Belief

Praying God’s Word… today’s topic and it brings memories of a summer bible study group I taught using this very book by Beth Moore. There was much deliverance and freedom though our time together and it made a huge impact in my life. The main thing I struggled with though, was not God’s Word, but the lined out model of praying  it: it seemed too religious for me. When I saw the many verses to pray for each issue in our lives, it looked like a scripted prayer guide that I found very “old world religion.” I don’t know but it reminded me of the Catholic prayers – one for each concern in our lives. I’ve seen many books like this since, where you turn to the topic regarding your need and just pray aloud the words on the page, including the bible verses. It seemed too perfected to be real to me.  The books all seemed too impersonal and the prayers not like prayers at all. They weren’t “me” and the prayers weren’t reflecting my heart and how I would speak to God. I grew weary of this method of praying and honestly have been rejecting it since.  

 And then the LORD spoke to me:  When you don’t believe it’s from Me, It’s easy to reject it. 

I think I can tackle this from two different perspectives.

First, from someone who does not yet trust in Christ:  Belief comes first.  If someone does not believe God actually exists, does what He says, that His Word is true to every letter, that He is for us and not against us, that through Jesus we no longer are to expect punishment but receive it as a gift of grace because He is good, that He is not the author of the evil in the world and just "lets bad things happen," but desperately wants us to bring the perfection of heaven on earth, if someone does not believe He is waiting with open arms for the worst of sinners to repent and come back to Him and not waiting to shame us or display our sins publicly - it's easy to reject God.  If the belief system is wrong, and who we think God to be or what we think His tyrant qualities are opposite of the actual truth - then friends, you have been blinded by the "Puppet Master" aka-Satan, and are missing out on blessings, truth, freedom, peace, forgiveness, redemption from all sin, salvation of your soul, power in your spirit, and miracles in your life, but most importantly eternal bliss in heaven.  Once you begin to believe - "everything is brighter, you'll see a picture of what you can be." (from the song "139" by David and Alena Moore.)

If people saw God for who He is and believed His character to be what it actually is, they would not waste a minute - but run to Him.  The wrong belief system we have adapted and lean on guides us to reject Him.  Even in the end of days when Satan is no longer in the picture for a thousand years, people will still exercise their judgment instead of believing God to be the One True and Just Judge.

Secondly, from a perspective of a believer in Jesus:  It is imperative to be in a close relationship with God and discern His voice; to hear Him and know Him and His character.   It is very possible to be a believer yet live a life as the world, not experiencing God's best. This also stems from wrong beliefs, particularly those I mentioned above for those who have rejected God. If You do not know yet or have not received that God is for you, and have not opened your heart to His overwhelming grace, you will be stuck in a very dull and frustrated Christian walk, full of demands and anxiety.  But if you have experienced His grace - which all have to my knowledge, and received this grace for yourself as an unearned gift that never expires, there may still be areas in your life in which you are truly doing things that you believe are for God, or what He wants of you, but the LORD wants something else.  

Getting to the point where you really - I mean really - want the LORD's will in your life, because it is the best, is where to begin again.  If I am willing to want His will above mine and honestly deal with the issue at hand even though I may not feel like it or want to, I will be at peace with what the LORD says and motivated to actually obey because I am sure it will be to my best interest. As my example with the Catholic Church prayers, I can assume many, many things about what God's will is, based on my experiences. But the LORD said not to lean on our own understanding. Doing so has robbed me of very intimate and powerful times in prayer and most likely much blessing and many miracles. 

In another example of my life - I love to go back to sleep in the mornings, then wake up and have a frazzled first few hours if not the rest of the day because I failed to organize my time. I even wake up and worship and do a devotional or read the Word, then go back to sleep thinking I did my "Christian duty." Well, when I realized the LORD was not after what I did, but my heart, and really meant it, I began to wonder what I was accomplishing by allowing myself the indulgence of extra sleep. It's like this with alcohol, sweets, television - we view these things as prizes for being good, or rewards and rights for being adults. I have even viewed sleep as comfort, peace, easiness, satisfaction, and a safe refuge in a time of desperate need - like in the mornings when I need motivation and energy to begin the day.  All these things are what the LORD promised to me, yet I have been turning to other gods for the answer.  The best answer I had that I made up to make myself believe is that the LORD wanted me to experience peace and happiness and this was the way - by sleeping when I wanted to.  If I know it's not from God, but a lie from the enemy and a ploy to keep me from living in victory - it becomes a whole new ballgame and I begin to fight the enemy because I am done with allowing him any more wins.  It gets personal, and that's what the LORD wanted me to experience. How He fights for my freedom and how very personal He gets to help me win EVERY battle in my life and live in overcoming victory with joy!