Putting Faith to Action

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see…And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” –Heb 11:1, 6 (NIV)

There sure are a lot of good sermons out there on faith and we sure do sit there and nod our heads in the pews as our pastors bring these moving messages with such passion; BUT, when it comes time to make that step in your own life, can you truly walk without sight and trust God the ENTIRE way? I’ve recently encountered such a path in my own life and WOW- did God really show up! My path and future on this decision is still up in the air as of right now (at least on from my point of view) and I’m still walking blindly. All I can say is that the experiences and knowledge I’ve gained over the past week have really helped me to grow in my own personal walk with the Lord. Here is a quick summary of the tools and resources that brought me to this point recently. You may choose a slightly different approach, but the foundation here should remain consistent.

Fasting

I was never big on fasting until recently. I did it sporadically, but have definitely been more consistent lately. Fasting brings us to a point of humbleness and dependence on God and allows us to redirect our focus completely on Him- especially during that particular time frame. The book of Ezra points it out in this manner: “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him. So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our entreaty.” –Ezra 8:22b-23 (NASB) In short, fasting allows us to bring ourselves before God’s Throne and petition Him to move in some form of our life. This could be financial, a life decision, a healing, or any other situation where we are completely dependent on Him. No matter what, as the verse above tells us, His hand is favorably at our disposal if we come before Him with the right heart and motives!

Scripture

The Bible is literally our road map or “driver’s manual” for life. You name it- it’s in there when it comes to how God desires us to live our life out for His purposes. During this most recent fast I was directed to multiple verses that helped lead me to the answer I was seeking. Here are a few I would recommend you begin to study (and memorize) to guide you along:

Isaiah 42:16

Romans 11:29

Prov 16:3, 9

Matt 6:33

Heb 11:1, 6

Heb 10:19-23

Col 1:10

No matter what, I would encourage you to dive into the Word consistently and find the passages that apply directly to your life circumstances. Chances are you will need them regularly, so there’s where the memorization comes in. God’s Word is perfect and is the only foundation we need to stand on (2Tim 3:16-17).

 

Prayer

The final portion of the blueprint for increasing our faith and being able to make those radical steps when God asks us to is obviously staying in constant communication with Him through prayer. Paul instructs us in Phil 4:6 to bring our petitions before God through prayer and with thanksgiving. What prayer does is brings verbal action to a seed that is already planted in our hearts. It is an act of humility and the ability to release ourselves and our circumstances over to God- thus giving Him full control and taking it out of our hands. Prayer is powerful and when done with a heart that is truly seeking Christ, extremely effective (James 5:16b).

Even with all of the above in place, a radical risk of faith can still be a scary move. Rest assured that God even covers that, as His Word uses the phrase “Do not fear” in one form or another over 300 times! I once heard a sermon by Robert Morris and he said, “Big destinies require big character”. What Pastor Morris is saying here is basically the bigger calling you believe God has on your life- the more He is going to require from you. Those words have stuck with me for years and really helped me to step out of my comfort zone when it comes to my own walk. So no matter where you are at right now in life, know that as Hebrews 11:6 states, it is impossible to please God without faith. Seek the Lord today and allow Him to bring you to that point of where you can step out of the boat- because that is where Jesus is and where else would we honestly rather be?