Have Faith in God
#faithseries
(This Weekly Prayer Summary was written by Esmeralda Lukman, from the CBC English Core Team Prayer Ministry, and edited by Brigitta Tedja)
The Sunday sermon began with testimonies from two young participants who attended the Daughter’s Conference last Saturday. They shared how their lives were touched and impacted. The conference was long, but it flew by fast because they were both captivated by the presence of the Lord through the sharing of our in-house City Blessing Church women speakers.
Pastor Paul opened with a Prayer of Declaration: That God will bring you to the next level, that you will not be the same again, that you will be renewed, and that you will no longer be lukewarm. You will no longer live in the past, but God is going to bring you into the destiny and purpose that He has for you. You will respond to God’s calling, and you will say “Yes” to the Holy Spirit. God will speak to every one of us during this Sunday service.
The focus of September is on faith and the title of the sermon is “Have Faith in God”. Some people have faith in something else than God. They may have faith in their money, their connections, their position, talents, or skills, but Pastor Paul is sharing about having faith in God. The goal of the sermon is not for us to only listen to testimony, but the goal is for you to have faith, and that your faith will grow. This message is for all of us regardless of how long we have been a Christian.
Sometimes, when we pray for our needs, we place a demand on God for an answer. It is not wrong to ask. Jesus said, 'When you ask, you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” But often, in our attitude in prayer, we demand an answer instead of having faith in God. Because of that, some of us lose hope when God has not yet answered a particular prayer. The fact that God has not answered, does not mean He did not listen to our prayers. What should we do? We must declare the goodness and the faithfulness of God even when we are facing trials and uncertainties, even before we receive the answer, whether it be healing, financial breakthrough, a job, children, concerns about our parents, or running for Congress. As we walk with God, we need to continue to declare His goodness, even if our prayers have not been answered yet. We need to learn to endure uncertainties.
In life, there are times in our walk when we may not understand everything that comes our way. So, we may have a question in our mind, “What if?”. Another term is “Maybe”—there are many things that we want to do, we want to make decisions and we start to think that maybe it will work, maybe it will happen, maybe it will not. We need to transfer our issue to glory and victory. We need to make a declaration and agree with God that we will go through these obstacles victoriously.
The enemy wants to make sure that we only focus on the issue of the present because we live in the present. We get self-satisfaction that is coming out of the present time: food, friends, fellowship, money, and material things, and because we are so attached to that, we put a demand on God for an answer instead of putting our faith in God.
Mark 11:22-24, NASB “22 And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. 23 "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 24 "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you."
When you talk about faith, we need to act differently. We need to have an attitude that we will receive. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we will receive.
Ephesians 2:8-10, NKJV “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Hebrews 11:1, NKJV “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1, AMP “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed) and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].”
Hebrews 11:6, NKJV “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Some of us are lazy and God will not reward us. This is a very strong statement that without faith, it is impossible to please Him. The Bible did not say that you need to do good works to please Him, even though the Bible teaches us to do good works, but to please God requires faith.
Why faith? The statement of Jesus in Luke 18:8b NKJV “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
2 Corinthians 5:7, NKJV “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
We walk by faith; it does not mean that we sprint or run by faith. It means we have to walk daily by faith. The Bible mentions that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. The enemy is a thief. What does the enemy want to steal from us? Is it our money, material things, position, job, or connection? The answer is “No”. Could it be possible that when your financial condition is being shaken, then you will have doubt and develop unbelief and faith begins to be watered down? The devil is after our faith!
How Does Satan Want to Steal from You?
He wants to steal your faith—not material things.
Drift away. It means little-by-little. Your faith cannot grow if we do not spend time with Him in the Word of God. There are no excuses.
What is the Enemy of Faith?
Sight. As we want to be secure, we choose to believe in what we see instead of having faith. Be careful with what you see every day!
Tradition and habits can hold us back.
Preconceived ideas. The meaning of “logos” is expressed ideas, but the enemy of faith is a pre-conceived idea that is set in stone in our minds. It is a religion with no God at all. Pastor Paul also was reminded of the prodigal son story. The word “prodigal” means “wasted” and prodigal sons can exist in our midst in this church when we waste our God-given gifts and talents, capacity, and potential in our lives.
Predetermined mindset.
Unresolved previous disappointments. Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desired fulfilled is a tree of life.” Disappointed with men and with God because we have not seen the answer yet. We depend so much on our sight.
Misunderstanding of the Word of God. A wrong teaching, a wrong doctrine that can cause of not to have faith or become stuck.
Unforgiveness. Pastor Paul shared the story of when Jesus cursed a fig tree that had a lot of leaves but had no fruits, then Jesus cursed the tree. The next day when the disciples and Jesus passed by the fig tree again, it had died. The context of the story is when Jesus cursed the fig tree, it did not die right away, but then it happened. This is showing the power of the Word and the power of faith. Jesus is the word personified.
Mark 11:24-25 “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.” But there is a context after the next verse says, “And whenever you stand praying forgive, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses."
Could it be possible that you want to have faith but you cannot because you are holding grudges and you do not want to forgive?
Double-mindedness. In James 1:6, NKJV “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. 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.”
Pastor Paul shared a quote from Bishop Mark Chironna explaining what a double-minded person means:
The term "double-minded", translated from the Greek "dipsychos", it is a fascinating concept to explore.
Double-mindedness conjures the image of being torn between two selves or two souls, wavering between different opinions or courses of action. The notion of being double-minded implies the state of being conflicted within yourself, where you are experiencing inner tension between various thoughts, feelings, desires, and values. It can cause you to vacillate [confuse / between faith and doubt, courage and fear, or action and inaction]. James 1:6: It is not a sign of failure; it is a sign of being human. James is not speaking condemnation here; he is calling us to awareness so we can trust the wisdom of God to heal the fragmented splits in our inner conflicts. Trust God. ~ Mark Chironna
The meaning of “conjures” is to influence or effect by, as if by magic.
The meaning of “vacillate” is suddenly you fluctuate within your own opinion, so you are indecisive.
Why Faith?
Because God is looking for sons and daughters who have faith and, therefore, live by faith.
What is Faith? How to Get Faith?
Hebrews 11:1
NKJV – “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Moffat Translation – “Faith means that we are confident of what we hope far — convinced of what we do not see.”
New English Translation -- The first part of this verse reads; “Faith is giving substance to things hoped for.
AMP – “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed) and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].”
Hope is Important in Our Lives
Hope cannot take the place of faith. We need have to have hope before faith because faith is the substance of things hoped for. If you are not hoping for anything, you are not going to have faith in anything.
Faith is the substance.
Hope does not have any substance.
You do not have to hope for something you possess. You hope for thing you do not yet possess. You have to have hope first, but hope does not give substance.
Faith is grasping or taking hold of the unreality of hope, and you bring it to the realm of reality.
How Can We Bring Hope to Reality?
Faith grows out of the Word of God.
Faith is the warranty deed for the thing which you have finally hoped is at last yours, it is the evidence of things not seen.
Pastor Paul shared about building the training center and by faith, it will be done and completed. What got you here will not get you there. For you to experience your destiny and the purpose God has for you, you need another faith.
You need to take the Word of God, look up every scripture and make that scripture yours, personalize it. You need to meditate upon it and think about it until it becomes a part of your inner consciousness. Then it will work for you. Let the Word become rhema—alive in you.
Pastor Paul shared the history of the Healing Room in Spokane, Washington. The ministry started with John G. Lake as hundreds of thousands of people were proven and healed miraculously by medical professionals. Before the people were ministered to, they were placed in rooms where those who were sick would pray for hours by themselves before they were prayed for by others. They spent time in the Word and prayed and they were healed before anybody prayed for them.
We were encouraged and reminded to:
READ, STUDY, MEDITATE the Bible.
Make the Word of God to be your inner consciousness.
Do not read the Word with what you think God said, but what God actually said.
Encourages us to read the Bible, even if we have read it many times. He shared that, in his own particular case, when certain things arose, he could probably recall every scripture in the Bible on that particular subject.
Just quoting scripture does not necessarily get the job done. Just because you can memorize it and say it does not mean you are able to produce anything.
Example: Sons of Sceva (Acts 19:11-20)
God said to Joshua in Joshua 1:8 NKJV “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
Everybody wants to have success in life and make their way prosperous. It is not just about monetary prosperity, but prosperity in every area of our lives even what money cannot buy. We need to meditate and study the Word.
How Important God's Word Is
We need to READ the word for ourselves. Do not just accept what somebody said to you or any other preacher, READ it for yourself. Find out what God's Word say. Make that Word yours. Faith is also the evidence of things not seen.
Pastor Paul emphasized an important conclusion from his own experience of when he spent time and meditated on the Word and it becomes quickened, alive, and became a rhema:
It was like somebody turned a light on in the INSIDE of him.
But then, his HEAD began to take over and put the light out (reasoning)
When he began to think, “… well, yeah, I've heard preachers believe healing has been done away with, so I can't be healed” — the light turned off.
The entrance of God’s Word gives light and revelation.
The light does not come to your mind — yes, it has to go through your mind because you use your eyes and read it — but it needs to come in your heart.
Prayer Points:
Pray that our faith will continue to grow and that we will not allow ourselves to drift away from the Word.
Pray that we do not depend too much on our sight and feelings.
Pray for the breaking of traditions and habits that block our faith.
Pray for freedom from preconceived ideas and predetermined mindsets that hinder our faith in God.
Pray for healing from past disappointments.
Pray for correction from wrong teachings.
Pray for the willingness to forgive, including forgiving ourselves.
Pray for stability, so that we are not double-minded.
Pray for the advancement and building progress of the Training Center; no delays, obstacles, accidents, pushback, or interruptions. Pray for wisdom, a hedge of protection, and unity upon the Strategic Planning Team.