I remember the time when I first believed. I was a young man commuting to college and I’d just finished reading a paperback version of the New Testament called Good News for Modern Man. I kept the book until this day.
What motivated me to want to discover and follow God’s plan for my life? It was the desire to experience the kind of feelings that come with following a righteous path. That’s about the best way I can put it. After reading the New Testament for the first time, it was a breath of fresh air to me. The words of Jesus came to life. I wanted to live a righteous life, but I knew that wasn’t something I could do 100% on my own.
At the time, I didn’t know anything about prayer, faith, healing or miracles being available today. Most Christian people said those kinds of things rarely if ever happen anymore. According to them, you certainly couldn’t count on answered prayer. I knew lots of people who prayed. But I didn’t know anyone personally who confidently expected results. They needed to see some kind of visible evidence of it first.
It wasn’t until I started hearing testimonials of people who’d received miraculous healings that I started to believe the “Good News” covered, not just heaven and hell, but everything in between.
Those early experiences, believe it or not, happened almost 38 years ago.
Since that time, I’ve had the privilege to see and experience all the above firsthand.
But, that said, there have been times and circumstances that make walking by faith and not by sight difficult, to say the least. Knowing the truth is a big part of it, but it’s not the only part.
Remember what Jesus said about prayer and believing.
Mark 11:24 KJV
(24) Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Contrast that with the English Standard Version.
Mark 11:24 ESV
(24) Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
If these words don’t give a person hope, I don’t know what will. Hope is something that points to the future, however. It’s important to understand that.
So when Jesus said “when you pray” He was literally talking about the present tense, right here right now. What are you supposed to do in the present tense?
Believe! Believe what? Believe that you receive them. Them refers to the thing or things you’ve asked for when you were praying.
Jesus had a lot to say about asking and believing.
The English Standard version is a little clearer. It says, “Believe that you have received it.”
You believe you receive – when you pray. Not a minute, hour, week, or month from now when you see something change. That’s not the time to believe. You don’t have to believe it when you can see it, right? You only have to believe when you can’t.
Matthew 7:7 KJV
(7) Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Matthew 21:22 KJV
(22) And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Today, many people add disclaimers to these open statements. Why not let the statements stand as they are? “Whatsoever” opens the door to many different possibilities doesn’t it? If all we had to do was ask, we’d have it made. The key is, you have to ask “believing.” Believing what? Believing that you have the answer the moment you ask for it.
John puts it this way –
1 John 5:14-15 KJV
(14) And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
(15) And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Notice the words, “And if we know that he hears us.” Most people don’t know, they hope, and that’s the difference between success and failure. We’ve all been there. Faith people see faith as a mental exercise. Others see it as spiritual. Some see the process as mechanical while others see it as personal.
It’s probably easier to say that it’s all these things and more. It all starts with Jesus.
The Bible says Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). It also says we’ve been given “the measure” of faith (Romans 12:3). But, when the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, He told them if they had faith like a mustard seed, they could move a mountain (Luke 17:5).
At the same time, we’re told to fight the good fight of faith and follow those who through faith and perseverance obtained God’s promises (Hebrews 6:12).
What Challenges Your Faith?
A friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer and sent home to die. He had skin cancer and the cancer had spread to his organs as well. At the time, he had wasted away to the point where he only weighed a little over 90 pounds. He received prayer from a group of people at his local church, and within a week, the skin cancers began to dry up and flake off of his body.
The cancers drying up and falling off encouraged his faith. Seeing progress is always encouraging, isn’t it? Yet, the other symptoms remained in his body for another year before they disappeared. He never went back to the doctor again. That was back in the 1990s.
The point is, he believed but it took an entire year for all the symptoms to disappear. During that time
I asked him once why he thought it took so long for the complete physical restoration to take place and he told me he didn’t have an answer for that. When I hear stories like this, it reminds me of what Jesus said in Luke 18:1. He said that we should always pray and not “faint” or give up.
Not seeing or feeling any progress or change for months on end can be discouraging. Discouraging thoughts may come and persist, but you can overcome them by focusing on the solution. You can overcome them by focusing on God’s word and placing your trust in what Jesus did on the cross. Still, for some reason, most of us believe that if we’re “doing it right,” we should see answers and results quickly.
If the problems persist, we often assume we must be doing something wrong. And once the focus is on fixing yourself, you’re in trouble. Think about it. You can always find something wrong with yourself if you’re honest about it. And if you conclude that your “works” aren’t up to par and that’s the reason you’re not seeing a breakthrough – you’re basically right back under the law again.
The Church in Galatia struggled with this very problem. Read the Book of Galatians for yourself and you’ll see exactly what I mean. It’s like a breath of fresh air.
Whether you look at it as you would faulty wiring or corrupt code, we tend to put pressure on ourselves in ways that are beyond our abilities. Or, there’s the other extreme where you refuse to take any responsibility at all.
The balance, if we’re completely honest with ourselves, is difficult to achieve and impossible to perfectly maintain. If we could, we wouldn’t need Grace, would we? We wouldn’t need a Savior. So again, the focus needs to be on Jesus and what is freely given to us by God. Paul obviously saw the importance of seeing his identity in Christ when he said,
Remember, it’s not all on you. Your faith should be carrying you, not the other way around. You’re not the author and finisher of your faith – Jesus is. We could sum it up by saying it like this, “Keep both eyes on Jesus.” I think it’s easy to get so focused on your personal shortcomings and inconsistencies that you lose sight of God’s Grace, Mercy, and Love.
The Gospel is Good News. God’s ability is stronger than our inability. So, don’t think that your situation is so unique that you’re trapped and God can’t fix you. In the words of 1 Peter 5 – But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you. To Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever.