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February 25, 2013

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God And Us

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Faith and God’s Will

Mountain Lake

Mountain Lake (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

Well, I haven’t written in a while; that would be my laziness kicking in. Today I decided to write about faith. Faith is a very interesting but confusing topic. Let’s start with a verse:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1, ESV)

Faith is the foundation of Christianity because we cannot see God, but we have faith that He is there (“conviction of things not seen”). Our faith is supported by what we read in the Bible, and what the Holy Spirit reveals to us.

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mark 11:22-24, NIV)

This is the part of faith that tends to make my head spin. I mean, to think that just through faith we can tell a mountain to jump and it will? It’s mind-blowing! And Jesus says, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

But, in my opinion, there’s another side to this. What if, say, you’re really, really mad at someone. You get on your knees and pray that a mountain will fall on that person’s head. Do you really think it will happen? Or if you shoplift and have “faith” that you won’t get caught? “Thou shalt not steal”, remember? So that doesn’t really work either.

Motive is a big part of this. If your motive is wrong, selfish, and against God’s will in any way, having faith doesn’t really make sense. And certain things we ask for that don’t seem bad aren’t given to us. Maybe you’re praying for a family member to be saved, or for healing for you or someone you know. It would be good if God said “yes”, right? But we aren’t seeing the big picture. What might seem good now may interfere with God’s plans in the future. Or maybe God said “yes”, but “not right now”.

Also, what is it like to have complete faith? It’s human to have doubts, but when we have complete faith, we have no doubts. We believe it to be true or that it will happen. If you ask something of God, but your faith isn’t complete, it’s like you’re testing Him. It’s as if you’re saying, “I’ll ask God for this, and we’ll just see what happens.” It doesn’t work that way.

When we pray, have faith that what you pray for will happen/be given to you. But also pray that God’s will will be done. Always, always pray that, because God’s will beats our foolish plans every time. And if you feel like your faith’s a little shaky, pray for faith! Remember when Solomon prayed for wisdom in the Bible?

TTT

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6 thoughts on “Faith and God’s Will”

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  3. Faith is a fascinating concept isn’t it, and one I wrestle with a lot too.
    I was challenged by this part:
    “If you ask something of God, but your faith isn’t complete, it’s like your testing Him.” I can definitely see that in my own life. I like your advice to ask for faith, and that His will would be done. Praying in His will, rather than just issuing wishes – that’s where I want to be. Thanks for the wise thoughts, once again.

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