And behold, there came a man up to Him, saying, Teacher, what excellent and perfectly and essentially good deed must I do to possess eternal life?
And He said to him, Why do you ask Me about the perfectly and essentially good? There is only One Who is good [perfectly and essentially]--God. If you would enter into the Life, you must continually keep the commandments.
He said to Him, What sort of commandments? [Or, which ones?] And Jesus answered, You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,
Honor your father and your mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.
The young man said, I have observed all these from my youth; what still do I lack?
Jesus answered him, If you would be perfect [that is, have that spiritual maturity which accompanies self-sacrificing character], go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; and come, be My disciple [side with My party and follow Me].
But when the young man heard this, he went away sad (grieved and in much distress), for he had great possessions.
And Jesus said to His disciples, Truly I say to you, it will be difficult for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven.
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of heaven.
When the disciples heard this, they were utterly puzzled (astonished, bewildered), saying, Who then can be saved from eternal death]?
But Jesus looked at them and said, With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God.
Then Peter answered Him, saying, Behold, we have left [our] all and have become Your disciples [sided with Your party and followed You]. What then shall we receive?
Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, in the new age [the Messianic rebirth of the world], when the Son of Man shall sit down on the throne of His glory, you who have [become My disciples, sided with My party and] followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
And anyone and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for My name's sake will receive many [even a hundred] times more and will inherit eternal life.
But many who [now] are first will be last [then], and many who [now] are last will be first [then].
Now the man clearly was a believer or he would not have been talking to Jesus, but he wasn't at the level where he could understand what Jesus was saying to him, so he walked away.
Then there was a woman with the issue of Blood. She was at another level. She would stop at nothing short of a touch of Jesus clothing to get her healing. Nothing could stop her. She made up her mind. She didn't go to the priest, she didn't go to find someone to pray for her, she sought the Lord. Here's her story from Mark 5: 25-34
And a certain woman who had an issue of blood twelve years
and had suffered many things under many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse
when she had heard of Jesus, came up behind Him in the press of the crowd and touched His garment;
for she said, "If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole."
And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned about in the press of the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?"
And His disciples said unto Him, "Thou seest the multitude thronging Thee, and sayest Thou, `Who touched Me?'"
And He looked round about to see her who had done this thing.
But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done in her, came and fell down before Him and told Him all the truth.
And He said unto her, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."
NOW YOU HAVE SEEN PEOPLE OF FAITH AT DIFFERENT FAITH LEVELS AND YOU MUST BE ASKING; WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH PRAYER, AND I TELL YOU IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH IT!
YOUR FAITH IMPACTS YOUR PRAYER LEVEL. NOT YOUR ABILITY TO PRAY OR EVEN HOW LONG YOU CAN PRAY. THOUGH I DO SAY THAT PRAYER IS A FAITH BUILDER; BUT YOU'VE GOT TO BE WILLING IN PRAYER TO STEP UP TO HIGHER LEVELS!
THAT MEANS THAT YOU'VE GOT TO BE PREPARED TO MAKE CHANGES THAT WILL DRAW YOU CLOSER TO GOD AND AVOID THE PRAYER OF WHATEVER TRADITION YOU ATE USED TO. YOU MAY HAVE TO LEAVE THE FAMILIARITY ZONE AND STEP INTO FRESH NEW TERRITORY; BUT GOD WILL MAKE IT WORTH YOUR WHILE.
PLEASE THINK ABOUT THIS AND FEEL FREE TO PASS IT ON.
____________________________________________________________________
