Pastor Edmund Smith who is fondly known as Pr Ed, is a Pastor in Real Love Ministry (RLM) Melaka, Malaysia. He is a tireless minister in God’s Kingdom and through his church and ministry, the RLM, he has done much to reach out to the sexually broken.
Pr Ed himself had a transgenderred identity and lived a homosexual lifestyle for many years. The Lord delivered Him and gave him a new identity and purpose in His Kingdom. Today, he is married to his amazing wife Pr Amanda, and they are blessed with two lovely children, Angelica and Ethan. Pr Ed, who is also a professional performing artiste, travels all over Malaysia and even all over the world, to teach and preach God’s Truth and Sexual Recovery.
Recently, he shared about the heart of living faith in a very relational message.
The First Key to Living Faith
From this passage in the Bible, we can draw certain pointers. What do we do in times of hardship when living faith is so necessary? The Bible says we need to ask, seek, and knock on the doors of Heaven (Matthew 7:7).
‘Ask is an active element,’ Pr Edmund shared. ‘Seek is also an active element. To knock on the door is a third active element. Notice that there are three active elements in this one verse; a number of completion. Jesus rose on the third day. We consist of three parts; spirit, soul, and body.’
Our Father in Heaven is a perfect Father. He loves to hear us when we come to Him and ask for our daily needs. And He is the faithful Father. God will not say yes to everything and there are reasons behind these occasions, but He will also not simply say no.
God is the Heavenly Father and He is perfect in His knowledge and answer. He knows what is best for us. And the Bible tells us very clearly that everyone who is a child of God, when they ask, seek, and knock, He will answer. When we ask from God, there are three ways He will answer us. When He says yes, it is good for us. When He says no, it is similarly good for us. But there are times when He will give a third answer, and that is to hold on.
God will give us either one of these three answers. When we are unclear about the answers from God during our prayers, it is the time when we need to keep seeking. ‘Our job is to keep praying,’ conveyed Pr Ed. ‘So do not make our own assumptions, whether it is a yes or no. Keep seeking after God and He will give you a clear answer.’
One of the keys to faith is a life of prayer. The problem comes when we seldom pray and ask from God. Pr Ed communicated, ‘The Bible says everyone who is a child of God is to pray; to ask, to seek, and to knock. Not just the pastors. Do not give excuses that prayer is not my style. God does not expect us to pray in perfect English. He wants prayer that comes from the heart. Why ask, seek, and knock? God is stressing to us the importance of prayer.
‘Don’t think to ourselves that we cannot pray. That is the lie of the devil. We can pray in the simple manner of a child. Prayer is just like talking to God. And when we pray, learn how to come together in prayer,’ Pr Ed shared. Both Pr Ed and his wife Pr Amanda sets apart every Friday night for a special time of collective prayer.
Why does God want us to pray? It is because God desires a living relationship; a two-way street. ‘How does a person feel if his relationship is a one-way street? In the same way as a loving spouse wants a relationship with their significant other, God wants us to love and have a relationship with Him. Do not substitute Him with idols. And don’t forget to be grateful when He blesses us.’
The Second Key to Living Faith
The second key is a prayer of faith. In Matthew 17:19-20, the disciples asked Jesus after they had failed to cast out a demon why they had failed. Jesus’ reply was simple but insightful. The disciples had little faith. ‘So when we pray we must pray in faith and we must believe. Jesus mentioned faith the size of a mustard seed. Do you know that the mustard seed is the smallest seed in the world? And it produces one of the largest trees on this planet,’ communicated Pr Ed.
‘There is no size to faith. Jesus was not talking about a literal size. He was saying it is easy to have faith. Just trust and believe in Him. At the end of the day, we are the only ones who have control over our belief and faith.
‘Jesus can do all the good things for a person and the person can still choose not to believe. He can choose to be ungrateful and trust in something other than Christ. He can choose to trust the wisdom of men and the words of motivational speakers more than Jesus.’
In this world, there will be problems, Pr Ed conveyed. It is in times of problem that a person grows and becomes sharper. But the person needs to pray in faith. Men can sometimes be cast so strongly in the accepted wisdom of the world, trusting in their own feelings and logic. This is the reason why we need to renew our minds with the word of God.
‘We have to trust God in everything that He says,’ Pr Ed said. ‘At times, our minds are so full of noise. And we need to come before God, one-to-one with Him.’
The Third Key to Living Faith
The third key to living faith can be found in James 2:17-19. The verse tells us that faith without works is dead. ‘Some people misinterpret the context of this verse. What does it mean to have faith with works? The works mentioned in this verse is about response, doing something out of our faith, acting it out, seeking, serving, not being a lazy Christian, moving and pressing on.’
Furthermore, the verse also tells us that even the demons believe in the greatness of God and tremble at it. So what is the difference between Christians who believe and the demons who believe? It is the obedience of the followers of Christ to His word. ‘The difference is that we have living faith that is active while the demons have dead faith. There is no use to just believe and do nothing, not responding.’
What if the answers to our prayers are based on what God knows is best for us and not what we want? What if it involves sacrifices like serving in an unfamiliar environment? When God answers our prayers, we need to obey His prompting, no matter what it is. When we pray for a new calling, for example, we need to act on it when God brings opportunities along the way.
‘We have to move forward. Faith without works is dead!’ Pr Ed imparted. ‘And if your prayers do not get answered because you do not move, don’t put the blame on God at the end of the day. If you’re walking with God, don’t be afraid to work. When God is with you, nothing can stand against you. Your God will protect you and His voice will be very clear.
‘Believing alone is not enough. Get ready to move! When God says to move, we move! When God says to stop, we stop! When God says to give, we give! And when the fruits of the obedience come, nothing in this world can compare to it. Our God is a good God!’
The Requirement to be Born-Again
Finally, to tie all this together, in order to have living faith, we must be born-again. This is not a maybe or a perhaps. It is not a choice. The Bible is very clear about this. Every true Christian must be born-again. To be born-again speaks about being a new person.
John 3:7-8 illustrates to us what it is to be born-again. When we are born-again, we will be led by the Spirit. We are no longer led by our emotions. It is like the wind, we are led by the Spirit, and everything that the Spirit speaks is from the word of God. It is the reason why we must read the word of God. The more we know the word of God, the more we will be able to discern the Spirit’s leading.
‘It is different to read the Bible as a born-again Christian. The Spirit will guide us; “This is what I want you to learn today. These are the caution you must take heed of.” It is different and it is the reason why we must be born-again. And it is not difficult. The Bible says if we ask in sincerity for the Holy Spirit, He will give us the Holy Spirit. And then we ask God to continuously fill us with the Spirit every day,’ Pr Ed imparted.
This is what it is to have living faith. It is to be led by the Spirit each and every day of our lives. Ephesians 2 reminds us that we are saved by faith and should not boast of our good works, for they were done by the leading and grace of the Holy Spirit. When we were still sinners, Christ came down to redeem us. Despite our pasts, He came to give us a new life, identity, and purpose.
In John 14:26-27, Scripture reminds us that God has sent the Spirit who is our comforter to teach us all things and to bring all the things He has said to us to remembrance. And along with the Holy Spirit will come real peace, and not as the world gives, but as only God Himself can give.
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Jason Law
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