  Through the stories Jesus told, the actions He took, the way He dealt with people, and through clear advice like in these verses, Jesus teaches us by His examples, too.  And just as when we were students in a classroom, we have to study and practice in order to learn.