Have you ever wondered why it seems God hasn’t heard your prayer? You prayed and nothing seems to be happening, in fact the connection between you and God seems silent, lost some how, (which causes you to wonder where He went and why He is not answering you). Or maybe you have never felt God’s presence or had a connection with Him and you wonder if He even exists or how you can get Him to hear you.
If that is you and you are seriously looking for an answer, I can help you with that today. Many don’t realize it, but God is not going to answer our prayers without faith. And quite frankly, faith is an action we have to have to prove our trust in God.
James 2:17 tells us faith without action is dead. If I say I have faith but I don’t act like it, my faith is incomplete and my confession is dead.
James 2:17 So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead). Amp.
As you can tell there is more to faith than just saying you believe. Faith is a decision to believe and trust God and by that trust we take Him at His Word. Faith is a decision to be made and one you don’t turn back on if you want God‘s presence in your life.
Let me explain the extent of the faith God is talking about and how we have to apply that faith to what we say we believe. Recently I broke my leg and I didn’t want to go to the doctor, or wear a cast for 6-8 weeks so instead I decided to have faith in God to heal it. You may think it strange of me to not go to the doctor or even think I had a choice-but that is exactly what I want to show you-we do have a choice because 2 Peter 2:24 says by His stripes we were healed. Because, Jesus took thirty-nine stripes for our healing, we were already healed; He already made provision for us before we ever had a need. Based on the Word of God then, I decided as I have many times before, to take advantage of what Jesus did for me.
In believing God and as I spoke to the mountain as Jesus said we should in Mark 11, I spoke to my leg and called it healed. When I didn’t have any results I asked God why. According to James 1:5 I can ask God for His wisdom, therefore that is what I did. God’s answer was that my faith was invalid because I was taking twelve Advil a day, and moaning and groaning instead of acting like I was healed. He reminded me that I had to have faith action to my confession. Without putting action to my confession my faith was inoperative-dead. At that Word from God I stopped the Advil and the moaning and continued to speak to my leg and told it to be healed.
During my faith actions I remembered a moment where I felt my bone shift apart and back again, which was a bit scary and I asked myself if I was crazy for not going to the doctor. But then recalled and trusted that loving voice I heard tell me to stop the Advil and the moaning and act as though I was already healed. I resisted the doubt and focused on what God promised He would do if I had faith. I stood my ground and acted as I normally would, I made supper, straightened up the house without complaining or asking for help. I acted out my faith as I acted healed, and went on with my day. The only thing I didn’t do is go to the gym or take my dogs for a walk.
By about the third day of acting healed God told me to go to the gym. I was still had some pain but I was excited because I knew God was confirming He was going to heal me. I knew God well enough to know that when He directs me, He is leading me to triumph!
From past experience, I thought I would leave the gym healed, but I did not. I limped in the gym and I limped out again, but I didn’t get offended because I knew God as Faithful. The next day was so exciting because I woke up with no limp and hardly any pain! The following day I took my dogs for a walk and the pain I did have was even less. I continued to go to the gym, everyday got better, and a week and a half later I was back to running on the tread mill.
That is faith with no compromise and the kind of faith God expects from us. Either we believe God or we don’t-and if we don’t, we really are not taking Him at His Word and that is not taking Him seriously. If we don‘t take God seriously we are saying we don’t believe Him or trust Him, therefore rejecting His power to manifest in our lives.
But, even before we can get to the place where we call ourselves healed and act it out, we have to act out God‘s laws. For example, if I won‘t forgive and then talk to my mountain, it won’t move, there is no power in my life when I won‘t love.
Mark 11:22 And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly]. 23 Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. 24 For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it]. 25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop..
Therefore taking God seriously also has to do with how we live. When we live by God’s principals we will have His power in our lives to call those things to be not as though they were. Without obedience we have no power in our lives.
We can’t say we believe and not act like we believe. If I want to have a supernatural healing and have God’s power in my life, I have to be obedient to His laws. His number one law is love and really love covers all the law, therefore if I love I am covered with His power and nothing is impossible for me.
James 2:19 You believe that God is one; you do well. So do the demons believe and shudder [in terror and horror such as make a man’s hair stand on end and contract the surface of his skin]! 20 Are you willing to be shown [proof], you foolish (unproductive, spiritually deficient) fellow, that faith apart from [good] works is inactive and ineffective and worthless? 21 Was not our forefather Abraham [shown to be] justified (made acceptable to God) by [his] works when he brought to the altar as an offering his [own] son Isaac? Amp.
Abraham went to the extent of bringing Isaac to the altar because he trusted God; he believed God would not forsake him. His actions were what he said and what he did. He told his servants that he and Isaac would go worship and come back again. He told Isaac God would provide the sacrifice, as he went through the motions of laying Isaac on the altar. Now that is great faith and with no compromise.
How do we obtain such faith? We have to know God; we have to take the time to get to know God so that we can trust Him and do what He tells us to do with out fail. If we ignore what God is saying to do we are not taking Him at His Word-we are not taking Him seriously.
Asking God for His wisdom or encouragement gets God’s attention because asking Him for help is faith. When we ask for God for help, if we are not double minded about it God will empower us with His wisdom to do His will.
James 1:5 If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. 6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. 7 For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord, 8 [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].
God is more than willing to give you the wisdom you need to live in His will. He is more than willing to answer you and give you the directions you need to walk in faith. He wants us to know Him and trust Him and that happens as we take time for Him. Taking time to be with God and know Him will instill in us His presence which will dissolve any double mindedness that lingers in our minds.
Although God is there for us all the time and promises us His presence all the time we shut Him out without even realizing it and because we don‘t know Him. Let me give you an example…
Imagine reaching out to someone you only heard about in hopes that you may for example, get your bills paid. Let’s call this someone George.
You ask George, “will you help me pay my bills? I heard you have a lot of money, just wondering if you would help me?” George replies, “Oh sure, let’s get together first and get to know me and know what I can do for you.” You reply, “I don’t really have any time for that, please just pay my bills so I can get on with my life.” George replies, “Well there are some things I need to teach you first so that you can not only get your bills paid but live better than you are. In fact, I know a way for you to have more than enough, be in health, and even live for eternity. Don’t you have time for a cup of coffee?”--“No George, never mind I am in a hurry!” you answer.
I realize we are not all at the same level of faith, but even at another level if we are not taking God at His exact Word-we are not taking Him seriously and are not justifying God rightfully but-more accurately we are not living in the true knowledge of God where we can experience His power.
God wants to help us, and gives us the directions we need, but when we ignore Him we are not taking Him seriously. Some want God to just do what they want Him to do in that moment, and then just go away until they have a need again. What they are expressing is: God when I need you I will call you, but I don’t want You in my business, or to be in control of my life. The reason is because God is not known for who He really is, or the GOOD He intends. Then, there are some who just get in fear of what if God doesn’t? Either category is at fault for not knowing God, for not taking the time to seek Him to know Him, which in turn would develop our trust in God.
God is delighted when we step out in faith and trust Him and that can only happen as we do just that, step out and take Him at His Word and in doing so. is really when and how we begin to know God, and that He is faithful.
When we realize God is a Person, He is our Father and He cares deeply for us, is when it is easier to acknowledge Him and experience that relationship He longs to have with us. Therefore when we take the time to know Him we will also know we can trust Him and that He has a better life for us than we could ever have imagined.
Living in God’s Kingdom means living by His principals. In the same scenario where God has a way for us to have more than enough, we have a part in that vision He has for us. The main ingredient as I already mentioned is that we love, His law is to love and if we don’t love we won’t fit into His Kingdom. There is some training we need to have when we move from the worlds kingdom to God’s and He will train us but we have to be willing to take heed to His voice which is a display of our faith in Him.
James 1:22 But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].
If we think God is going to do something for us when we know what to do, but we ignore Him we are living in deception.
Some express that God is silent and if that is you, if may be that you have ignored Him, or heard Him and not taken what He said to heart, you haven’t taken His very visible Word, at face value. Thus He is waiting for you to make a decision to come into His Kingdom and take every single Word He says seriously enough to do it.
When we do the Word of God, when we abide in Him, He is with us and we will clearly hear Him. If we are not hearing God or misinterpret God it is our mistake not His-we error by our disobedience to Him. He is precise and will do what He says He will do. Likewise, if we are exact and determined to be doers of His Word then we can expect the results God promises.
When I asked God why I wasn’t healed He gave me the wisdom I needed to have action to my faith. If I wouldn’t have gone to the gym, I would not have had my leg healed supernaturally. If I couldn’t hear Him, I wouldn’t know what He said, and if I can’t hear what He says, I haven’t taken heed to His law.
The bottom line is we need to take God seriously. We need to know that when He says something He means it, and it is for our good. When we do what He says we have His power activated in our lives, to not only hear Him, but to have His strength to do what He tells us to do.
If we ignore Him, and if we don’t take the time to know Him, we won’t hear Him or understand why we don’t hear Him. Just like Jesus said in Mark 4 our understanding will diminish if we don’t take heed His Word.
I would like to encourage you today to begin to know Him and be a doer of His Word so that when you really need Him you have already prepared to receive from Him.
Abiding is the action required to obtain the promise-you can ask what you will and it will be done for you.
John 15:7 If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.
When we receive from God we are representing Him and the truth about Him, showing others the goodness of God by our faith in God.
God says it is impossible to please Him without faith; therefore to take Him seriously is to have faith in Him.