I'm Looking At My Faith Again

What should I do when I pray and nothing happens?  When whatever I am asking for or needing to become reality doesn't, what then?  Why doesn't it happen?  God has the ability to make it happen, but it seems as if most of the time He's silent.  Hello.  God are you listening?  

So how can I know if the faith in God I think I have is up to the challenge or strong enough to keep my ship of hope afloat in the next storm that comes my way.

As I read about the disciples Jesus was trying to inspire and instruct in the using of their faith; over and over Jesus had to admonish and reprimand them firmly for the lack of it.  A couple times He even said things like ... "O ye of little faith" or the question ... "Why did you doubt?"  

I will admit I don't understand much within the faith realm.  So many times I pray and … "nothing happens."  But as I think about saying nothing happens, I know I am wrong.  Call it a test of faith, or a proving of who I am ... whether I see a change in the situation I am praying about or not, God is still at work in me, if no where else.

I'm a hands on guy ... let me torque the nut and bolt down ... myself.  I need to know it is done right.  But with faith I can't do that.  I don't know how to get a hold on something that is not seen.  The prayer of faith is of the unseen invisible realm ... for that realm has only the intangible ... unseen and unproven to anyone except to the one believing for it.

Faith.  You've gotta have it if you want to please God.  Maybe that's my problem. 

Here's a favorite faith scripture of mine, (yes, I have some) and it actually begins with the word "but" in the original translation.  Hebrews 11:1 ... "Now (but) faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."    

Yes, faith may be real ... but until your faith request becomes visible to the natural eye, (something seen) it is still just a tentative theory, a concept not yet verified by the tangible manifestation of the answer from God.

I guess what I'm trying to say is ... I really want to start seeing more substantive seen evidence of answers to my prayers.  But then, what does that do to faith.  I know faith must come first, before the answer.  It's like a fire burning in a fireplace.  I must put more wood on the fire before I get more heat.  I can't say to the fire, give me more heat and then I will give you more wood.  It doesn't work that way with prayer either.

Let me address faith in God. 

There is a good example given by the Apostle Paul as he is speaking about Abraham believing the promise that God gave him.  I prefer how the Amplified Bible words it.

Romans 4:16 ... "Therefore, [inheriting] the promise is the outcome of faith and depends [entirely] on faith ... to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his descendants ..."   

To me, this is the most important part ... "inheriting the promise (or your answer to prayer) depends entirely on faith."

Romans 4:17 …"As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. [He was appointed our father] in the sight of God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that [He has foretold and promised] as if they [already] existed."  

God's promises are so certain, that He speaks of them (the nonexistent things) as "already" in existence.  God speaks of the promise as something already done.  In God's own mind ... it was done.  I need to see my requests as something already done.

Abraham is called "the father of faith" because he was the first to believe that when God said something, God would do it.  As far as I can tell, he was also the first to be justified by faith alone.  Today we are justified by our faith, only because of what Jesus has already done.  Jesus "alone" is our justification.

Continuing in the Amplified Bible, Romans 4:18 reads this way …"For Abraham, human reason for hope being gone, hoped in faith …"  The word hope means to anticipate with confidence.

So, I'm seeing a little more clearly now ... "inheriting the promise (or your answer to prayer) depends entirely on faith."  Wow, it's right there in black and white.

I'm looking at my faith again, and I have found one of the problems I have with my own faith ... questioning myself as to whether or not what I'm asking for "is God's will" for me or the one I'm praying for.  Instead of doubting, and that's what it is ...

Why don't I simply start believing what Jesus said in Matthew 21:22 ... "And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive."

The two words "whatsoever" and "believing" covers anything a follower of Jesus would ever need to ask for.  So why can I now say that?

Because I now see very clearly ... "inheriting the promise (or your answer to prayer) depends entirely on faith."




This post is dedicated to "Maggie Thornton" who is believing for her son's healing.


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