Hauge Lutheran Innermission Federation

Hauge Lutheran Innermission Federation Experienced Salvation. Christian Fellowship. Simplicity in worship.

09/01/2026

The Source of Grace. John 1: 17
Wayne Almlie

John declares: "For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ."

John’s not putting down the Law here, There is nothing wrong with the Law. David said the Law of the Lord is Perfect, converting the Soul. But it's limited; it will only take you so far. Paul said the Law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The law will drive us to the cross, but can take us no further. Moses isn't the source of the Law; Moses here is just the errand boy. He delivered the law. Take away Moses and the Law is still there, it still exists.

Amazing Grace, John Newton who wrote that beloved hymn said," A wrong understanding of the Harmony between Law and Grace would produce Error on both the left and the right." When you look at the words to the song you see he had a great understanding of law and grace.

I'm especially intrigued by the line, "Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieve.” The Law is grace; the Law is the grace of God that shows us that we are wretched sinners. The Law is the grace of God that teaches us to fear, to realize that we are lost and condemned and deserving of Gods judgement. The law is the grace of God that drives us to Christ, to the Cross. The Gospel of Grace then comes to relieve our fears.

Paris Reidhead, an associate of A.W. Tozer's said, "If I had my way, I would declare a moratorium on the public preaching of 'The Plan of salvation' in America for one to two years. Then I would call on everyone who has the airwaves and the pulpits to preach the holiness of God, the righteousness of God, and the Law of God, until sinners would cry out, 'What must I do to be saved?' Then I would take them off to a corner and whisper the Gospel to them. Don't use John 3:16. Such drastic action is needed because we have Gospel hardened a generation of sinners by telling them how to be saved before they have any understanding of why they need to be saved."

It is grace that taught my heart to fear. Yes it is the Grace of God that awakens us to our need. Rom 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? NKJV
Matt 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. NKJV

Fear and the goodness of God are both meant to lead us to Christ.

Grace and truth were realized through Jesus. Jesus is more than just the errand boy. He is Grace and truth. He is the embodiment of Grace and truth. You take away Jesus Christ, and Grace and truth is gone. They are inseparable. Thus, Jesus Christ is no mere instrument of "grace and truth," He is the source of "grace and truth

Acts 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.

Wrapping up grace

"No one has seen God at any time" - This fullness that dwelt in Christ was in essence the glory of God, which no man had ever yet been privileged to behold. Paul tells us that God dwells (1 Tim 6:16) in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

However, in Christ Jesus all the fullness dwells, "the only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him." He has declared him; He has made Him known, he has put Him on display.

This is grace, put on display. This is the Love of God explained in a way we can understand.

Here again John gives us a clear statement of the deity of Jesus Christ – he calls him "the only-begotten God" Those who try to tell us that the Bible, disciples, and Christ himself never claimed divinity for Jesus are truly blind. The Bible does say that the God of this world has blinded them and this is most certainly true.

In Christ Jesus, men were able to see the glory of God and receive the truth of God in the fullest expression of the revelation of God possible – the One "who is in the bosom of the Father" – intimate and beloved.


Do you have a desire to see the glory of God – look to Jesus Christ; and see the Glory of the one in the bosom of the Father.
Do you have a desire to know the truth about God – listen to Jesus Christ; He has the words of grace and truth.
Do you have a desire to understand and experience the grace of God – trust in Jesus Christ, and you will begin to experience grace upon Grace. A grace that ever rolls in wave upon wave for all eternity.

08/30/2026

Heb 3:13-14
13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
NASU

Heb 10:25
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
NASU

08/28/2026

Rest in peace, King Harald V. 🇳🇴🕊️
Your legacy, kindness, and devotion to Norway will never be forgotten. ❤️

08/28/2026

Faith as the Essence of Prayer
From What Prayer Is (Book One, Part 4) by O. Hallesby (1931, Public Domain)

We now come to another essential element in the attitude of heart that constitutes the essence of prayer: faith. Prayer is not simply words spoken to God. It is the turning of the heart toward Him. God recognizes prayer whenever helplessness rises toward Him in trust—whether spoken aloud or silently within the soul.

Scripture makes this clear: “Without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto Him” (Heb. 11:6). For this reason, faith is indispensable to prayer. Helplessness alone is not enough.

Helplessness combined with faith becomes prayer. Helplessness without faith becomes only a cry into the darkness. Prayer begins when helplessness turns toward God with trust.

Those who have tried to live a life of prayer soon discover that faith is often the most difficult element in prayer. The Bible repeatedly stresses the importance of praying in faith:

• “If ye have faith, and doubt not… all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matt. 21:21–22).

• “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou believes, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” (John 11:40).

• “As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee” (Matt. 8:13).

• “Let him ask in faith, nothing doubting…” (James 1:6).

Because of these passages, many sincere Christians become troubled. When they examine their hearts honestly, they conclude that faith is precisely what they lack. Doubt seems to accompany their prayers—before they pray, while they pray, and after they pray. Their confidence rises and falls like waves driven by the wind. They recognize themselves in the biblical description of the double-minded person, unstable in all his ways.

These believers are not careless or indifferent. On the contrary, they often pray earnestly for themselves and for those they love. Yet when answers do not appear quickly, discouragement grows. They look for signs that their prayers are being heard, but they see little change. Gradually a painful conclusion takes shape: God cannot hear me because I do not pray in faith. Doubt increases, and fear follows. They begin to worry that they are praying wrongly or even offending God.
But this conclusion is often mistaken.

Many who think they lack faith actually possess more faith than they realize. If a person turns to God in prayer at all, that is already evidence that faith exists. Faith often hides itself so well that we fail to recognize it, yet it reveals itself through certain clear signs.
The clearest sign of faith is this: coming to Jesus.
The essence of faith is not strong feelings or perfect certainty. The essence of faith is simply turning to Christ. This is the first and surest evidence that faith is alive.

A sinner has nothing to bring to God except sin, distress, and need. When the Spirit of God reveals this condition, the natural impulse of the human heart is to flee from God. But faith does the opposite. Faith comes to Jesus just as it is—guilty, helpless, and needy—and lays everything before Him.
Scripture confirms this promise:

“Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us” (1 John 1:9).

This is exactly what we see throughout the Gospels. People came to Jesus with every kind of need—physical suffering, spiritual distress, or both. They did not always have clear understanding or unwavering confidence. Often they simply came because they had nowhere else to go. Yet many of them heard Jesus say, “Thy faith hath saved thee.”

Their faith was demonstrated not by emotional certainty but by their willingness to come to Him.

This shows us how much faith is necessary for prayer. We have enough faith when our helplessness drives us to Jesus. Prayer begins when need leads us to turn to Him.

Prayer is therefore the union of helplessness and faith. When helplessness turns toward Christ and speaks honestly to Him, prayer is born.

This also explains why great faith is not required for prayer. Prayer is simply opening the door when Jesus knocks. It allows Him to enter our distress with His power and grace.

Our faith does not assist Jesus in answering prayer. He does not need our help in order to act. Faith does not persuade Him to care more deeply or draw Him closer to us. He already cares and desires to help. Faith simply opens the door so that He may enter.
Yet that door must be opened. Jesus does not force His way in. Prayer gives Him access to our need.

Many believers mistakenly interpret their doubts as unbelief, but these two things are not the same.

Unbelief belongs to the will. It is the refusal to believe—the refusal to acknowledge our need, come to Christ, and entrust ourselves to Him.

Doubt, however, is weakness. It is suffering within faith. It is the struggle of a believing heart that is uncertain, wounded, or fearful . In this sense, doubt can be called the suffering of faith.
Like other forms of suffering, doubt may persist for a long time. But if we learn to view doubt as suffering rather than as unbelief, it loses much of its power to trouble us. In fact, suffering often deepens prayer, because it increases our awareness of need. And helplessness, as we have seen, drives us to pray.

The Bible itself provides a powerful illustration of this truth. In Mark 9 we read about a father whose son was possessed by an evil spirit. The boy suffered terribly. The father had brought him to the disciples, but they could not help him. When Jesus arrived, the desperate father cried, “If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.”

Jesus replied, “If thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth.”

Overwhelmed by the seriousness of these words, the father cried out with painful honesty: “I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!”
Here we see faith and doubt mingled together. The man believed, yet he struggled with uncertainty. When Jesus spoke about faith, he even began to doubt his own faith. But instead of hiding his struggle, he brought it openly to Jesus.
And Jesus healed the boy.

In the man’s own eyes his faith seemed weak and inadequate. But in Jesus’ eyes it was genuine faith. If it had been true unbelief, the miracle would not have occurred. Yet Jesus responded with compassion and power.

This story shows how weak and trembling faith can still be real faith. The man’s faith was sufficient because it possessed the essential characteristic of faith: he came to Jesus and confessed his need.

This truth brings great freedom to the praying soul. The answer to prayer does not depend on emotional certainty or mental clarity. The father in Mark 9 felt no strong assurance. Everything seemed uncertain. Yet his prayer was heard.

Our experience is often similar. We question whether we are praying correctly or according to God’s will. We wonder whether our faith is strong enough. Sometimes our thoughts become so confused that we hesitate even to pray.

At such times it is a great comfort to know that we have faith enough when we bring our needs to Jesus. Even when faith is small and doubts are many, we can do what the father did: tell Jesus honestly about our weakness.

We do not need to force ourselves to believe or try to drive doubt from our hearts. Such efforts are usually fruitless. Instead, we may bring everything—our need, our faith, and even our doubt—to Christ.

In doing so, we open the door. And when Jesus is given access, He will accomplish His gracious will.

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