What is Grace? part 1

Religious textbooks will tell you that grace is unearned, unmerited, undeserved favor of God. I think that's a pretty good place to start.

Grace is an expression of God's love for us, regardless of our state. Whether we are rich or poor, healthy or sick, attempting to be obedient to Him or completely belligerent, HE LOVES US. Even if we don't love ourselves, can't see why anybody else would love us, or can't imagine a creator that could possibly love us, He does.

Grace is a statement of love, freely given to all of us by God. There is nothing we can "do" to make God love us more. St. Paul talks about this in his letters, "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace" (Romans 11:6). Works do not produce grace! It is free gift from God.

While we cannot increase his love for us by the works that we perform, there ARE things we can do to increase his flow of grace upon and through us. How do we access more grace? By FAITH!

How do we know this? St. Paul tells us explicitly, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Eph 2:8).  Here are some more references for you to explore about how faith is used to access God's grace: Rom 4:16, Rom 5:2, 1 Ti 1:13.

In the example above (Eph 2:8), the particular grace St. Paul is referring to is eternal salvation.There are many other graces God bestows upon us, including fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:21), wisdom, health, protection, love, joy, peace, and many more.

So how do we access His grace? By faith! But how exactly? Start by simply asking for what you want. It takes courage and faith to ask God for what you want. I encourage you to ask out loud; say the words with your voice. If you need, find a quiet and private place to do this. Speaking these requests aloud always seems to bring stronger results, although I cannot exactly say why.

Are you concerned about whether He will hear you? It is difficult to accept that He is Almighty, or that He created the entire universe, but is unable or unwilling to hear you. He has endured a lot to make a relationship with you possible. He even sent His only begotten (not made) Son to die in place for your sins. He will hear your every prayer.

Perhaps a deeper question is, What if I am asking for something that I should not have, or is against His will? What then?

PUSH! Pray Until Something Happens!
This will generally resolve itself in 1 of 2 ways. Either your prayer will grow stronger within you, and you will begin to see Him moving pieces to make it happen, or it will fall from your favor and you will lose interest. In short, pray until He answers your request (not necessarily as you intended), or until he moves your heart to let go of the request. Either way, you are expressing faith and giving glory to God!

I can't encourage you enough to pray and ask for the things you want. If I had a nickel for every time a Christian expressed that he/she wanted something, but didn't have enough faith to ask God for it, I would be IMMENSELY WEALTHY. I might even give King Solomon a run for his money!

With that, we have covered the basics of grace; what it is and how to access His grace. If you are interested, proceed to part 2.