no christian goes through this life without feeling weak in their faith at times but we all can take comfort in knowing that our god is emmanuel he is with us in every season whether it's good or bad we can go from feeling joyful and close to the lord in one season and then here comes a season where you feel like god is distant and all your prayers have gone unanswered i'm talking about seasons where we wrestle with our doubts and questions wondering if god even hears us or if he's still with us it's the type
of season that tests your faith and your resilience and the thing about faith through different seasons is that you'll hear people talk about faith when things are good i knew things would turn around if i just had faith you'll hear people recommend faith when they're not sure what to say i'm sorry you're going through a rough time just have faith and when others seem unfazed by life's obstacles they might tell you it's because they have faith but what does that mean hebrews 11 verse 1 defines faith as the substance of things hoped for the evidence
of things not seen hebrews 11 verse 6 says and 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 faith causes us to act on what we haven't experienced yet it causes us to believe promises in the bible that haven't been fulfilled yet and faith causes us to trust god when our situations haven't changed yet consider this bible scenario take david in the story of how he killed goliath at the time david was a shepherd boy not a
warrior but when he saw goliath mocking god's people david approached the king and asked to go down and fight just picture the babysitter next door or the kid who delivers your papers telling the president let me handle this one david's ability not to be shaken by goliath's size resulted from david's faith in god david tells the king in first samuel 17 37 the lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this philistine and saul said to david go and the
lord be with you david had faith that god would defeat the giant and deliver his people what an amazing picture of what our lives can be when we have faith in god when we are right with god we never go into turmoil alone we have the creator of the universe on our side faith in god is what allows us to experience stability in the middle of instability when life feels out of control we take comfort in knowing that god is in control [Music] faith can do a lot of things in your life if you let
it it will help you to grow up and wholly lean on rely on and trust in jesus christ let us pray heavenly father thank you for helping me to make it through the difficult seasons of my life thank you for your love for me that never ends thank you for your powerful daily presence in my life i'm grateful that i can be assured of your thoughts towards me thoughts that are good and not of evil thank you that your eyes are over me and your ears are open to my prayers thank you that you've carried
me through the uncertainty of deep waters through the flames of trials and through the pain of hard losses lord thank you that my comfort abounds through you thank you lord that through every weakness and hard place your strength is displayed in my life may you continue to strengthen me jesus give me the type of faith that can move mountains help me to depend on you to do what i think i cannot do and help me to remember that the gift of christ emmanuel is my greatest treasure fill me with your joy and the peace of
your spirit direct my heart and mind towards you let your strength alone sustain me teach me to come to you daily in faith your word in luke 17 verse 5 says the apostle said to the lord increase our faith lord i need you to increase my faith increase my faith and make me a mover of mountains lord jesus you are the king of kings and your word says the righteous shall live by faith mold me in your image and fill my heart with faith in you your word in mark 11 verses 22 through 24 says
and jesus answered them have faith in god truly i say to you whoever says to this mountain be taken up and thrown into the sea and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will come to pass it will be done for him therefore i tell you whatever you ask in prayer believe that you have received it and it will be yours guide my actions lord so that i can live by faith and so that i can have life in you abundantly and eternally cleanse my thoughts of impurities dear god keep
my eyes fixed on you and you alone help me to keep walking beside you help me to be steadfast in my faith in you help me to trust in you without reservation james 1 verse 6 says but 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 lord i pray that i would be filled with your holy spirit may i be filled by the holy spirit so that i will have no room for doubt and fear in my
life thank you god for your faithfulness and thank you for the crown of joy that awaits me forever in your kingdom in jesus name i pray amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you