Back to basics: Faith.

“Now Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1. Faith is one subject that believers are well aware of and profess to live by everyday but there is something about faith that I personally grapple with. I have come to the realization that I need to rekindle my understanding of faith and what it means to live by faith - all over again. Maybe some of you reading this are thinking “how can you not know what faith and living by faith means?” If you have figured it out, we praise God for the revelation but if you are like me trying to grasp the intensity of the expectations & requirements of having faith then you’re at the right place.

I am currently reading a book by Derek Prince titled “Faith to live by” and in reading the first five pages, my thought process took a different turn and somehow I felt uplifted. In that very moment, I thought to myself “I have forgotten what faith is all about haven’t I.” Trust me; it’s easy to say you have all the faith in the world until you face a situation that will require you to have all the faith you can need to get through that situation. I’m sure the Hebrews 11:1 scripture is like a chorus to most of us; we quote it, we speak it and we sing it. But when we have to literally exercise faith, we forget. We play the blame game with God, which sometimes we don’t do on purpose – you just find your thoughts wailing away towards self-pity and towards 101 questions of “but Father (God) you have all the power, you can change the situation now, you can get me this & that now but why aren’t you doing so?” You’re lucky if you get an answer to that, instead the Holy Spirit gently reprimands you after you have thrown “silent” tantrums all over the place (in your heart).

Personally, there are things that I have prayed for and asked God for but have not yet seen come to pass. I mean doesn’t the word of God say in John 14:13-14 that “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” Then, what happens when I don’t get what I have asked for? Does this mean God varies in His word or He changes His mind sometimes? Certainly not! Numbers 23:19 says “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and he will not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it?” But what is the problem then? Since God proves to keep to his part of the bargain…

Mark 11:22-24 says “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Key words: does not doubt in his heart and believes. With most of us, sometimes we find ourselves in situations whereby we confess with our mouth that we believe God will fulfil His promises but deep down in our hearts we’re questioning whether God is hearing our prayers, whether we are good enough to receive what we are asking for, whether we are able to do all things through Christ, whether we deserve God’s blessings and whether God will really come through for us. This kind of subtle reaction is simply doubting; even though we are confessing with our mouth to believe. James 1:6 states, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double minded man…” When we give room for the slightest doubt in our hearts, we automatically disqualify ourselves from receiving what we're asking for from the Lord. Maybe you’re thinking, “When I pray and ask God I truly believe - 100%, leaving no room for doubt but some of my prayers still go unanswered.” Have you checked your motive behind what you are asking for? James 4:3 says, “When you ask you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives…” This scripture challenges the intention behind the things we ask for from God (self-introspection moment). Truth is, half the things if not most of the things we ask for from God are either for selfish gain or to feed our egos and that is the reason why sometimes God does not grant us our requests.

It is not every time where we doubt and probably have wrongs motives when praying and asking God for something, sometimes we are authentic & full of confidence in God to come through for us but we find ourselves faced with some kind of silence from God. James 1:2-3, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” God uses trials to test our faith; to test how much we believe in Him. Like I mentioned this at the beginning of the article, it is easy to say you have all the faith in the world until you have to exercise it in real situations. 1 Peter 1:7 echoes James 1:2-3 saying, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Trials test the genuineness of your faith; God’s ‘silence’ tests your faith to develop perseverance.

Time and again, unfortunately, we find ourselves focusing on the mountains that have to move instead of having the assurance and conviction that they will move, not matter how long it takes. Maybe I have missed some things from God because I did not believe, maybe I did not receive some things because of my insincere – selfish motives and maybe I have not yet received those things because the genuineness of my faith is tested that it may produce perseverance but in all of this, I have one responsibility: to continue to believe - in God, His word and promises & so do you... “Have faith!”, Jesus said.