Week 23 of 52 Prayers of Faith - Faith is always forgiving others because in Christ, God has forgiven us

Faith is always forgiving others because in Christ, God has forgiven us - Lord increase our Faith

Forgiving someone is an act of the will and an act of faith.  We can choose to forgive someone even when we don't feel like it, because the Word of God says to.  We can forgive someone as an act of faith because even though we don't feel like it, we have faith that The God of All Creation can change our hearts when we choose to follow His Ways.

Jesus paid for our sins so we have been forgiven.  Because He has done this, He has made it possible for us to forgive others.  When we say that we cannot forgive, we deny Christ's redemptive work on the Cross.  He can make a way where there seems to be no way.  God has empowered us to forgive others, we just have to accept it by faith, knowing that forgiving others is God's will for our lives.

Lord, thank you that You have made a way for us to forgive others - Lord, increase our Faith.

Week 22 of 52 Prayers of Faith - Faith is seeking first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness

Faith is seeking first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness - Lord increase our faith

In the world around us we are receiving all kinds of conflicting advice about what we need and what is the most important thing. Many people of faith have been led astray by the deceitfulness of riches and the cares of this life. But Jesus asks us, "What does it profit us if we gain the whole world and lose your immortal souls." As people of faith the words of Christ are paramount. They aren't something we relegate to some minor importance. What He says is of primary importance because it affects our immortal souls. Our life is not just here on earth. Earth is just bootcamp for we Christians, a testing ground to see if we can follow some simple instructions like "Love God and love your neighbor"

When Jesus tells us that we should seek first God's Kingdom and its righteousness, He is actually trying to make life better for us. The world around us and even God's Law can cause us to worry. We ask ourselves things like: "Am I eating the right thing?" "What is really important?" "What should I wear?"; "Am I going to die young?"; "Is that mole cancerous?" "Will they like me?"

Questions like this rob us of joy. They make life worrisome and scary. Ultimately God doesn't want us wasting time worrying about things which we may or may not be able to control. Jesus tells us that God knows all our needs; if we will just seek God's Kingdom and His ways first, then the rest will get sorted out.

None of us are immune to life's difficulties, but if all we do is focus on the problems, then we won't get to enjoy the life God has given us. That is why we must accept by faith that God's ways are the best ways. We must seek His Kingdom and its Righteousness by faith, trusting that in the end God will help us sort it all out. We may die young, we may die of cancer or we may live a good long life. But what is most important is that we live it trusting that The God of all Creation has good plans for us.

Lord we acknowledge that your Kingdom and your righteousness are more important than the daily cares of life. Lord, increase or faith.

Week 21 of 52 Prayers of Faith - Faith is loving God with all our all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

Faith is loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength - Lord increase our faith

Again I am using active words with regard to faith. Loving is an active verb. Love is a feeling but that is not all that it is. Love is action; Love Does (to borrow the title of a recently published book); love is the motive that guides a Christian's behavior. So when we talk about loving God, it involves more than our emotions

The Bible tells us that God first loved us. It tells us that God so loved us that He sent Jesus so that we could know Him better. The Good News is really "God loves humanity and He has demonstrated that in the person of Jesus Christ".

Knowing that God loves us and has demonstrated that love, demands a response from us. This only seems right. Just as children love their parents when their parents love them, so we must love God because we are his children and He loves us. Jesus said if fact that Loving God is the greatest commandment and the next thing closest to that is loving our neighbors.

Each of you will have to learn what that means to you. For me, it means I am a pastor/preacher/teacher who serves God by loving, teaching and training the people He puts in my path.

Lord, we thank you that You first loved us, help us to love You with our all of our hearts minds, strength and souls - Lord increase our Faith

Week 12 of 52 Faith is knowing that trials and temptations can only make us stronger if we trust in Him

Faith is knowing that trials and temptations can only make us stronger if we trust in Him - Lord increase our faith

The Word of God talks about this topic from two sides. In the Lord's Prayer we ask God the Father to keep us from falling into temptation. Jesus tells us that He has given us his peace, yet blessed are those who face all kinds of trials and attacks from people. The Apostle Paul tells us in one of his letters to the Corinthian church that the temptations that we face are merely common to humans, but we are to persevere and He will give us a way out of it. We are also encouraged in the Word of God that when we face all kinds of trails and temptations that this builds our patience, but we are also encourage that the trials we face will not be eternal, they are just part of life.

When we face trials and temptations, we can either complain or petition God and believe for His help. God's desire is for us to become more and more like him. He wants us to put off the old person corrupted with its evil desires and put on a new persona - one like Him in Righteousness and Truth. Further, God has give us his Holy Spirit to both help us and remind us of God's Truth.

But this isn't quite like lifting weights where we make our self stronger through repeated excising of our muscles. rather it is accomplish by our surrendering to God, embracing the circumstances and obeying the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes that means "Stand," girded in God's armor and sometimes it means flee from temptation. The end result is that we gain strength in that we become more dependent upon God.

I know that I am human and prone to failure but God is eternal and perfect. The more I have of Him in me and the more I trust in Him, and the more I am capable of doing through Him. The Apostle Paul says, "When I am weak, He is strong". As a Christian our strength comes from God and not just personal resolve or fortitude. We are fallible, while God is infallible. When we face these difficult situations and listen to his Holy Spirit, we are made strong IN HIM.

Lord, we know that you cause all things to work to the good of those called by You and who love You. Lord, may the trials and temptations we face make us more dependent and thereby stronger in You Lord Increase our faith.