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Week Four:
God Is Our Present Help in the Face of Fear:
When Our Faith Wavers -
We all experience variations in the strength of our faith. If all is well, we feel confident that the Lord is trustworthy, because we see His benefits and blessings as unmerited favor all around us. But whe trials and troubles increases, so do our doubts and level of fear about God's faithfulness. We start to wonder and waver in uncertainty, whether He will ever answer our prayers for breakthrough or deliverance. As hard as we try, we can’t see Him working in the situation. And as our challenges, struggles and trials drag on, we may begin to lose hope in God, and may start looking for more reasonable ways to resolve the matter ourselves. James point us to a different perspective, instead fo thinking that the Lord has forgotten about us, however, he reminds us His goodness and divine purpose for our hardships and heartaches. Our Heavenly Father isn’t try to break us, rather, He wants to group us and provide what is lacking in our spiritual life. What we really need in our oppositions and trials is wisdom, and that is exactly what Jame discuss.“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing ” James 1:2-4 (NKJV). They test our faith in order to produce endurance and perseverance, in order to produce development and maturity in our faith walk.“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind” James 1:5-6 (NKJV). Instead of focusing on the circumstances or situation, but letting our feelings overcome our faith, therefore, we must shift our thoughts to the Lord and confidently believe He'll give us the spiritual knowledge and wisdom we need; so that we can handle the situation and to grow from it. Giving in to doubts and fears is dangerous to one's emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. As it could develop into a lifestyle of emotional instability and spiritual uncertainty in which drives into wavering faith. When we hanle our misgiving in this way, we’ll often make wrong decisions that are costly. How much better it would be to anchor ourselves to the Lord and His Word, while riding out the storm in peaceful reassurance. “For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways ” James 1:7-8 (NKJV).
Grounded in the Faith -
Do you remember what it was like when you got saved? You probably didn’t know much about the Bible, but you knew your life had changed forever. Although we love and serve Jesus faithfully, we may be more interested in what the Bible says about how we're to live than we are about the beliefs that form the foundation of our faith. In Colossians, Paul emphasizes tghe importance of stability in our faith, however, stability that results from the rich experience of knowing Christ with real certainity adn clear understanding. “That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ ” Colossians 2:2 (NKJV). Knowing what Scriptures says about the essentials of our faith will guard us from deceptive devices of the devil and overwhelming cares of this life. When we’re firmly rooted, built up, and established in biblical teachings, we’ll recognize when false teachers offer messages that don’t align with God’s Word. Since, we know what we believe and why we hold these beliefs to be true or false, we could become prime targets for cults that specialize in adding just enough truth to error to make their message seem believable. Can you defend your faith? Do you know what the Bible teaches about Jesus, salvation and the essentials of Christianity? Knowing the truth about these things protects you from deception and also allows you to knowledgeably share the message of salvation with others.
The Prayer of Faith:
A committed and consistent prayer life is essential for every believer who wants to grow in his or her relatioship with Christ. Yet so many Christians struggle in this area. What is hinderin you?
No Burden:
Being diligent in prayer is easy when you feel passionate about the petition or request. This is how you will storm the gates of heaven when a loved one is sick, but once the urgency is past, so is the prayer consistency. Many will drift back into lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern is gone.
No Time:
Many find themselves too busy or not enough time for God, or can see no way to squeeze regular prayer time without a drastic rearrangement of our schedule.
No Realistic or True Reason:
Many have tried to pray, but feel that God doesn’t seem to answer, oftentimes, feeling that “it’s a waste of time”, so that just give up. “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit ” James 5:16-18 (NKJV). This text tells us us about Elijah had an consistent and persisten prayer life. He was passionate, continuing firmly or obstinately in prayer when difficulty or opposition comes. His petition God for everything, because he knew God intimately and believed He would come to his rescue. His past answers to his prayer tand time spent in God's presence had solidified prophet’s trust. When Elijah first began to pray on the mountains, there was no apparent answer, and yet he continued to seek the Lord. God is always working around involvement even when there’s no tangible evidence. God didn’t design prayer as simply an avenue for requests; spending time in conversation with our Heavenly Father is meant to to help us know and love Him willingly. Then, as we grow in passion for the Lord, spending time with Him will be a delight, adn life turns into an adventure in faith.