I have always struggled with faith, I guess because it never made sense to me before. Not just faith in Christ, but faith in anything. I was always waiting for the good things in my life to disappear or to be ripped from me, and so I did not trust or have faith in anything or anyone, not really. Since I have been saved, I have felt my distrust slowly seep away, and it is amazing. Unfortunately I have always been easily influenced, and Satan is very good at using that against me. A month or two ago, someone that I don't even know suggested that Jesus wasn't the Son of God, that He was just a Godly man, and that the disciples suggested He was Lord after His death. Now, I know that isn't true, but my easily suggestible brain loves to sneak that in on me every now and again and make me wonder if my faith is false.
I hate feeling this way, so I cried out to God and begged Him to take my doubts away. I have been praying this repeatedly for a few days and then, like the good Father He is, God gave me an answer clear as day: read the story of Jesus from the bible, start to finish, Matthew through John. I instantly knew this was the answer, for I know the basics of Jesus but I have not gotten to know the story of His life as well as I could. By knowing who Jesus was and is, I will be better able to solidify my faith. But this wasn't enough for my good and gracious Lord; He wanted to give me a little extra help.
This morning I opened "Praying God's Word" by Beth Moore to start chapter two. Can you guess what is was on? That's right: faith. I love it when the Lord consumes my life with one subject, so that it totally takes me over and envelopes me, leaving room for no doubt that God's hand is directly in control of this. I hope that this never changes in my life. It was also really wonderful to see how God rewarded my direct plea for assistance with immediate help, because it means my heart is getting right with Him and back on the path He wants me on. He wants me to ask these questions of Him, rather than relying on myself.
In the book, she points out that without faith, it is impossible to please God. We will be challenged to believe him from one season to the next, all of our days. We can't just believe in God, we also have to believe Him.
Believe He can do what He says He can do.
Believe we can do what He says we can do.
Believe He is who He says He is.
Believe we are who He says we are.
To do this, we should cry out earnestly "Help me overcome my belief! Make me a person of belief Lord!". As she did with the first chapter of this book, she gave us some example prayers using bible verses. I wanted to share my favorite one with you today:
Father God, according to Your Word, without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to You must believe that You exist and that You reward those who earnestly seek You. Lord, I want to please You. Build faith in me so my life will honor the life of Your Son.
I am pretty sure this prayer is going to be said in my house a whole bunch over the next few weeks, maybe longer. I have to recommend this book if you have ever struggled with prayer, or with overcoming the addictions and troubles in your life. I truly believe that God has directly given me this book so that I can grow as a Christian and do what He has planned for me, according to His will.
God bless you, and thank you for reading this. Until next time...
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