Faith

“If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

I’ve since thought a lot about how tiny a mustard seed is. If that’s all the faith it takes to move mountains, then surely I can come up with enough to move the obstacles in my life.

God takes the tiniest bit of faith we have and makes it grow into something big when we act on it. The Bible says that “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3) We already have some faith to start with. When we step out in that faith, God increase our faith. In other words, acting in faith begets more faith.

Whether you realize is or not, you are living by faith everyday. Each time you go to a doctor, you trust he will do the right thing. When you buy medicine from the pharmacist, you believe he will fill you prescription correctly. When you go to a restaurant, you have faith they will not poison you. (Some restaurants require more faith than others.) How much easier and more certain is it to trust God?

We have no idea the great things God wants to do through us if we would just step out in faith when He asks us to. That’s why He lets us go through some difficult times. Times when we feel weak and vulnerable. He allows certain things to happen so that we will turn to Him and give Him our full attention. It’s in those times, when we are forced to pray in greater faith, that our faith grows stronger.

Jesus said “According to your faith let it be to you” (Mt 9:29) This could be a frightening thought, depending on the kind of faith you have. But there are things we can do to increase our faith, such as read the Word of God. Faith comes by simply hearing it (Romans 10:17). When you take the promises and truths in His Word and declare them out loud, you’ll sense your faith increasing.

Praying increases our faith as well because it’s how we reach out and touch God. At one point a woman reached out to the Lord believing that if she just “touched the hem of His garments” she could e healed. Jesus told her that her faith had made her well, and she was healed at that very time. Every time we reach out and touch Him in prayer, our lives are healed in some way and our faith is increased.

Every day it becomes more and more crucial that we have faith. There will be times in each of our lives when we will need the kind of faith that makes the difference between success or failure, winning or losing, life or death. That’s why asking for more faith must be an ongoing prayer. No matter how much faith you have, God can increase it.

Even when your faith seems small, you can still speak in faith to the mountains in your life and tell them to move, and God will do the impossible. You can pray for the crippled parts of your life to be healed and God will restore them. You can ask God to increase your faith and give you boldness to act on it, and He will do it.

What promise of God would you like to claim in faith as your own right now? What prayer would you like to boldly pray in faith and see answered? What would you like to see accomplished in your life, or in the life of someone you know, that would take a prayer of great faith? Ask God to take that seed you have and grow it into a giant tree of faith so you can see these things come to pass..


Lord,
Increase my faith. Teach me how to walk by faith and not by sight. Give me strength to stand strong on Your promises and believe Your every word. I know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Make my faith increase every time I hear or read Your Word. Help me to believe for Your promises to be fulfilled in me. I pray that my faith, will be glorifying to you, Lord. I know faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1) I know I have been “saved through faith”, and it is a gift from You. Increase my faith so that I can pray in power. Give me faith to believe for healing every time I pray for the sick. I don’t want to see a need and then not have faith strong enough to pray and believe for the situation to change.
Help me to ask in faith with no doubting. For I know that he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. I know that a doubter is double minded and unstable and will not receive anything from You. I know that whatever is not from faith is sin. I confess any doubt I have as sin before You, and I ask You to forgive me. I don’t want to hinder what You want to do in me and through me because of doubt. Increase my faith daily so that I can move mountains in Your name.

God’s Promises To Me

Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him
Hebrews 11:6

All things are possible to him who believes.
Mark 9:23

If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to the mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you
Matthew 17:20

Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
Romans 5:1

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, through it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:6-7

Purpose Prayer

Lord,

I thank You that You have called me with a holy calling, not according to my works, but according to Your purpose and grace which was given to me in Christ Jesus. I know that Your plan for me existed before I knew You, and You will bring it to pass. Help me to “walk worthy of the calling with which I was called” I know there is an appointed plan for me, and I have a destiny that will now be fulfilled.

Help me to live my life with a sense of purpose and understanding of the calling You have given me. I lay down all pride, selfishness, and anything else that would keep me from moving into all You have for me. I don’t want to miss out on Your full purpose for my life because I did not walk the way You wanted me to. I repent of every day I haven’t fully lived for You. Help me to live the way You want me to from now on.

Lord, help me to understand the call You have on my life. Take away any discouragement I may feel and replace it with joyful anticipation of what You are going to do through me. Use me as Your instrument to make a positive difference in the lives of those whom You put in my path. Help me to rest in the confidence of knowing that Your timing is perfect. I know that whatever You have called me to do, You will enable me to do it.

I pray that nothing will draw me away from fulfilling the plan You have for me. May I never stray from what You have called me to be and do. Give me a vision for my life and a strong sense of purpose. I put my identity in You and my destiny in Your hands. Show me if what I am doing now is what I am supposed to be doing. I want what You are building in my life to last for eternity. I don’t want to waste time going after things that are not what You have for me. Help me to be content where I am, knowing You won’t leave me there forever.

Lord, I know that “all things work together for good to those who love You and are called according to Your purpose.” I don’t want to presume that I know what that purpose it. Nor do I want to spend a lifetime trying to figure out what I am supposed to be doing and miss the mark.

So I pray that You would show me clearly what the gifts and talents are that You have placed in me. Lead me in the way I should go as I grow in them. Enable me to use them according to Your will and for Your glory.

In Jesus Name,
Amen

New Years Resolution – To Be Spiritually Fit

So the number one American New Years Resolution is to loose weight. And I’m sure most people are like me and this has been on the list for a few years now. Last year I came really close to accomplishing my goal but I didn’t quite make it. I ate better and I exercised but I didn’t truly train myself to make it through the rough times. And sure enough I fell off the wagon short of accomplishing my goal. Now, some people try the quick fix, the pills or the juice diets or some people even go to the extreme of going under the knife. But would that be truly accomplishing your goals? And would you be able to face those things that made you fall in the first place when they come around again? And you bet they will!! If you don’t train yourself to get through those tough times you’ll never make it through them. To truly accomplish something and to make it worth while, we need to sweat and we need endurance and we need to preserver through the rough times. It is only then that we will accomplish our goals! This goes hand in hand with what the Christian life is like as well.

Some people think that being a Christians means an exciting adventure 24/7. But lets face it, a lot of days you wake up feeling down, or you feel depressed or things just aren’t going your way. It is in those times when a Christian needs to push through and persevere! So just like we have to train to become physically fit we need to train to become spiritually fit. We’ve got to train so that when we get down or depressed we know how to preserve and push though. We need to use the Bible and Church as our training tools. That way, when you get through it, you’ve truly accomplished something.

So once again this year one of my Resolutions is to get Physically Fit. But it isn’t number one. This year my number one Resolution is to become Spiritually Fit!


“A true race requires sweat and endurance and perseverance.”