In Mark 6:5...We are told that Jesus could do no mighty works at Nazareth. This is one of the most mysterious and peculiar passages in the bible. Jesus is
God right? He can do anything right? Of Course, But while Jesus was in His flesh, how is it that He was not able to do "mighty works" in certain places? One thing...Unbelief.
In terms of Christian principles, belief has everything to do with how effective Your requests and prayers are to Father God.
It is not suprising that Jesus almost always preceded
His miracles with a caveat. ...sayings such as in Matthew 9:29 "According to your faith let it be to you.” Also consider the story of the gentile woman
who begged Jesus to heal Her daughter in Matthew 15...“O woman, †great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.”
It seems as if Our Lord is sending us a message here, that Faith is proportional to the effectiveness of Our desires.
Jesus also would tell His patients why His miracles worked...
“Daughter, be of good cheer; †your faith has made you well. †Go in peace.”
and from Luke 9...the story of the sinful woman... †“Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
I know Your all smart. You know the common denominator of the above examples. Yes, You guessed it...Faith (aka...Belief).
Now there are those out there that try to treat these 2 words as different. But how can that be? If You have no faith, then that means You really dont believe...and if You dont believe, how can You have faith?
God is not the author of confusion. Our faith is simple and sound.
Don't play around with words...
2nd Timothy 2:14 - Remind them of these things, †charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.Is it any wonder that the majority of people in the world do NOT believe in prayer? They believe prayer doesnt work, so why should it work? The One who would grant it,
They dont believe
James 1:6-8 - But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; He is †a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.in, in the first place. It becomes a circular reference. So in the end, why would God be obligated to answer a prayer from a Person that does'nt even believe in Him?
In order to get prayers answered by Our Father, You first need Jesus as Your Lord, as Father God wants His Own People to
believe
John 6:40 - “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, †that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”in His Son. We can argue that this is exactly the reason why in Mark 6:5...that Jesus "could not do mighty works there". The people of Nazareth in Jesus time, did NOT believe. They did not understand that without a true belief in Jesus,
their prayer will not be heard by Our Father.
John 9:31 - “Now we know that †God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.”
...and therefore, "no works could be done".
It all starts with this one Word