(Heb 11:1 AMP) Now Faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].
This morning we continue our series entitled, “Re-Energizing Your Prayer Life.” We are seven weeks into this series and I believe have covered a lot of ground thus far. We have learned about Jesus’ prayer life, about our requirement and responsibility to pray, and about the “Blessing Blockers” that will hinder our prayers. For the past couple of weeks we have been looking at some of the key factors that can either help or hurt our prayer life. We discussed “The Reverence factor” and “The Love Factor.” As you can see, there is more to prayer than “Now I lay me down to sleep.” An unfruitful prayer life can be extremely frustrating for the believer. But the truth is that many believers have unproductive prayers because they don’t understand prayer, and like anything else, you can never maximize what you do not understand. So we will continue down our path to understanding prayer by looking at another factor, “The Fear Factor.”
In many ways fear is a negative form of faith. So before I teach on fear I want to give you a refresher on faith. Once we understand faith we will better be able to understand fear. Over the years I have heard plenty of definitions for faith. Here are a few that I agree with:
1. Faith is confident assurance that God will do what He said He would do.
2. Faith is Biblical evidence of what we cannot see.
3. Faith is perceiving as real what you cannot verify with your senses (no sense-realm evidence).
The working definition I use is: faith is a practical expression of your confidence in God and His Word. In other words, faith is an action you perform because of the confidence you have in God and His Word. There is a fundamental difference between hope and faith. Hope is ‘open-ended,’ meaning that it is not necessarily tied to anything. You can hope to be successful in life, hope to be healed of a sickness, hope to be promoted, and etc.; but for many this is no more than wishful thinking. Countless people hope and wish for things. Faith adds substance to this hope. Faith is tied to a promise from God. When we tie something God told us (in prayer or in His Word) to what we hope for, at that point our hope is no longer open-ended. Since our hope is connected to something God promised, then it is no longer a wish and it becomes faith in God and His Word. The Bible tells us that God does not change His mind (Num 23:19) and that He cannot lie (Titus 1:2). So when we substantiate our hope with the Word of God we can have confidence that He will bring it to pass.
So what does this mean to you today? It means that the better you understand faith the better you will understand fear. I will teach you that fear works the same way faith does, but instead of being tied to a Word from God, fear is tied to the word of satan. Fear is a practical expression of your confidence in satan and his word. But let’s get back to faith for this morning. Faith gives substance to your hope and when understood it becomes the foundation for your prayers. Faith produces Godly images of His expected outcome for your life. Without faith we often lose the battle in our minds because of the constant barrage of impure and negative thoughts; but with faith we are able to extinguish the enemy’s darts (Eph 6:16) and listen clearly to God’s thoughts, plans, and dreams. These divine thoughts help us align our prayers with God’s will. And once we pray in accordance with God’s will, then not only does He hear us, but we actually receive what we pray for BY FAITH (1 John 5:14,15).
Closing Confession: Father, I am confident in the things I hope for because my hope is established in Your Word. I am not expecting You to do anything that You have not already stated in Your Word, or directly to me in prayer, that You would do. I am expecting to You to do, however, everything You said You would. My hope is established in Your promises and I operate in faith. Through faith and patience I believe I shall see the manifestation of Your promises in my life. Your promises add substance to my hope and my faith fuels my prayers. I pray the prayer of faith and I fully believe that You will hear me and respond to my prayers. I give fear no place in my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
