November 28, 2004
The Morning Sermon Outline
“True Faith in Action”
John 4:43-54

I. True Faith prays fervently

What makes true faith pray?
1. The hearing the word of God – Romans 10:17
2. The stirring of a difficult trial – James 1:2-5
A. “When the going gets tough the tough gets going” “When the going gets tough the Christian gets praying”
B. Two goals in trials: (1) God’s - “when He has tested me I shall come forth as gold” (2) The Devil’s - “curse God and die”
C. In the midst of a trial two things lead to fervent prayer (1) A belief that God is in control of your situation (2) a belief that God is good
3. The Nobleman’s faith in Christ kept him fervent in prayer

II. True Faith walks obediently

If prayer starts faith, obedience keeps it going and growing
1. In the Nobleman’s case his prayer was not answered as he first desired
2. Christ called him to walk by faith not by sight – 2 Corinthians 5:7 Note, no dramatic miracle was performed
3. Christ usually calls us to walk similarly – miracles are not the norm!

III. True Faith wins the reward (eventually)

He got home to find his son healed!
1. Similarly, God will answer our prayers in this life, we should expect this – James 1:6-7
2. Sometimes, God will not answer our prayers in this life but in the next – 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. We should still trust that God knows and does what is best!