Increase Our Faith

QUESTION: Increase Our Faith - Dig Deeper!

ANSWER:

Increase Our Faith – Insights from God’s Word
Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished. - 1 Chronicles 28:20

Increase Our Faith –Take Me Deeper in Your Word
Prayer: Lord, Your ways astonish me. This morning I awoke aware of the tug and pull of my heart being led into my quiet devotional place. I obeyed -- with some trembling -- wondering what You had prepared for me. Just knowing that You had something prepared was enough to cause me to pray for Your Holy Spirit to ignite my spirit with His discernment and wisdom.

I approach You, and this time together with a grateful heart, knowing already that You never disappoint, You never discourage, and You always bring about a clarity that I need. It is beyond my comprehension to understand why You do what You do -- but I am completely convinced that part of it is stretching me beyond my own comfort zones and teaching me that I can indeed grow and accelerate the progress of my ministry by meeting with You every day.

Today, my King, it seems to be all about faith and believing that You do what You say You do. You helped me this morning to recognize once again how powerful faith is and how necessary faith is to navigate the muddied waters all around me.

I thank You today for the reminder I received years ago about faith, as You helped me to see that it was through my faith that I was able to receive all I needed from You. You also reminded me about the second part of faith which is the obedience part -- when I act on Your instructions, by obeying Your Word and listening to the Holy Spirit.

The challenge for me today centered on the magnitude of Your commands. I recognize with excitement and anticipation the potential for my life, and I trust You, and turn over control of it to You. You have been teaching me for many years now about how to recognize Your voice and to discern when I am not. The sense I received today was that I was going to need even greater faith in the days ahead so that I will obey You and follow your direction at every turn.

Thank You, Jesus, that for many years now You have been about the business of alerting me to the kingdom possibilities that can be achieved by even the newest believer in Christ. This has sustained me and helped me to grow. But today, I sense You reminding me that there is much more ahead -- more seeds to be sown that have the potential of going down deeper than we understand to be possible. To the extent that we are willing to listen and obey that "still small voice" and the commands of Your Word, we will be used.

I pray today for my brothers and sisters that they will recognize the potential they have to make a difference. I pray they will be convicted and shown the areas of their lives where they have sold out to self. I pray that the Holy Spirit would ignite a flame every time they lay down an old bondage. You showed me just this morning how easy it is to be deceived by pride. You reminded me how I used to put myself down and call it humility -- when in reality it was a prideful thing and a bondage that held me firmly. It made me dwell on myself and my own needs -- sometimes to the exclusion of anything else. It stopped me from recognizing that I was Your child and that I have Your Holy Spirit within me. It stopped me from recognizing that I was who I was because of Your goodness -- and not because of my own talents and strengths. It was Your walk that mattered, and it was service to You that became my tool of freedom.

I ask You, Lord, to help my brothers and sisters to recognize that they may be held back because of their small faith -- they may be hemmed in by boundaries erected by Satan to confuse and stop them from moving ahead. I pray You would help them to recognize their need for a deeper, more abiding faith and a closer, more intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. We will never find true fulfillment until we redefine our own limitations which are holding us back from pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus. May all we do bring You honor and glory!

Increase Our Faith – Making it Personal Reflect: This morning as I prayed, I recognized I was being challenged to go deeper in my faith, and I recognized I needed to understand just what that meant. I sense that the Body of Christ will need faith more than ever -- as it is through our faith that we learn to hear God’s voice, and we receive His supernatural help to persevere and endure. This walk is not for the timid, and if you think you are timid, you need to realize that Satan has fooled you. You have the greatest Resource in the world on your side against whom nothing can stand. I challenge you to listen and learn as you never have before, and to ask the Holy Spirit to supply all your needs, knock down all your bindings and bondages. Fill you lamps with oil now and keep them filled.