Category: Established in Faith

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Truth #5 – God Pays Perfect Attention to My Every Word and Prayer, and in Accordance with Them Works in My Life

Does God hear us? How can we be sure our prayers are more than smoke in the wind?

God hear

A few weeks ago I sold my used car to CarMax. From beginning to end, as we discussed the deal I paid close attention to everything the representatives said and every written document. What was I promising to them, and what were they promising to me? Eventually I signed the papers, and they gave me a check. All based on words.

In human relations, words are decisive. In our relations with God, words also are decisive. We pay close attention to what God promises, and God pays close attention to what we ask and say.

When you utter a prayer, a monumental, earth-shaking thing has happened. A human being has asked Almighty God to do something, this God who rules all things has heard it, and this One who is faithful and true will certainly act according to his promises and conditions. Large or small, miraculous or seemingly mundane, something changes because you uttered a prayer and met certain conditions. Whether your prayer moves a nation or comforts a grief-stricken widow, the King of the universe acts because of your words.

God hears

When you become convinced of this truth, it will transform your prayer life. How normal it is to feel as though our words in prayer are like smoke—immaterial, insubstantial, temporary. It seems they dissipate and disappear. We cannot see our words, and we cannot see God. We can feel we are just talking to ourselves or that God pays little attention to them. And so, our words seem less consequential than they actually are.

But the truth is, our words in prayer are like the signed contract of a car sale, or like the switches on a railroad track that send a rumbling, earth-shaking, 200-ton locomotive and its train of many cars rolling down one track instead of another. This is the significance of words spoken to God. Every time you pray, it is momentous. Every word you utter to God matters.

Here are seven Scriptural illustrations of the crucial truth that God pays perfect attention to your every word and prayer, and works in your life according to them.

Psalm 139:1–4

In Psalm 139:1–4 David writes, “O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.” (ESV)

God knows everything, everything in the past, present, and future. He knows every single word you spoke and thought you had when you were a child, when you were 20, or anytime else in your life. Your life is an open book to him, and every word is written down. In fact, so great is his knowledge of your words, he knows them “altogether” even before you speak them!

David says God is searching everything about you and knows it all. He is paying attention. That certainly includes your prayers.

Daniel 10:12

As the prophet Daniel sought the Lord earnestly for three weeks regarding the situation of the nation of Israel, Daniel 10 recounts that an angel appeared to him. The angel tells Daniel, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words” (Daniel 10:12).

Why did the angel come to Daniel? “I have come because of your words.”

Was God listening? “Your words have been heard.”

Mark 7:25–29

Mark 7 says Jesus went into the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, and “Immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ And he said to her, ‘For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.’” (Mark 7:25–29)

What changed? Why did Jesus first refuse to act but then change his mind? “For this statement.” If she had not said what she said, Jesus would not have done what he did. In the kingdom of heaven, words are decisive.

Note that her first requests were not decisive in causing Jesus to act, but her final answer was.

Matthew 9:27–30

Traveling elsewhere, Jesus encountered a pair of blind men. The “two blind men followed him, crying aloud, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David.’ Then he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done to you.’ And their eyes were opened.”

Jesus did not immediately heal these two men as they pleaded for mercy. One of the conditions of answered prayer is faith, and Jesus wanted to establish that these men had it. So he kept walking and eventually entered a house. The blind men persistently followed him down the road and entered the house behind him. There he examined them with a simple, direct question: Do you believe?

Their two-word answer was decisive: “Yes, Lord.” Those words were enough for Jesus. Their previous cries for mercy did not bring the healing, but these two words were telling. These two words carried the day, because their words were words of faith, “He touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done to you.’ And their eyes were opened.”

Just a couple of words—faith words—and their lives were changed.

Matthew 8:5–10, 13

On still another occasion when Jesus “had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, ‘Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.’ And he said to him, ‘I will come and heal him.’ But the centurion replied, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, “Go,” and he goes, and to another, “Come,” and he comes, and to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. … And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.’ And the servant was healed at that very moment.”

This story is all about one’s confidence in the decisive nature of words. The centurion recognizes the decisive power of Jesus’s words, but he also displays his confidence in the decisive nature of his own words, not only with the soldiers under his command but also with his request of Jesus. He fully believed Jesus would have regard for his petition.

And Jesus did pay close attention to everything the centurion said. Jesus heard enough to know the centurion had faith. Words display faith. As Jesus said elsewhere, “The mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart” (Matthew 12:34). This is one reason our words are crucially important. They reveal faith or doubt. “And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.’”

Genesis 18:22–33

Before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, he allowed Abraham to intercede with him on behalf of their righteous residents. In the well-known account, Abraham requests that God would spare the city for the sake of 50 righteous people.

 “And the LORD said, ‘If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.’” (Genesis 18:26)

Notice that God answers Abraham with precisely the number requested: 50. And with each of the requests that follow, God agrees to the precise number stated by Abraham: 45, 40, 30, 20, and 10. We do not know how low God would have gone if Abraham had continued. But the point is, God showed his intention to act based precisely on a man’s words.

When Abraham began this negotiation and first asked for the number 50, God could have skipped the negotiations and said he would not only spare the city for the sake of 50, but for 10. Instead we see God following the principle that he pays perfect attention to our every word and prayer, and in accordance with them works in our lives.

Numbers 30:2–15

We conclude with what the Bible says about making vows to God. Notice in the following passage their binding nature.

Numbers 30:2–5 says, “If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. If a woman vows a vow to the LORD and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father’s house in her youth, and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the LORD will forgive her, because her father opposed her.”

Making a vow is like signing a mortgage. A person binds and obligates himself or herself to pay the debt. God pays attention to a human vow; to break that promise is to sin against him.

Takeaway

God pays perfect attention to my every word and prayer, and in accordance with them works in my life.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Truth #4 – God Delights to Answer Prayers because He Is a Good Father Overflowing with Favor toward His Children

When you really comprehend why God answers prayer, your faith will soar.

why God answers prayer

Why can you have confidence that God will answer your prayers? Because of his infinite favor toward those in Christ Jesus.

Jesus taught this in a simple, powerful parable.

After telling his disciples, “Ask, and it will be given to you,” he said:

“Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9–11, ESV)

Favor Is Why God Answers Prayer

The crux of this parable is the human relationship of father and son. The father’s attitude toward his son is one of love, favor, and benevolence. Meditate on that until you believe it.

Moreover, when we speak of God in this regard, we are talking about infinite love, favor, and benevolence. He is not reluctant to give; rather, he wants to give. He enjoys giving. He is not stingy, indifferent, or selfish, like a greedy boss; rather, he delights in bringing happiness to his children. God finds pleasure in his sons and daughters.

Romans 8:31–32 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

A perfectly good Father

The second key aspect of the Matthew 7 parable is contrast. Jesus draws a stark contrast between human fathers and our divine heavenly Father. All human fathers are bent by evil—even the best human fathers—bent by selfishness. Jesus said, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children….” So even broken fathers give good gifts to their children. When their children ask for bread, even these fathers do not offer them a stone.

Therefore, Jesus says, “How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” How much more? Infinitely more, for God is infinitely loving and overflowing with infinite favor, for if he gave us Jesus he will give us anything that is good. Think of the most loving and generous father you know, and God is infinitely more so in his attitude toward you.

This verse promises only good things, not bad. Some things we ask for are—unknown to us—bad for us, in the sense that we cannot handle them yet, like a 10-year-old given a million dollars. Or they will corrupt us, just as a 16-year-old boy would find his way into all kinds of temptation if his parents gave him an $80,000 car for his birthday. Or a gift could be bad in the comparative sense of being second best, like a rundown, two-bedroom shack on a half-acre of land compared to a new brick house on a huge farm of 2,000 acres.

So God the father gives to his children what he knows with perfect wisdom is truly, eternally good and best.

Soaking in God’s favor

You can have faith in God because of his generous favor toward you. The more convinced you are of this, through meditation on his Word, the more established your faith will be.

So here are more Scriptures for your meditation (all ESV).

Ephesians 2:4–7: “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

2 Corinthians 9:8: “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

Romans 5:8: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jeremiah 29:10–12: “I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.”

Psalm 103:11–13: “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.”

Psalm 86:5: “You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.”

Psalm 86:15: “You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

Psalm 85:12: “Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.”

Psalm 84:11–12: “The LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!”

Psalm 34:10: “The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.”

Titus 3:4–7: “When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Takeaway

Is God reluctant to answer your prayers? Is he stingy with his blessings, cold-hearted, uncaring, and remote? No, he is a generous, gracious, kind, good, and benevolent Father. God’s default attitude toward you is a gracious enjoyment in answering your prayers. In Christ, you stand under the infinite favor of God.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Truth #3 – God Has Promised to Answer Prayers That Meet Certain Conditions

God will answer my prayers because of his words and his ways.

answer my prayers

When a wealthy man dies, you can be sure his heirs will carefully read his will. The words of that document determine what they will inherit.

We are in a similar situation. In the previous article in this series, we saw that God is perfectly faithful and truthful. He keeps his every word. Not a single promise or word is forgotten. Once you believe that, you approach the Bible like the heirs of a wealthy man approach his will. For if you know what God has promised, then you know what words he stands behind with perfect faithfulness.

A breathtaking promise

Truth #3 in this series is familiar but crucial. It is also hard to believe—really believe with conviction. If you do, you are well on your way to being established in faith. If you do not, you will pray perhaps with hope, but rarely faith.

The crucial truth is, God has repeatedly promised to answer the prayer that meets certain conditions. For instance, Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all” (Matthew 21:22, NASB20).

Okay, you know that, but do you believe it, really believe it with conviction? Do you believe the holy truthfulness of God stands behind those words? That he would never break that promise just as he would never deny himself?

Conditions

One thing that makes this truth hard to believe is, there are conditions, and we have all bumped into them. God does not promise to answer all your prayers, or everyone’s prayers. We find one condition for answered prayer in this verse, and elsewhere in the Bible we find more.

Four important conditions to answered prayer are:

1. God answers the prayer of faith.

In the ESV, Matthew 21:22 says, “Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

More daunting is James 1:6–8: “Let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (ESV).

We must have faith.

But I have a suggestion. In my experience, trying to vanquish even a hint of doubt can tie me in knots if I dwell on it. If I focus on myself rather than on God and his faithfulness and his promise to answer prayer, it dismantles faith and leaves me uncertain. We need to keep our focus primarily on God.

2. God answers prayers in accordance with his will.

This is big. First John 5:14–15 says, “This is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

In Scripture God has revealed much about his will, but much of God’s will is also hidden. Unfortunately, trying to know whether our desire is God’s will can again tie us in knots and easily sink our faith.

That raises a major problem. If we cannot pray with faith until we know God’s will with certainty, we will rarely be able to pray with faith.

In my experience, the solution has been this. If I pray in agreement with the general promises and character of God—for example, promises to heal one’s body, or God’s heart to save his people from what harms them—I assume my request is his will and I focus on his lavish promises to answer prayer.

Yes, there will be times when I am wrong about God’s specific will in a situation, but I cannot know that in advance. Just yesterday, for instance, I learned of the death of a former colleague. A week or two ago I had heard she was hospitalized and in serious condition, and I prayed for her and received by faith that she was healed based on God’s perfect faithfulness and truthfulness.

Nevertheless, she died. How does that not leave me disillusioned and ruin my ability in the future to pray with faith? My answer: I believe God’s hidden will was done. His ways are unsearchable.

In the future I will pray and still assume it is his will to heal and deliver, and I will trust in his promises to answer prayer. Although we are not God and thus cannot know his will with certainty, still he calls us to pray with faith and believe we do know his will based on what Scripture shows to be his ways.

3. God answers the prayers of the repentant, who walk in the light.

Psalm 66:18 says, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (ESV).

No Christian is perfect, so the requirement for answered prayer is not perfection, but rather confession and repentance of known sin and faith in the forgiveness that is in Jesus.

First John 1:7–9 says, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

4. God answers in his way and time.

When the children of Israel suffered under Pharaoh and cried out for deliverance, they could not have imagined the harrowing details of how God would actually rescue them from Egypt, or how long they would have to wait for it to come. In the same way, we probably cannot imagine when and how God will answer our prayer. If we cannot trust him and be patient, even for a lifetime, we cannot be sure of answers.

Hebrews 10:36 says, “You have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”

God will answer my prayers

These are the major conditions to answered prayer. You need to take them into account, but the more you focus on them, the harder it will be to believe with childlike simplicity that God hears and answers your prayers. If we focus on the conditions rather than the promise, we will rarely be able to believe with conviction that God will answer our prayer.

God has shown his gracious, loving willingness to answer our prayers by giving us breathtaking promises. That is where our focus needs to lie. This is God’s default position. He wants to answer your prayers. He loves you. The Lord wants to meet your needs and bless you in countless ways.

I do not need to know everything to pray with confidence. Faith is a matter of simple focus. In the Gospel narratives, this is how people came to Jesus and received what they desired. I believe God will answer my prayers because of his words and his ways. I choose to focus on God as perfectly faithful and truthful, and that he has given simple promises to hear and answer my prayers. His promise reveals his heart. I believe his heart and his word.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Truth #2 – God Is Perfectly Faithful and True

In your mind, is God absolutely, meticulously, always, always, always faithful and true, or not?

faithful and true

Do you know anyone who, when it comes to being on time, is a perfectionist? If she tells you she will be somewhere by 7:00, you can be sure that she will walk through the door no later than 6:47? To her it is a matter of keeping her word. If she says she will be somewhere at 7:00, she wants others to know that she takes her words seriously. As the saying goes, her word is her bond. If you do business with her, you do not need to sign contracts. If she agrees to something verbally, she will follow through, even if it is to her loss, because the honesty and reliability of her words is more important to her than money, gain, or loss.

God is like her, only more so—perfectly more so. He has no human failings, weaknesses, or limits, and therefore, unlike humans, nothing can stop him from keeping his promises. A car breakdown can keep even the most time conscious among us from showing up when we scheduled, but nothing can stop God from doing what he says.

Perfectly faithful and true

We cannot conceive how important it is to God to keep his promises. He is perfect in all his ways, and thus Titus 1:2 says he “cannot lie.” He cannot do it. He is perfect in righteousness and truth. He loves the truth and hates lies. He has never lied and never will. Nothing is more certain than the reliability of God’s words. His words are perfectly trustworthy, absolutely worthy of belief.

2 Samuel 22:31 says, “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true.”

Proverbs 30:5 says, “Every word of God proves true.”

God told Jeremiah, “I am watching over my word to perform it” (1:12).

God is not like us

We, on the other hand, all know what it is to lie and be lied to, and perhaps we attribute to God our failing, because human beings do not believe every word that comes from the mouth of God. Sinners doubt and question God. They regard themselves, or the media or a person with a doctorate, as more reliable than God. They believe their own reasonings more than they believe his Scripture. How ridiculous!

That does not mean belief is always easy or logical. God tests people to see whether they will believe him no matter what. He allows his people to go through experiences that seem to deny what his Word says.

Take Abram (Abraham) for archetypal example. God promised to give him a child when he was 75-years-old. At that age, it would be natural for him to assume the promise would be fulfilled within months, not decades. But God ordained that he wait 25 years for the birth of Isaac. Meanwhile God changed Abram’s name to mean “father of nations.”

Detached from reality

So the nature of faith in God’s words is complete reliance on them even when circumstances deny them outright. To others, a believer appears to be detached from reality. But believers hold on to words—God’s words—not current circumstances. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”

The reason true believers hold on to God’s words is that God stands behind them. Even if we pray and do not see an answer for decades, we know our prayer has not been lost in space and time. Circumstances are nearly irrelevant to a true believer; what is relevant is the character of God and the words he has spoken. That is the enduring reality. Circumstances are a passing reality.

For the God who is truth itself has promised to hear the prayers of those who are in covenant with him and who believe. Again, for emphasis, this truthful God has promised repeatedly to hear and answer the prayers of believers in covenant with him though faith in Jesus, who pray according to the principles and specific promises of Scripture, thus according to his will.

For just one example, Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all” (NASB20).

Super important to God

Do you believe Jesus? Or do you not? This is crucial. This is what is at stake. Do you believe that God tells the truth always? This is important to God. He wants to make this manifest in each person. He wants to show forth whether you believe him or not. He bases salvation itself on faith (John 3:16). He answers prayer based on faith, not on the intensity of the need. Human faith matters to God (Hebrews 11:6).

Thus we should never be content to live in unbelief about anything he says. Jesus said, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22), and the context of this statement was one that many could regard as a presumptuous request (cursing a fig tree) if carried on by any other human.

So we believe in God’s words because we believe he is worthy. We honor him by believing him; we dishonor him by doubting him. We are convinced he utters his words with perfect seriousness and never forgets one of them.

Trusting God’s character

Such faith is why Sarah contributed much spiritually to the birth of Isaac when she was 90. It was not just Abraham who believed God; it was Sarah. Hebrews 11:11 says, “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.”

Sarah considered God to be faithful and true. This is the conviction of everyone who is established in faith. We believe “God is faithful” (1 Corinthians 1:9; 10:13; 2 Corinthians 1:18, Deuteronomy 7:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:24).

He is perfectly faithful and true. We believe therefore he is faithful to his words. We believe he has spoken promises. His promises include numerous promises to hear and answer our prayers.

We need to have the character of God clear in our minds as we consider his promises. Because God is perfectly faithful and true, we can rely completely on his word and promises.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Truth #1 – God Rules over All with Unlimited, Sovereign, Almighty Power

Is God able to do what you ask?

God's almighty power

Jeremiah said, “Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” (Jeremiah 32:17, ESV)

That should take your breath away and leave you pondering how a being can exist who is this powerful. This truth is well beyond the understanding of our limited, finite minds, so do not be surprised as it boggles yours. Nevertheless, accept it, for Scripture teaches it unmistakably. And regularly meditate on this truth and the Scriptures that teach it because it is the foundation of established faith.

A stubborn problem

This truth was at the crux of one, highly emotional interaction Jesus had with a distraught father. The man’s son had experienced life-threatening seizures for years. The father loved his son and had enough faith to believe that Jesus might be able to heal him. He came with his son to the location where Jesus and his disciples were ministering, but Jesus was not available, so the disciples prayed over the boy, without success.

The father was disappointed and began to argue with the disciples. Suddenly Jesus came on the scene and asked his disciples: “What are you arguing about with them?”

The father spoke up, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”

Can Jesus do it?

Jesus called for the boy.

“And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.

“And Jesus asked his father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’”

Jesus could not let that statement pass by without objection. “If you can!” replied Jesus.

Imagine how laughable those words were to Jesus, through whom all things were created. I wonder if Jesus thought something like this: If you can! If you can! What do you mean, if you can! Do you know who I am? I was at the Father’s side as we together created every star and planet in the universe (John 1:1–2), and every animal that creeps on the earth, and every fish and bird and insect. I am the unique, eternal Son of God. I created the burning inferno you call the sun, and I maintain its fire and the light and life it gives to this planet.

If you can! Yes, I can! I am able. I am able to heal your son and do anything else my Father in heaven wants me to do. Nothing is impossible for him or for me!

And because nothing is impossible for us, nothing is impossible for the one who believes in us.

All things are possible

We do not know what Jesus thought, but verse 23 tells us what Jesus said: “All things are possible for one who believes.”

“Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’ And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.’

“And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, ‘He is dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.” (vv. 24–27)

God’s Almighty Power

Faith and unbelief are central to understanding this story, along with God’s unlimited power and those through whom his power works. Jesus brought all that into focus with his breathtaking statement, “All things are possible for one who believes.” (v. 23)

And the distraught father felt the weight of those words as he immediately cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief.” (v. 24)

Obviously all things are not possible for a human in himself. But when faith brings God’s power into the equation, everything changes, for all things are possible with God. That is what Jeremiah said, “Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” (Jeremiah 32:17, ESV)

So a foundational truth for those who are established in faith is the biblical understanding of God’s ability. God rules over all with unlimited, sovereign, almighty power.

Scriptures on God’s Almighty Power

You will not believe that in the depths of your soul without God’s revealing it to you by his Spirit, and he does that as you meditate on his Word. So here are some Scriptures through which God can cause you truly to believe that he rules over all with unlimited, sovereign, almighty power.

“The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” (Psalm 103:19)

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1)

Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” (Matthew 10:29)

The angel who announced to Mary that she would conceive the Son of God in her virgin womb said to her: “Nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” (Matthew 19:26)

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36)

Genesis 2:4 says, “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.”

Ephesians 3:20 says God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…”

Nehemiah prayed, “You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.” (Nehemiah 9:6)

Psalm 96:5 says, “All the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.”

Isaiah 44:24 says, “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: ‘I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.’”

Isaiah 45:18 says, “Thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): ‘I am the LORD, and there is no other.’”

Psalm 104.

Nature does not rule over God

Is God able to do what you ask?

Most people might say in theory God can do anything, but in daily life they show they believe God can do nothing that contradicts what are called the laws of science. It is hard for them to imagine that divine miracles occur, and they do not expect them to happen when they pray. In their minds, a miracle would be quite a challenge for God to perform. They believe nature controls God rather than God controls nature.

But Scripture declares and shows that God has unlimited power to do as he pleases in the earth. He created and currently controls all natural and supernatural processes, things, and forces. The “laws of nature” are simply God’s normal way of running the natural world. Nature is subject to God; God is not subject to nature. God is not limited, not distant and withdrawn, not subject to the laws of nature, not weak. Rather he is powerful, present, and working as he pleases.

Your faith will be as large as your view of God’s ability. Your faith will be established as you believe God rules over all with unlimited, sovereign, almighty power.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Established in Faith

When you are established in faith, you can truly know God and his ways.

established in faith

In the Fall of 2012 I was working full-time for a publisher and part-time as pastor of the church I still serve. One day my supervisor called me to his office and informed me that the company was laying off a large segment of its work force due to financial deficits and that I was one of those losing his job.

I had never experienced that before. You hear stories of people losing jobs and being devastated, and you wonder what you would do if it happened to you. As my supervisor explained the process of ending my employment and as I walked back to my office, my thoughts and emotional reaction surprised me. Although suddenly confronted with a long list of uncertainties and losses, my heart was calm. I was disappointed, sure, but not afraid. I felt confident that God was in charge, that he would provide for me and my wife, and that we were beginning an exciting new chapter.

Certainly I have not always been so assured. I recall a decade prior to this layoff driving for several hours with a friend to a meeting, and as the conversation moved to plans for the future, I admitted to my sense of financial insecurity. In other words, I was afraid and told him so. I did not see how I would have enough money for old age. For years I lived with foreboding about this.

Why? Because I did not adequately know God. Yes, I was a regenerated Christian, a devoted follower of Christ, a pastor. I knew God in the sense that I was born again and knew the Bible well and understood many truths about God accurately. But I did not know him well enough to trust what he repeatedly promised in Scripture about providing for my needs.

Faith and knowledge

To the extent that we do not really believe what the Scripture says, we do not know him. True knowledge of God depends on faith. One can articulate the most intricate aspects of the doctrine of the Trinity yet find it difficult to joyfully say, “God loves me.”

This is why the subject of faith is so important for Christians who want to know God better. Our knowledge of God cannot exceed our faith. The quest to know God is far more about increasing faith than about adding theological information and answering our questions.

What Jesus expected

As you read the Gospels, have you ever noticed what Jesus repeatedly called attention to as he engaged with his disciples and strangers? He certainly talked a lot about love, obedience, righteousness, and truth. Nevertheless, though I have not tallied the occurrences, it seems to me he talked most about faith and unbelief. He regularly either commended people for their faith or admonished them for doubt. He expected people to have what we would classify as enormous faith. And he marveled when his disciples were afraid of drowning in a momentous tempest. He admonished them when they worried about going hungry in the desert although they had just two loaves of bread and a couple of fish and a crowd of 5,000 to feed. He bypassed others who doubted he could heal the sick and demon-afflicted.

Moreover, he taught things about faith that are, well, unbelievable. He said true believers would with a word be able to move mountains, perform miracles, replant trees in the sea, and receive whatever they ask. Not only can God do amazing things, so can we.

God’s will

This stretches one’s faith to the breaking point. Some Christians respond by reaching for that level of faith, though it is by no means easy (that is, unless you become as a child [Mark 10:15]) and it raises many questions. Others do not know what to do with these teachings. They might explain them away, regarding Christians who pursue such faith as unwise or unhinged, asking for trouble and disillusionment. Or they might accept the teachings, but shake their heads and regard them as personally unattainable. Some might say these teachings of Jesus are for those who have the special gift of faith.

Based on my reading of the Gospels, I do not think Jesus would say that. He expected big faith from everyone. Moreover, to limit strong faith to a spiritual elite is to relegate most Christians to a stunted knowledge of God, as described above, and the fear, insecurity, instability, weakness, and defeat that comes with it.

No, Jesus said, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). That is an imperative. Thus that is his will.

Scripture warns against being double-minded, saying to one who asks for wisdom, “Let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6–8, ESV).

Hebrews 11:6 says, “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Romans 14:23 says, “whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

Isaiah 7:9 says, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all” (NIV). The RSV says, “If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.”

The trouble with accepting unbelief

We cannot experience the Christian life described in the Bible without faith in what God says. So the idea that we should tolerate in ourselves an unbelief of anything God says in his Word is simply wrong. We must not be satisfied with anything less than believing all he says. Unbelief insults God, implying that he is not truthful, cannot be trusted, and is not Almighty. Being content with unbelief requires resisting Jesus, who is the “author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

Therefore we must not rationalize and excuse our own unbelief. Unbelief will creep and grow. It is Satan’s foot in the door. It is an invitation to the unmanageable power of fear and the ruin that accompanies it.

Established in faith

So we need to be established in faith.

To establish means to put on a firm basis, to make stable or permanent.

I live on the 20th floor of a high-rise. I have watched many high-rises built around us. Before the first floor is built, I have seen dozens of holes drilled deep in the soil and then filled with concrete. I have seen a quarter million tons of concrete, steel, and glass go into a tower one floor at a time. A high-rise is as established as a man-made building can be. It is heavy and has a big footprint. It is anchored to the ground with deep underground columns. A puff of wind will not knock it over, nor will a normal trembling in the earth crack it to pieces.

To establish something is to position it to endure. It is in balance, not teetering. It is grounded, not suspended in midair. It has a foundation. It is built on rock, not sand. It is consistent, not wavering. It is single-minded, not double-minded.

The 20 truths this series highlights will bring you to this place of established faith. Believing these 20 truths will make you an immovable, spiritual rock. And most importantly, you will know God as he is. You will know him in your experience, not just intellectually. And your Christian life will work the way the Bible describes.

How the Christian life works

The Bible describes the life of a Christian as one marked by peace and joy even in the midst of conflict; by strength abounding even in our weaknesses; by answered prayer even though for a long time we walk by faith and not by sight.

The Christian life does not work as the Bible describes without faith, without faith in everything the Bible promises, without faith in the worldview the Bible describes—a worldview in which God is almighty and responsive to the prayers of those who believe. That is not the worldview of most people in educated, Western cultures, for whom the idea of a God who can do miracles is inconceivable. If you want to know and experience God, you must abandon that worldview and fully adopt what the Bible says about God and his ways with us.

Each of these 20 truths plays a crucial role in the superstructure of established faith, so do not miss a week. You will learn to call these truths to mind before you pray and then pray with confidence. When you sense fear and unbelief slipping into your soul, you will call these truths to mind, and they will reestablish you in immovable confidence. You will learn to live all day, every day, established in faith—and thus knowing God better than ever before.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)