"Have the Faith of God: When You Pray!" Parts 3-2 & 3-2a - 2b August 17, 2014

[Rev. Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks, PsyD]

B.  Men Who Had & Did Not Have God’s Faith – Part 3-2: Let’s look at four people in the Bible who had and did not have the faith of God and their outcome:

1.  David – 1 Samuel 30:8 - Complete Chapter Link– Part 3-2a: The first person I will discuss is David. When David and his men came back to camp and found that the Amalekites had taken their women and children, David did not immediately run after them; David inquired of God to see whether or not He wanted him to pursue the men. David trusted God, he knew God would make the best decision for them!

1 Samuel 30:8 tells us this is what David said, “And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? The Lord answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” You see David asked, sought God, and waited for God to answer – once God gave David the answer, David and his men followed God’s instructions and they got the victory as God said they would. If we do the same thing, seek God for His directions no matter what the situation, God will give us His victory EVERYTIME!

2.   Abraham – Romans 4:18; Genesis 15:6 – Complete Chapter Links – Part 3- 2b: The second person I will discuss is Abraham. Romans 4:18 says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be;’” I love this Scripture. Again it says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…” Abraham believed God and in the end, what happened? He received what God said he would receive – he became the father of many nations! This happened because Abraham had faith in what God said He would do – faith involves hope! Hebrews  11:1tells us what faith is - I love both of these translations:

“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]” (AMP).

The Contemporary English Version’s (CEV) translation of Hebrews 11:1 is:

"Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see."

According to the 1599 Geneva Bible  (GNV) Footnote, Hebrews 11:1 is "An excellent description of faith by the effects, because it representeth things which are but yet in hope, and setteth as it were before our eyes things that are invisible." In other words, faith brings the things we hope for from the invisible to the visible; from the supernatural realm into the natural realm! When we pray to God (ask) for something, God does it BUT it might not be the way we want it. God uses His faith (will) to bring what we need to pass! Why? Because He knows what is best for us at the moment AND in the future! When we ask God for something, most (99.5%) of the time we ONLY think about the moment - we are not looking at the long haul of the matter!

Hebrews 11:6 lets us know that without faith we cannot please God and when we go to God, we must believe in God's abilities and that He will reward us when we searches for Him. When God gave Abraham that promise in Genesis 15:5, his name was still "Abram" - verse 6 says:

"And Abram believed  the  Lord,  and  he  counted  that  to  him  for righteousness" (1599 Geneva Bible).

God changed Abraham's name in Genesis 17:5but He told him why in verse 4:

4 Behold, I make my covenant with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations, 5 Neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham: for a father of many nations have I made thee. 

Abraham is a great example of God keeping His promise to us - God appeared unto Abraham and gave him these promises and Abraham "Against ALL hope" believed God and God did what He said He would do! There are some promises God has given me and I know He has given you some too, therefore, we cannot look at what things seem like, we must hold fast to what God has done and look forward to Him doing greater things at present and in the future. We cannot forgot what God said no matter how long it take to come to past - let's believe God - have faith in Him to do what He said He would and watch Him bring it to pass! When God makes a promise, He is making a covenant with us; God is making a contract with us as He did with Abraham. God will keep His Word because He is NOT a liar (Numbers  23:19).

Before we continue, let's see what the definition of the word "Promise" mean. According to biblefocus.net, the word "Promise" mean: "a promise is an undertaking of one person to carry out an action to another. The promises of Yahweh (God) are like prophecy, where, Yahweh states that a certain event will happen. However, there is a difference. The promises are personal undertakings, and can be seen as covenants or contracts. We may say we have given 'our word', or our promise, that we will do something, in Western society verbal contracts are morally binding. The God of the Bible, Yahweh, cannot lie (Titus 1:2). He will not mislead and will always literally deliver exactly what He says. When He said Tyre would be a place for fishing nets (Ezekiel 26:5, 14), it was not a euphemism, the ancient site of Tyre is now a place for casting nets (not poles, reels or lines!). This is prophecy, so when He makes a promise the action will likewise be literal.

The Bible says, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19)

Just as God gave Abraham the faith to believe Him, He gives us the faith today to believe Him; believe He will work out things best for us! As I stated earlier, “the God kind of faith is a supernatural faith and it comes only from God; we cannot muster this kind of faith up out of our flesh – it is NOT human faith!”

Now let's continue with the other men in the Bible who had or did not have God's faith.

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God bless,

Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

 

 

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