Putting Faith in God's Character

 “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” -Romans 8:31,32.

When it comes to praying and getting answers to those prayers, no one can deny the crucial element of FAITH that goes along with our petitions. Yet even faith is something we must receive from God, and not something we naturally possess. I think only too often there is ungodly pressure put on believers to have faith, and a misplaced blame upon them when answers don't seem to come.

Jesus told us the power of faith, even if it was just the size of a grain of mustard seed (Luke 17:6), which would be very, very tiny! Real faith is NOT about believing God to give us what we want, when we want, and the way we want; it is asking in God's will, and then believing that our Lord will provide in His way, in His time, and for what we really need.

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” -I John 5:14,15.

Because God's ways are infinitely higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8,9), it can be nearly impossible to be sure of His will in any given situation. Our Lord reveals Himself through His Word to a large extent, so this is a good starting point for discerning the will of God; but it might take a little digging into the Word.

What's more challenging is when it seems obvious what God wants, but He doesn't respond favorably the way we were sure He would. One example of this is when the Apostle Paul was set to go to Jerusalem in Acts 21:10-14;

“And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judæa a certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.”

We see from this account that when the Holy Spirit prophesied through Agabus about the hardships Paul would face at Jerusalem, all the believers present felt sure that he shouldn't travel to Jerusalem-wasn't this a warning from God? Yet Paul has already resolved to take this trip through prayer to God, and he needed to go. In fact, this trip led to his imprisonment in Rome, and it was during this period that much of the New Testament was written! This plan was from God, but at the time it would be hard to see why the Lord would want this beloved Apostle to journey into hardship.

But today I want to look at the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the men thrown into the fiery furnace by the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar; the story in Daniel chapter 3.

As we know, the King of Babylon had made an enormous idol, and this was the dedication ceremony recorded in Daniel 3; these three Jewish men were officers in the King's government. At the given signal of music, all people were to fall down in reverance to this idol, but these three officers refused to go along with it! This non-compliance infuriated the King, and it was no doubt made worse by the fact that these were his officers.

The King gave them one last chance to comply with his orders, under the threat of death, to which they responded in chapter 3:16-18;

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” Bold type and underlining added for emphasis.

We already know of the great deliverance God gave to these three men, as we see later in verses 23-28, but that is almost all people ever look at. Does anyone consider that in verse 18 these men are expressing a DOUBT as to whether or not God will save them? They had already testified of their faith in God's abilities, but were unsure of what God's will was concerning their immediate fate. They loved God, and knew He had commanded them not bow down to idols (Exodus 20:4); obeying & pleasing God meant more to them than even their own lives. This is also a good example of the meaning of Luke 17:10, for dying in the Lord's service would not be viewed as “profitable” by most.

“So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” -Luke 17:10.

What I want to point out from this is that these men had faith in God to do miracles, but they knew Him well enough to admit they honestly didn't know what He had in mind for them. It was their duty to obey, and to let God be God. So to express a submission to the will of God is a good thing, and is not a lack of faith. The Lord will often answer our cries in far better, and more accurate ways than our words might express.

Don't be discouraged if it seems prayer answers seem slow to come, or even passed by; “dig deep” in prayer to be certain you are understanding God's will correctly, and then wait for His time. How can we not trust the character of the One who gave His life for our sins?

"Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready." -John 7:6

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” -Hebrews 10:35,36.

Take Ezekiel 3:18 in Context

 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” -2 Timothy 2:15.

There are 2 verses in Ezekiel which are often misused or misunderstood, and tend to bring great distress to those exposed to them. It is important that believers correctly apply these verses to find God's intended meaning, and in achieving this they will find peace. These 2 nearly identical verses are found in 3:18 and 33:18, and 3:18 reads as follows;

“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.”

When these verses are used in preaching, typically it is meant to induce fear and guilt in prompting Christians to witness to the unsaved. These verses are heavy to be applied this way, and we need to be sure of the way they were intended for us.

The first problem in applying these verses in such a way is that we aren't living in the Old Testament today, but in the New Testament. For Christians today that means the Great Commission from Jesus is our instruction to witness, NOT these verses from Ezekiel. There are no threats made against New Testament Christians if they fail to witness.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” -Mark 16:15&16.

Another problem is the nature of salvation as Jesus reveals it, and throughout the New Testament. We are told that ONLY God can save (Mark 10:27), the Holy Spirit does the work unpredictably (John 3:7,8), God the Father must call the person (John 6:37,44), and it isn't up to any man's work to save someone, it's up to God to show mercy (Romans 9:16).

This last point mentioned is especially weighty, for Christians know that they are saved by God's grace through faith, and it is a GIFT from God, not earned by a person's works.

“But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” -Galatians 3:22.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” -Ephesians 2:8,9.

A third problem would be, how will God require their blood from us? Jesus'sacrifice covered our sins for all time (Hebrews 10:10-14), and we see that the saving work is up to God anyway, so how are we responsible? There is also the observation that suddenly grace turned into works, for now only our work of evangelism could save us, and our non-work could nullify salvation! This is ridiculous! Don't get me wrong, I believe it is every Christian's duty to share their faith; but if we have moments of weakness and come up short, this is the very reason Jesus died for us-the shortfalls of our flesh.

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” -Romans 7:18-25.

A fourth difficulty is the supposition that somehow you or I have stopped God from saving a person! God is never limited by His own creation. Just think of it, on judgment day; God says, “Tommy, I'm sorry that you died in your sins-I sent John to warn you, but he didn't, so now both you and he will be in Hell.” The implication is clear; God was supposedly not able to save Tommy without John! The weak, flawed, sinful earthen vessel of John, who desperately needed the salvation ONLY Jesus could bring, was given the sole responsibility of Tommy's salvation, and the Lord could not reach to him otherwise. This is obviously not the case according to the Bible.

God also reaches out to people ON HIS OWN, and is simply not in absolute need of a believer to bridge that gap. We find examples in the book of Acts with Paul, the Ethiopian Eunuch, and the centurion Cornelius in chapter 10. God sent His angel to Cornelius first, and not Peter! Please read these accounts in chapters 8, 9, & 10.

Yet there is another account I often refer to from the Mel Tari book, Like a Mighty Wind. Mel was involved in the great Indonesian revival in the late 1960s, and his team was eventually sent to a very remote village that no one had visited. When they got there, they found a group of young, practicing Christians-that no missionary had visited! God had revealed Himself to the witch doctor of the village, teaching them numerous key Bible accounts like creation, the flood, and the passion of Jesus. Don't you see that our God is not quickly going to turn anyone into Hell? He will reach out, reach out, reach out, until He knows when to stop. Only God can bring salvation through Jesus His Son, not through us, and He is patient as we learn and grow through the Holy Spirit.

So how should we take these verses from Ezekiel, and what was their purpose? Ezekiel was a prophet to God's people, not to the unsaved gentiles. It would be correction like we find in the book of I Corinthians, chapter 5, within the Christian church; except the Jews were still under the law of works, not grace. Jesus had not yet died for our sins, and the Holy Spirit hadn't yet been given to the born-again believers. Ezekiel 3:18 & 33:18 really can't be compared to the Great Commission given by our Lord Jesus Christ.

When the Lord first reached to me by His Holy Spirit, I was alone; I was not near a church, or any Christian believer-no human evangelism was taking place! So please don't let anyone tie a rope of guilt around your neck if you miss an opportunity; Jesus is our justification (Romans 8:33,34), and Him only. Pray for God to help you in sharing your faith, and He will, even if you have to grow into it spiritually. Always rely on the entire Word of God to direct you in service for the King.

"Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men." -I Corinthians 7:23.

Here is the link to a YouTube video I did on this subject https://youtu.be/OEW8p6QpRk8

Waiting for God is Faith

“The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.” -Lamentations 3:25,26.

If you are a Christian seeking to grow in the Lord, you certainly know the importance of FAITH in your dealings with God. And if you've been on this spiritual course for any amount of time, it's likely that you've already had at least some lengthy periods of waiting to receive answers that you seek in prayer. Such delays are quite normal in a Christian's life, and while it is good to double check the legitimacy of your request with God, you should not be discouraged; for every believer will go through these times; they are typical, and they are a blessing.

It is good to realize that patience & waiting are essential to genuine faith in God. When we go to God for our needs, we deal with an invisible God (I Timothy 1:17) for an answer we don't yet have. Most shy away from this, and simply use whatever means they see in front of them; no faith!

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” -Hebrews 11:1.

And so it is most natural for the carnal man to work out his own solutions, but when we do turn to God for His provision it's because we do not yet have what we need; waiting is therefore a natural part of the prayer/answer process.

Sometimes the prayer answer is not too long in coming, but when it delays it is often much too long for our comfort, isn't it? But I dare say that most times seem to fall into the category of a long wait rather than a short one, and then patience is the tool that takes over.

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” -Hebrews 10:35,36.

There are 2 reasons I see for seeking God's answer rather than providing our own; first, the thing we seek is impossible for us, or nearly so, and it won't be impossible for God (Mark 10:27). Second, we want to do things God's way, and not by some quick & easy handling that many might find to be acceptable. As Christians, we will run into this regularly, and you can see how faith is exercised by waiting.

Another question to typically ask is, “Why is it taking so long?” The answers for this one could be many and varied, depending on the circumstances surrounding the issue being prayed over; but I will suggest a number of possibilities. Number 1 is resistance from the devil. Daniel 10:2-13 tells of spiritual resistance to Daniel's prayers that took 3 weeks. Number 2 is that God wants to develop your prayer life, and what better way than to allow a trial for a season for which you really need Him? Number 3 is that over a time period you will see God's FAITHFULNESS, and perhaps many answers to prayer. It's not just your main answer, but also answers to other issues that accompany it. This will greatly deepen your Christian walk, give you a testimony that glorifies God, and can be a tremendous help to fellow believers along the way (2 Corinthians 1:3,4). Number 4 is that we must be respectful to our God and Savior, and to His higher ways (Isaiah 55:8-11). God is NOT a genie! We would become like spoiled children if God were to quickly and often grant whatever we may ask. Number 5 is to be submitted to God's will, no matter what, like our Savior showed us to be (Matthew 26:42). A key part of faith is to TRUST God at His Word (Numbers 23:19), and for the love He's shown us by sacrificing His Son;

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” -I John 4:10.

Our God is a supplier of needs, and where there is a legitimate need you can have much confidence in the petition you make (Philippians 4:19), and if that need is urgent the Lord will certainly supply whatever it may be as quickly as you really need it. But I hope you can learn from this article that waiting and patience are very naturally a part of faith and prayer, and delays to answers by themselves are not at all a poor reflection on the believer. Calling on God is an act of faith, even if somehow there is a delay according to His will. He is growing us into His likeness, and has promised that He will work all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).

“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” -Psalm 27:13,14.

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” -Romans 8:32.

P.S: We must always TRUST in the LORD beyond our understanding. We lived in a mobile home park, and needed a new furnace for heating/cooling. After getting estimates, we could have gotten one with a $4,000 loan (we had $1,000 to contribute). It was a small loan, and we'd have paid it within a year. But when I prayed, God said, No, don't take the debt.

Less than a year later, the park we were in increased rent $15 a month for oil furnaces, which is what we had before, and would have gotten again! So we saved our money...

The following year our park was sold, and after a little while they banned all oil furnaces, making owners remove them-but just a few months before they did, I had purchased an electric one for cash, having no debt and no furnace removal issues! Had I replaced the oil furnace at the first like intended, I would have been forced to lose it after just 2 years! Getting the new heat pump instead meant waiting, but God's kindness and wisdom were a blessed signature on the process.