This is Day 14 of a month of blogs designed to change our thinking! It is hard work to change the way we think. God says His ways are higher than our ways; His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. It’s critical to admit to ourselves that we need to change. My encouragement today is that we all prepare ourselves to change! To do that, let’s make sure we FEED OUR FAITH!
Romans 10:17 (New King James Version)
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
I remember when I was in Bible School. Many young people there wanted to be mighty men and women of faith and power. In reality faith is not something we possess but something we nurture and take care of. According to the above verse one of the key factors in having a functioning faith is to make sure we hear the Word of God. Simply put, with no regular input of the Word, we cannot expect our faith to be strong and overcoming. Faith is what gives us the ability to be successful in this world:
1 John 5:4 (New Living Translation)
4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.
Because we are Kingdom people, we have the power within us to confront our world and be successful in doing so. That means in every way and in every thing we win! How? By implementing our faith.
OK! We can see that the Word of God says we are successful in our mission in the world when we implement our faith. And it says that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. So it is obvious we need to take care of our faith by feeding it with the Word of God on a regular basis.
Just the other day, a friend sent me a Facebook message and asked for prayer because they were really struggling that day. The needs in this person’s life were huge that day. He was facing eviction and had no place to go. I spent a half hour in the Word and Holy Spirit led prayer for this man and his family. Then I wrote a reply to his message that included a prayer calling for the provision he needed. I sent that message and within moments – well before he could have received my message and read it – I got a new message from him saying God had just met the need!
Two things had taken place in that half hour of prayer. 1) I had read the word, which caused my faith to rise for this situation. 2) My resulting Spirit empowered prayer had built my friend up in his most holy faith even though he didn’t know it.
Jude 1:20 (New Living Translation)
20 But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,
Now, I know that my prayer had effect. Of course, I had been praying for this situation for several weeks, but it was the Word of God and the promises contained in that Word that kept me from despairing over this man’s situation. And by praying in the power of the Holy Spirit I built my friends faith! The result: in this case we had our answer in moments. I know that weeks of prayer and faith had brought the answer, but it was that extra push of faith that made us OVERCOMERS and SUCCESSFUL that day!
So begin right now! Get in the Word and find the promises of God that apply to you and your situation. Then start praying in the power of the Holy Spirit and expect to be successful overcomers in this world. I challenge you today – Change Your Thinking! How? By reading the Word of God and praying in the Holy Spirit!
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, in Jesus name I thank You for Your Word, which brings understanding, purpose and faith into my life! Thank You for the gift of faith that grows as I study Your Word. I declare that I Your Word will come to my mind whenever I face a challenge. And I will be successful in my life and mission.
Tags: faith, successful, Word of God