Tag Archives: Faith

Prayerwalking (Week 4: Day 2)

Perspectives

As you begin (or continue) your day, open your Bible and read Psalm 34. What do you see? What jumps off the page and into your heart?

From there, turn to Luke 7:11-17. Here we have two perspectives; an earthly perspective and a heavenly perspective. Do you see the two? As we prayerwalk, the tug of the flesh would have us see things from an earthly perspective (hopeless and limited). The Spirit would have us see things from a heavenly perspective (hopeful, eternal, expectant, faithful).

Many times our perspective determines our response and in turn determines results. Read Matt. 13:58 and 1 Cor. 2:16. How do these verses relate to perspective?

Throughout Today:

  • Look at things from a heavenly perspective
  • Take note of the times your flesh would have you look at things from an earthly perspective
  • Pray again for the person or place where evil is allowed to flourish
  • Ask someone to join you in praying for this person or this place all the while claiming Psalm 34:3

Evening Reflection:

  • Did God stretch you today? How so?
  • Did you struggle in any way today? In what way?
  • As you prepare for bed, ask to God show you His perspective.
  • Rest in Him

Prayerwalking (Week 1: Day 3)

The questions for today are

  • Will we live the old life we used to live?
  • Will we live the new life we were created to live?
  • Will we live according the ways of the world?
  • Will we live according to the ways of God?
  • Why does this struggle even exist?

As we walk today, we should …

  • Walk as _____ walked. (1 John 2:6)
  • Let the word of Christ _____ __ __ richly. (Col 3:16)
  • Walk by _____ and not by _____. (2 Cor. 5:7)
  • See prayer as spending time with God. (1 Thess.5:17)

Throughout Today

  • Meditate on the truths in the Scriptures above.
  • Thank God for His word.
  • Trust Him for encouragement and strength.
  • Decide to live today trusting God.

Evening Reflection

  • Did you find it hard trusting God today?
  • How did you sense His encouragement today?
  • What made you spiritually happy today?

As an FYI, eight of us prayerwalked an elementary school late this afternoon. It was quite fulfilling and an honor to pray for the children, the teachers, the assistants, the staff, the custodial people, the principal, the bus drivers and the parents. Ninety-nine percent of the people mentioned above did not even know we were there because they had already left for the day but we were blessed to lift them to the Father. Good night!

Faith is the Product of Bible Saturation

Romans 10:17 is an incredibly important passage for this point. Notice carefully the wording. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Romans 10:17 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. If you have room for another favorite, I would encourage you to add this one to your list. If you don’t have a favorite, consider this one.

I am a strong advocate of reading the Bible and reading it out loud  As we grow in the Lord by spending time in the Word and time with Him, we find that our faith increases. Listen to these two statements:

The more our hearts and minds are saturated with the Word of God the more vibrant we will be, the more confident we will be, and the more clear thinking we will be.

If our mind and our heart is not saturated with the Word God, the more we will be susceptible to opinion, conjecture, impressions, and emotions.

The more we read His Word, the more we digest His Word, and mediate on His Word, the more faith we will have and the result or the product of all this investment will be even more faith. If you lack faith spend time with Him and in His Word. Read it out loud. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Faith is a Gift from God

In Ephesians 2:8-9 we find, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

We can see right here that faith is a gift of God. Faith is a gift from God. He gives us faith. Faith is not something that we tell ourselves over and over again until we convince ourselves it is true.

The faith that it takes to believe Him and believe in Him for salvation and for spiritual life as a believer is not something we work up or conjure up by our own will power. If it was, we could take some credit.

That’s why Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:9, that it is “not of works, lest anyone should boast.” If faith is something we produced, that would change the whole landscape. But, it is a gift from God and it is something He gives us by His own free will and accord.

Tomorrow we will see that we can actually build on and increase the faith we have. I hope you will come back for that installment.

Faith abides

As we launch into this three-part focus in faith, hope, and love we begin with faith. All of us express some level of faith everyday.

  • We take medicine and vitamins believing the ingredients inside will help. We do not know all the ingredients inside those little pills but we plop them in our mouths and swallow them with water.  We are expressing a level of faith.
  • We get in automobiles believing we will arrive at our destination safe and sound. We express a level of faith.

But the faith spoken of in 1 Corinthians 13:13 is so much more. Later in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he called people to examine themselves whether they be in the faith. People who are not in the faith, would be unbelievers and would express the opposite of faith, hope, and love. They would express unbelief, despair, and hatred. We see plenty of that in our world today.

There is so much we could say about faith, but in this focused study, let’s look at five things we can nail down about faith. Today … Faith Abides.

Notice how Paul the apostle combines these words. “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” Earlier in the chapter, Paul wrote of things that would fail, cease, and vanishing away. But these three abide. To abide means to remain. To keep on being in existence. Along with hope and love, faith abides.

Have a great evening. Tomorrow we will see that faith is a gift from God.

Three Key Truths for this Year

In 1 Corinthian 13:13, we find these words. “Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” These three items are described in many ways. They are called:

  • Three Christian graces
  • Spiritual gifts
  • The primary and fundamental dispositions of a believer
  • Theological virtues
  • A three ingredient formula for Christian character

In the context of their appearance in Scripture, we need to see these three expressions are expressions of a genuine believer. We express faith, we have hope, and we are able to love as God loves. Over the next several days, each afternoon we will look at these three truths. We will begin with faith, move to hope, and end with “the greatest of these” which is love. We will see …

  • Faith is the foundation
  • Hope is ongoing, and
  • Love is the capstone of the three.