Theodicy Soteriology, Hermeneutics

SOTERIOLOGY : M. M. NINAN
Prayer is not simply communicating with God and expressing our devotion to our heavenly
Father, inviting Him to talk to us as we talk to Him, but is engaging ourselves in agreeing with
God so that unlimted powers of creation can produce release, redemption and healing.
Prayer releases God's great power to change the course of nature, people, and nations.
Salvation is the extension of His Kingdom into the person of the beleiver. This in itself is
accomplished through the confession:
Rom 10: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe
and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Prayer is therefore participating in the creative process of God. We can actively participate
with God in bringing His Kingdom. He would not have asked us to do that if this was not
necessary.
This is why Jesus declared that
Mat. 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will
be opened.
Job 5: 15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the
clutches of the powerful.
Job 15: 5 Your sin prompts your mouth; you adopt the tongue of the crafty.
6. Your own mouth condemns you, not mine; your own lips testify against you.
If you do not ask, you are not involved in the creation. It is left to others to have their way,
which is often not what you want. So ask to receive.
This is nothing new in the New Covenant, it was declared even in the Old Testament by
prophets:
In the following verse Lord cries out for his people to agree with him so that he can save
them.
Ps 8: 10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth
and I will fill it.11 "But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.12 So I
290