It was such a simple moment. Eve reached; Adam accepted; both ate and so ended the glory of the human race. A single decision over a piece of fruit tore the fabric of the cosmos and ended the goodness of humanity.

It was all so pointless. God had given them perfect bodies in a perfect world. There was no sickness or death to add to their temptations. There were no bitter injustices to absorb or evil habits to suppress. There was only perfection and peace and both gambled away Paradise for a self-absorbed dream.

When Eve reached for the forbidden fruit, she reached thinking that she would become a god. She wanted God’s freedom and power. She wanted his wisdom to create worlds with her words and to be feared by the creatures she made. But Eve did not want to honor the One who had made her, nor was she thankful to him for saturating her heart with peace and joy.

Eve’s fall began when she trusted in the lie of an inferior creature. It ended when she placed her hope in a piece of fruit that could not hear or speak. And just as Eve deceived herself, so she deceived her more than willing

husband: A man who so easily tossed aside his Creator for self-reliance and power. Like his wife, he too was found by his God in the cool of the day with a heart full of doubt and a secret crush on himself.

Though centuries have risen and fallen since sin entered the world nothing has changed. The blueprint of our parent’s sins is still the blueprint of our sins today. God is not honored by what we do, nor is he praised by what we say. And the proof of this goes far beyond elevated crime statistics or the various movements that seek to eliminate God from the public square because even our kindest acts reveal our self-love. Humanitarians feed the poor and clothe the homeless, but they do not serve to spread the name of Jesus. Instead, they serve to soothe their fragile consciences without ever having to acknowledge the sovereignty of God. Devoted parents may sacrifice themselves for their children, but their sacrifices aren’t humble offerings before God. They’re sacrifices to their self-esteem. And their hearts live outside of faith because they place their hope in living idols that cannot save them from themselves.

The essence of sin is very simple: Every sin sells you the irresistible dream that you can become a god and every sin intoxicates you with the desire to protect and feed this delusion. This is why people lie to protect their reputations and why they lie to enlarge them. It’s why wives verbally abuse their husbands to hide their insecurities and why husbands enjoy beating their wives to release their pent up anger.

And if you’ve ever wondered why God makes so much of faith in Scripture it is simply this: Saving faith in Jesus Christ pries the human heart away from the deadly, universal faith of self-salvation as it scatters the fog of self-love that rises from the cesspool of ordinary doubts.

The first thing that saving faith requires is believing that an all- knowing, all-powerful God is greater than your heart, aware of your sin and is more than capable to do something about it. The last thing that saving faith requires that you accept that God loves you in spite of yourself and that he offered himself to remove your sin. And in between the two is that critical bridge that requries you savor the fact that the Lord Jesus rose from the grave – and by embracing Jesus as he is, you happily accept that he conquered sin, death and hell and that he holds the payment for your sin secure at the right hand of God the Father.

These three pillars of transcendent truth are the holy trinity of saving faith and from them emerge the fullness of God. The first demands that you believe in the justice and wrath of God the Father. The second demands that you acknowledge the mercy and love of God the Son. And the third demands that you embrace the power and wisdom of God the Holy Spirit.

As souls are bathed in the light of these truths, sinners are revealed for what they really are. Atheists reject the first pillar. There is no fear of God in their hearts because they believe

there is nothing to fear. They refuse to entertain even the existence of God and so they extinguish faith before it can ever begin. Moralists reject the second pillar. They refuse to accept that Christ paid for their sin and so they cannot offer him a grateful and trusting heart. As they are crushed despair, they desperately search for a path to God through themselves. And finally, worldly, lukewarm hedonists reject the third pillar. In their misery they offer no obedience to God as the waves of guilt, superstition and indifference crash hard against their lifeless souls. They praise God in vain because they refuse to leave lusts that they think God cannot overcome.

But the purifying power of saving faith purges us from the belief that godliness can be grasped through lifeless things. The Spirit of the Living God gives us the faith to believe in the fullness of Jesus as it ignites the transformational alteration that sweeps across our empty souls and invades all aspects of our lives. When the precious Holy Spirit drives his Living Sword deep in the heart, he produces fruit in keeping with repentance, love in keeping with a humble trust and the indescribable joy that rests in the confidence that Christ’s death and resurrection will one day restore it to perfection and peace and raise it to everlasting life. And left in the ashes is that ancient, dark lie that God’s creation could somehow be harnessed to defeat God himself and the fleeting dream that we could ever touch his greatness without tasting the goodness of his power.

Though God is sovereign over all things, He ordains the means of prayer. There are some things He will not do unless we pray, though He always does all He purposes (Psalm 135:6). The mystery does not change this truth: You do not have because you do not ask (James 4:2).

If you do not ask . . .

1. Evangelistic work will be hindered.

“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matt. 28:37-38; see also Col. 4:3; 2 Thess. 3:1; Eph. 6:18-19).

2. You will enter into more temptation.

“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one . . . ” (Matt. 6:13).

3. You will not get what you want.

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7).

4. You cannot successfully prove you are His disciple.

” . . . ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:7-8)

5. You will not have all the joy you could have.

“Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24).

6. You will forfeit some of God’s protection and deliverance.

“And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many” (2 Cor. 1:10-11).

7. You will often misunderstand God’s ways.

“Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight” (Ex. 33:13; also see Psalm 25:4).

8. You will continue to be worried.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).

9. Some may not be healed.

“Is any among you suffering? Let him pray . . . . Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:14-15).

10. You will not glorify God as much as you could.

“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).

11. You will miss much of the beauty of the Scriptures.

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law” (Psalm 119:18).

12. You will not accomplish as much for God.

“The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16).

It is no wonder that the church once “continued steadfastly” in prayers, and the leaders gave themselves “continually to prayer.” We can comprehend why Paul admonished us all to “continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving,” and why he wanted the men to “pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands.” And it makes sense why a widow is cared for if she “continues in supplications and prayers night and day” (see Acts 2:42; 6:4; Col. 4:2; 1 Tim. 2:8; 5:6).

“Prayer,” said the 19th century preacher, Charles Spurgeon, “is the tender nerve that moveth the muscle of omnipotence.”

We cannot afford not to pray.