Our pastor in Thailand, Pastor Nathan Gonmei at Abundant Grace Church*, fed us so well while we were in Chiang Mai. His messages were specifically focused toward increasing our faith. This was definitely something I needed and continue to need daily. One thing he said has remained with me.
Wishing is hoping for something.
Believing is expecting you're going to receive it."
This statement has changed my outlook on so many things. God calls us to believe we will receive what we ask for (Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24).
God promises to reward those who have faith, believing and diligently seeking Him (Hebrews 11:6).
God promises that the power of our faith more than a mustard seed can move mountains (Matthew 17:20)
Even though sometimes we can't see what we believe for, we must continue to believe for it (Hebrews 11:1)
God promises to make our faith stronger through trials that bring about steadfastness, patience, and endurance (James 1:3, 1 Peter 1:7).
If we are just, we should live by faith (Romans 1:17).
My faith walk continues to be strengthened every day. My biggest obstacles are my feelings.
God allows us to have feelings, of course. But letting those feelings rule over what God has promised to us is not the way to live by faith. It's not the way to believe. So, when I start to feel a certain way about something, I have to immediately rein in those feelings and submit them to God. Otherwise, my feelings become what I believe, and for me to trust my feelings as truth is extremely dangerous, not to mention completely inaccurate. There are entire Psalms where David is questioning whether God will protect Him, and he had a pretty darn good excuse to feel that way. But He trusted the Lord based on what the Lord had promised to Him before the hard times.
To help keep myself focused, I have come up with a short list of things I am believing for. I am asking for your agreement in these things for me (Matthew 18:19).
1) A continued strong relationship with God, fruitful and contagious :)
2) To conceive in the year 2011. We have been trying for 2 years. This is the area that I am both weakest and strongest in. It is the area I've worked the hardest in building my faith and belief, but succumbing to my emotions can easily make that foundation crumble.
3) To NOT financially struggle this year. We have several financial needs, including paying off school debt, obtaining health insurance and paying that monthly, and having enough left over to also contribute to my mother's household. She is struggling as well, and we want to be a blessing to her as she lets us stay with her. The long-term goal is to of course have enough income to support ourselves for international mission work.
4) To end the year healthier than I began. I plan to work at becoming more active and losing more weight. I lost about 8 pounds while in Thailand. My realistic goal is 10-15 more pounds.
5) To simply enjoy life, while always looking for ways to share Christ. So many times, we become focused in our own lives, forgetting the turmoil going on all around us. Living a missionary life forces you to become more others-minded. I loved it. I don't want that to fade. I want to grow it. If you need anything, PLEASE let me know! I need plenty of practice!
6) To strengthen my gift of intercessory prayer. God laid it on my heart that I had this gift about four years ago. I began exercising this overseas, and it was Spirit-breathed. I don't want to lose this spiritual gift that my Father has blessed me with. It's too special not to use. If you have any prayer requests, please send them my way!
I BELIEVE that I will receive these six things!
What are you believing for? I want to be a partner in agreement with you!
*when you have a day that you can sit and listen to a longer message (since all of the messages are also translated into Thai) I encourage you to PLEASE listen to some of Pastor Nathan's sermons. I PROMISE, you won't regret it. His Biblical teaching was a rock for me during our time overseas.
Loving the new blog! Blessings!
ReplyDeletethese are wonderful. i so believe in the power of prayer--i hadn't realized how dry my prayer life was until a few months ago, when God convicted of me of it. now i've been praying about something every time that i am tempted to worry about something and it has made a huge difference. it reminds me of this verse--i can't remember where it is--that says (paraphrased) to ask God for the things you need, because he knows you need those things, and loves you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that we should live by faith, but I think we have to be careful not to trust more in our belief than in God. I can believe that something or another will happen to me, but if it's not God's will, ultimately it won't happen. That absolutely doesn't mean that prayer is futile - like evangelism, prayer is something God has ordained - but I have to admit, I'd be cautious in "claiming" something as an act I believe God will accomplish. I pray that God will bless me, but in the end, who am I to say what is best for me? There have certainly been things in the past that I've prayed desperately for, never received, and in hindsight, I see how absolutely detrimental those things would have been to me, had I had them. So...I admire your faith...but I think we just need to be careful to be okay with whatever God's will is, even if it doesn't go along perfectly with our prayer requests. Just my two cents. :-)
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