It Works By Love

Galatians 5:6 “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” NIV

So many of the Prayer Nuggets have centered around praying in faith. Truly, for our prayer to be effective at all, it must be faith-based, believing that God is, that His Word is true, and that He hears and answers because that’s what His Word says. But there is another aspect that is what I call the foundation of the foundation of faith. Simply stated, for faith to work, it must be expressed through, or have the foundation of, love. To break this down further, for our prayers to be effective, they must begin with a heart of pure love, God’s love.

What is prayer, after all? It is a ministry of the followers of Christ Jesus. Every ministry in the body of Christ, from maintenance work to pastoring, from singing in the choir to taking a meal to someone who needs it, from writing a letter to someone in prison to writing a book, even to praying in absolute solitude, has no eternal value if it doesn’t come from faith working by love. Look at 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 in conjunction with the above verse for more proof. The love to which all these verses refers is not human love, but agape love, the love that is only available from our heavenly Father, Who is love Himself. This agape love is, in fact, God’s unconditional love that never ends and never wavers.

Let’s look to Jesus as our example. When we follow His earthly ministry, we find that everything He did and said was expressed from the foundation of God’s love. Though there aren’t many specific examples of what He prayed, it is logical to believe that the foundation for His prayer was exactly the same as the foundation for everything else He did, including teaching, healing, delivering, rebuking, etc., which was love. He showed His faith in God by the love through which it worked. It wasn’t just the works themselves that proved He had faith, but the love that undergirded it. In case they had missed it up to this time, what did Jesus tell His disciples as He prepared them for His crucifixion and resurrection, and what is He telling His disciples today?

John 15:9-10, 17 “⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. . . ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.” NIV

His direction to us for our lives is so simple. We’re the ones who make it hard. Let’s take inventory. Am I being led by the Holy Spirit of Love, or driven by a sense of obligation? What is behind every prayer I pray? Am I truly praying in faith, which is an outworking of His great love in and through me? What is behind every deed performed and every word spoken? Again, is it in faith working by love? If my honest answers reveal a lack of love, then I must not go one step further until I am totally immersed in His love. This may take some time, but I can’t afford not to take it. I must meditate on Who He is and what His Word tells me of His love for each person, including me, until it changes me. It is only when I remain in His love that I pray in faith. It is then that Jesus is seen and heard through me. That’s when prayer changes things – when faith works by love!

1 John 5:2-4 “² This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³ This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴ for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” NIV

© Copyright 2007 Kay V. Stocking