Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. " I want to encourage you to begin speaking this verse over your life. Say this: "The God of hope fills me with all joy and peace because I trust in Him, and I declare that my life overflows with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
" Isaiah 26:3 says, "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in You. " Saints, I encourage you to make this verse yours and apply it to your life, saying, "I am of a steadfast mind. God keeps me in perfect peace because I trust in Him.
" Psalm 103:1-5 says, "Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion; who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. " Now I want you to repeat after me and speak this over yourself: "I will praise the Lord with all my soul.
I will not forget the many benefits I experience because of His love. God forgives all of my sins; He heals all diseases. He is my Redeemer.
Jesus Christ has crowned me with love and compassion. God Almighty, Jehovah Jireh, satisfies my desires with good things. " And Saints, I encourage you to speak God's word each and every time you pray.
Psalm 119:147 says, "I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in Your word. " Another version says, "I hope in Your words. " When you speak the living Word of God, when you declare and confess it over your life, you are saying, "Lord, I am placing my faith in You.
I'm trusting and believing in Your precious word. " Let me tell you this: a prayer that is based in God's word is a powerful prayer. So with this understanding, let's pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your precious word—Your word that comforts, Your word that brings hope and joy. I choose to meditate on Your word day and night so that my mind may be infiltrated and filled with thoughts that are true, thoughts that are noble and just, thoughts that are pure, lovely, and of a good report. I pray that Your word would begin to change me from the inside out.
May I grow in knowledge of Scripture; may I be strong spiritually as my relationship with You is strengthened. Help me, Lord Jesus, so that my faith will not be choked out by the worries, nor by the pleasures or the duties of this world. Help me to set my mind on things above.
Father, Your word tells me that You are a stronghold in the day of trouble, and even though the enemy has declared war against me, I know that the angels of the Lord encamp around me. Even though the devil and his army may rise up against me, the word of God says that the power of life and death are wielded by my tongue, and I declare victory in the name of Jesus. I declare health, protection, and preservation over my family in the name of Jesus.
You, my God, are a God of order, and so I speak order over every area of my life. I confess that my life is balanced and that the enemy cannot disrupt or disturb any area of my life in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus, Your word is of great comfort, and it is a source of peace for me, because it tells me in Psalm 34:19 that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
That means that I may face troubles; I may be placed in situations or scenarios that I cannot solve on my own. But You, my Lord, will have all the answers; You will have a solution for all of my troubles. And so, Lord, I claim Psalm 34:19 over my life, and I say my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will deliver me from all afflictions, all troubles, and all tough situations.
Father, it is because You are both so powerful and loving that I need Your grace daily. Lord, I pray that You perform a good work within me. Your word in Colossians 3 says, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
" I pray, King Jesus, that You purify me of these things. Let me be peaceful with no anger. Give me more of You so that the sinful nature within me is completely removed and I may walk in a way pleasing to You.
I need Your mercy daily; I need Your protection daily. Lord, I'm grateful that You're forever faithful. You are everlasting in Your love; You're divine in Your nature, and above all, You are holy.
Father, may I have a heart of worship—a heart so filled with thanksgiving and love for You that I will not be at ease during my day if I don't find time to simply praise and worship You. The Bible says, "You are worthy, Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created. " No one else holds such power but You.
You are my hiding place; You are my safe dwelling. May I be found to be abiding in Your shadow, in Your presence. And Lord, I ask that my family may be covered by.
. . Your hand, I pray that your presence may be rich in our lives.
May it be abundant in our homes and found to dwell in our hearts, for I know that all I could ever want can be found in You. Lord, I confess and I believe in Your word that says, “A thousand may fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand, but it shall not come near me,” meaning that no bad thing will come near me. No weapon formed against me or my family will prosper.
When the devil tries to attack, then You, my God, will raise up a standard. I declare the word of the Lord that I will live and not die, but instead, I will declare the works of the Lord, and I will speak of His goodness. I will speak of the goodness of the Lord as I declare that He has been faithful to me; He has been merciful to me.
I declare today that brand new doors of opportunity are opening in my life. The windows of Heaven are open for me and my family. I declare that I am blessed in the morning and I’m blessed in the evening.
I'm blessed in my going out and in my coming in. I decree and declare that surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. I thank You for making me a recipient of Your unmerited favor.
May the Holy Spirit impress upon my heart just how complete and powerful Your word is. Lord, in Your word, I can find hope and I can find encouragement. Just like a fire, Your word can refine me of all impurities.
Your word, Lord, is like a hammer that destroys evil and builds and strengthens a godly character in my life. Your word is like a mirror that exposes every single one of my blemishes and weaknesses, not to ridicule me or to berate me, but instead to build me up and encourage me to lean on You and not on my own strength. Lord Jesus, Your word is a lamp and a light that guides me and gives me direction in life; it cleanses and washes over my life.
May it continually help me to replace old sinful mindsets in Jesus' name. And Lord, I pray that Your word, day by day, would provide me with nourishment. Father God, I pray that the Holy Spirit would open my heart and bring understanding to my eyes and ears when it comes to Your precious word.
Let it challenge me to do better. May Your word challenge me to be a better Christian. May it challenge me to love as You love.
May it challenge me to be longsuffering, forgiving, and slow to anger. Be glorified, Lord; be uplifted high. Lord, may You reign and rule supremely over our lives.
Father, we choose to do things Your way; we choose to follow what is written in Your word and obey Your commands. I praise You for hearing this prayer, and I pray it in the name of Jesus. Amen.
As individuals, we are often blinded to the dangers of prayerlessness. Praying is not easy; praying should not be casual. It's spiritual warfare.
However, a prayerless Christian is completely powerless because there is no relationship with God. Have you ever noticed that when you need the Lord to intervene in your life, when you need a miracle or a breakthrough, no one has to tell you that you need to pray? No one has to tell you that you need to have a prayer life.
Oftentimes, when we are in need, there is an intensity about our prayers. However, the difficulty we all face is that once our personal needs are met, once the battle has been won, once the breakthrough has come, the fire that was once in our prayers seems to fizzle out, and we need to be aware of this. We need to guard against this.
Now, I understand that in life there will be days when you find that you can easily capture the spirit of prayer. You can pray effortlessly; you can pray and feel as though an hour is just ten minutes. However, you will also encounter days when prayer will be nothing other than a fight.
And it's when you encounter those moments that you should push through. Praying is fighting; you have to fight to pray. And on the days when you struggle, I want to encourage you to be resilient and remember that the size of your prayer must match the size of your opposition.
And your opposition is the devil. Your opposition can be found in Ephesians 6:12, where the Bible reads, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ” All of us should know that we're fighting the kingdom of darkness.
The enemy will try to infiltrate our homes; he will try to cause division in the family and in the church. If we become prayerless Christians, I encourage you to pray because some of you need strength to defeat strongholds. Some of you need grace to overcome insecurities.
Some of you need the hand of God to move within your family and restore damaged relationships. Jesus says in the Book of Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks will find, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.
” This is Jesus effectively telling us to pray until something happens. Keep seeking the Lord until you find your answer. Carry on knocking until the door is opened.
Now, a child of God recognizes that you cannot fight a battle. . .
And get away with a weak prayer life. But I would like to inform you, perhaps encourage you, to look at prayer as a means to victory. You see, we are built and equipped for spiritual warfare, so we shouldn't be afraid of a fight; we shouldn't be afraid of fighting through prayer.
A lot of people shy away from being intercessors; they shy away from being prayer warriors. They would rather pray nice. There are Christians out there who do want to pray, but they are intimidated at the prospect or thought of warfare.
But I would like to remind you that the Bible says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. " The weapons of an intercessor—the strength of an intercessor—is derived from God alone. That's why the verse says, "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God," meaning they are divinely powerful; they are supernatural in their effectiveness.
You cannot fight the devil with your natural fists, but you can fight him through prayer; you can fight him by calling out to the Lord; you can fight him by going to Jesus in prayer. So I encourage you today to keep pushing in prayer. Don't be intimidated by the thought of spiritual warfare.
Don't be afraid, but rather be prayerful, be resilient, and be relentless knowing that prayer is a fight. Exodus 17 presents us with a powerful lesson on prayer. In verse 9, we are told, "Moses said to Joshua, 'Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites.
Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands. '" So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
When Moses's hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on one side, one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
There are several lessons to be learned from this passage of Scripture. Moses went to pray away from the battle, to a quiet place. He didn't start praying from the front line; he backed off some distance and went up a hill to pray.
And this is the perspective that a child of God needs to have. We have to fight our battles in private—no need for an audience or spectators, no distractions; it's simply them in their prayer closet, and that's enough. A prayer closet allows intimacy with God; it becomes your war room.
God acts in response to prayer. Each time Moses lowered his hands in tiredness, the Amalekites began to win, and I believe this was God's way of teaching us that the battles we face as children of God are won and lost by prayer, or a lack of it. We need to rely on prayer and not on anything else.
The spiritual war against the devil is an ongoing one for us as children of the Lord, so we need to remain under the blood of Jesus and in prayer if we are to overcome. Now, once again, whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. When we pray, things happen; people are healed, situations are altered, the broken are made whole again, and spiritual battles are won.
But if we get distracted and let our guard down, the enemy has an opportunity to attack us. When we cease praying, we inhibit the power of God at work in our lives. More prayer, more power; but the opposite is true: no prayer, no power.
The beauty of the story of Moses is that it shows him to be human—not this giant of faith who seems untouchable. Moses demonstrated that he is like us in prayer; he gets tired, he's frail, vulnerable, and weak—the same feelings that we experience. Moses got tired, but he persevered, and this is what we must do.
We must persevere in prayer; we must keep pushing in prayer. It doesn't matter how unworthy or unqualified they say you are; it doesn't matter how undeserving they say you are. If God is for you, then no one can be against you.
If God is for you, then goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. With Jesus on your side, you better believe he's going to march you to victory; he's going to raise up a standard in your life, and that's because everything about God is greater. It's greater than any opposition, it's greater than any amount of money, it's greater than anybody's opinion.
Even his promises are greater than the predictions of man. So when the world tells you that you've got no chance, or when the devil tells you to just give up, stand firm in your faith; keep on pushing forward. Your ability to overcome hardship is not predetermined by a statistical analysis or a roll of the dice; your future rests in the hands of God, and he will equip you with whatever you need for the battle ahead.
Because of the favor and providence of God, you can look at any situation and say, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. " As humans, we like to be able to measure; we like predictable outcomes. But life doesn't always work that way.
Our earthly logic doesn't apply to every situation. In our minds, victory in life is all about our capability, our credentials, our material things. We believe that unless we look impressive to the rest of the world, we have no chance.
God. You are the source of our strength and hope. Help us to focus on the eternal rather than the temporary.
May we be reminded that our worth is not found in worldly success, but in our relationship with You. Thank You for loving us unconditionally and for the promises that sustain us through every trial we face. In Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen. God, help us. Holy Spirit, to set our minds above.
Help us to keep focused on everything related to the Kingdom of God. Help me not conform to the things of this world. Help us not to be distracted by the things that are on the earth because they only have temporal value.
And, Lord, we understand that even to do this we need Your supernatural strength. And so, we declare that You, Lord Jesus, are the source of my strength. You're the one that leads me to overcome the devil.
Lord Jesus, You are the source of my strength, and You lead me to walk in victory. You, God, are the source of my strength, and You lead me to defeat sin. You've said in Your Word that in the last days You'll pour out Your Spirit on all flesh.
And so, Holy Spirit, pour out on me. I invite Your presence to encamp all around me and then to fill me; fill me to overflow. Holy Spirit, help me to realize all the promises of God: promises for peace that surpass human understanding, promises of a sound mind, promises of protection.
And, Holy Spirit, I pray that You would move within me, walk with me, speak to me, be the still small voice that guides me and leads me. Lord Jesus, You are ever faithful. You're my hiding place, and right now, God, I'm asking for Your protection and Your covering over my life and over my family's lives.
God, You're the one who's faithful to deliver those who trust in You. And so, God, because I trust You, I cast all of my cares, all of my worries, to You. I surrender it all to You because You're a God who neither sleeps nor slumbers; there is truly none like You.
But God, I want to be—I want to be more like You. And so, Father, I ask: may I have a closer walk with You? May I have a deeper relationship with You?
And not only that, Lord, but I pray that I will walk in the Spirit, so that I will not fulfill the works of the flesh. God, I pray that I may walk by faith and not by sight. My prayer, Lord, is that I may live in a way that honors You.
I want to live a life that pleases You. And God, right now, my hands are lifted high and my heart is bowed low as I say thank You for Your grace, thank You for Your mercy, and thank You for Your love. God, even when there is chaos and trouble all around me, give me sweet peace.
Let my heart not be afraid, for my God is a consuming fire. Let my heart not be afraid because greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. Whenever my life seems turbulent, my soul will not be shaken; my soul will not be moved because my God is the way maker.
Father, I bless Your name for the grace and the peace that You've multiplied in my life. I thank You for the grace and the peace that You have over my family. God, I'm grateful for Your love and Your grace, which have transformed my life.
I only pray that my life will be an example. God, let it be a living testimony of Your grace, Your mercy, Your favor, Your love. Your mercy is never-ending, and for that, I thank You.
Your grace is amazing, and for that, Lord, I thank You for hearing this prayer. I'm grateful and I thank You, Lord. I will trust in You, and I'll trust in Your word forever.
It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen. Stand strong in the Lord. The one thing that is certain about life is that it's very unpredictable.
You never know what this life will throw your way. You never know what tomorrow holds for you. I've spoken to people who've told me that their life changed in an instant because of one bad decision.
I've spoken to people who've cried as they told me that their life will never be the same through no fault of their own. I don't know if you've ever experienced the reality of life where one moment you're enjoying peace and safety, and then in the next moment, all hell breaks loose. So what do you do?
Where do you run to when life puts you through the fire? Well, let me remind you that the Bible says the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who trust in Him. A day of trouble will come to all of us, but the Bible has told us that there is refuge—a place to hide when the day of trouble comes.
And that place is in God, and when I say "in God," I'm talking about in fellowship with God. Look at everyone who's ever been delivered from trouble in the Bible. They were delivered because they had a relationship with the Lord, and when the day of trouble came, they had somewhere to run to; they had someone to call on.
Daniel already had a relationship with God before he was thrown into the lion's den. David had long established a relationship with the Lord before he stepped on the battlefield with Goliath. The same can be said about Moses before he faced Pharaoh.
You see, when all these people came face to face with their day of trouble, they stood strong in the Lord. They were in a relationship with God already; they were in fellowship with God already. And that's the secret.
Trouble will find us all one day, but there's a difference when trouble finds you in God. So you may have been fighting the battles of life season after season, and I'm not just talking about warfare in a. .
. Single area of your life? No, I'm talking about multiple areas where trouble has visited you: areas like your family life, your physical health, or your mental and emotional health too.
All of these different areas may have been under attack at one point or another, but let me tell you that you can withstand the storm. You can outlast trouble. You can endure the fire if you stand in Jesus Christ.
The joy of the Lord will be your strength. Aren't you grateful for the fact that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore? When life happens, you can stand strong in a God who has withstood the test of time.
So do not allow life's challenges to shake your faith; stand strong in the Lord so that He can fight your battles. He has promised that the flood will not overwhelm us and that when we go through the fire, we will not be burnt. So we can trust Him, we can rely on Him, we can stand strong in the Lord.
I understand that it's not easy to stand all of the time; it's easier to ask questions like, "God, why me? " But today, I recommend that you shut out the world, you shut out the voices of negativity, and steady your feet and stand strong in the Lord because it is He who goes before you. He will not fail you nor forsake you, and that makes Him dependable even in the middle of chaos.
Remember this: He who started a good work in us will see it through to the end. Reach out to Him by faith, be constant in prayer, and watch Him move in seemingly impossible ways. Stand strong in the Lord, for He has promised that there is no temptation that can overtake you for which He has not already provided a way of escape.
This means you have guaranteed victory when you stand strong in the Lord. Being able to stand strong in the Lord takes practice over time. It takes a relationship with Christ.
It takes daily communion with Him. You have to count your blessings and exude a grateful spirit. Renew your faith in Him and live for Him each day.
Forgive others as you want to be forgiven, pray to Him, and testify of His goodness. In this way, you will fortify your spirit so that when the enemy surrounds you like a flood, you will be able to stand strong in the Lord. I can assure you, when you have an established relationship with Jesus, you will find that it becomes much easier to stand strong in Him.
Standing strong in Him will become your reflex mode, but only if you know and trust Him. So what are you waiting on? Start a relationship with Him today so that when trouble comes, you will be able to stand strong in the Lord.
Every Christian understands that the Christian life comes with its own set of challenges and hardships, and it's by no means an easy life. Real Christianity is all about carrying your cross daily. It's about fighting—fighting against sin, fighting against the devil, fighting against the world, fighting temptations.
Christianity is a fight. Now the Bible makes it clear in James 1:2-4 when it says, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
" Notice that the Bible says when you fall into various trials and not if, because trials are an inevitable part of the Christian walk. Trials can do one of two things to you: they can ignite a fire and a desire in you to cling to God, or they'll fill you with doubt and unbelief. Even a strong Christian can easily find themselves backsliding, and hear me, it's a dangerous place to find oneself backsliding.
What does it really mean to be backsliding? Well, traditionally, the word referred to someone who had become an apostate—that is, someone who had left the Christian faith altogether. Today, however, it's rarely used in its proper manner, and it's often used to describe someone who has given themselves to some worldly temptation and sin.
It's a person who's given up; they've stopped fighting the good fight of faith, they've stopped fighting against sin, and this is a really dangerous place to be in as a believer. The reality is that we're ever going in one of two directions as a Christian: either we're growing in holiness or we're slipping into sinfulness. You see, there's no such thing as coasting when you're a Christian.
You're either fighting to grow in Christ or you've given up the fight and you're backsliding. You can't be on the fence as a Christian; you can't serve two masters, as a Christian, because the Word says either you'll hate the one and love the other, or you'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. Matthew 24:13 says, "But the one who endures and bears up under suffering to the end will be saved.
" All of those who are truly saved will persevere until the end of their life. This is both a great comfort to the true believer that they'll be saved if they keep fighting right until the end, and it's also a great warning for the one who is backsliding—the one who's not persevering—because what will that person's fate be if they give up the fight? So you see, this is why it's so important, and I really can't stress this enough; it's so important to examine yourself and to examine yourself honestly.
Where do you stand with the Lord? Are you still in the fight? Are you fighting to pray daily?
Are you fighting to read the Word of. . .
God, and keep it hidden in your heart. Are you fighting to live according to God's word? Are you fighting to grow in faith and in your relationship with Christ?
You see, dear, dear friend, this is a fight we can't afford to lose. It's a fight that we need God's grace in order to win. So, when you pray, pray for tenacity; pray for the Lord to strengthen you in your weakness.
When you have built your foundation on the solid rock that is Jesus Christ, you are not shaken by the earthquakes of life, you are not blown away by the winds of life, you are not taken under by the floods of life, and this is all because God will never fail you. He will never let you down. Have you ever heard the saying, "Just say a prayer and weather the storm"?
Well, there is much more to it when it comes to surviving a storm in your life. Jesus gave us wonderful advice when it comes to preparing for and surviving the storms of life. In Matthew 7:24-27, the Bible reads: "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.
" I want us to pay attention to this teaching. A wise person, a wise believer, will build their house on a firm foundation, on a sturdy and strong foundation. This is so that when the forces of nature wreak havoc on that house, the strong foundation will hold it in place so that the house doesn't go under or isn’t blown away.
A strong foundation will keep the house steady whenever nature attacks in the form of strong winds, hurricanes, or earthquakes. A strong foundation doesn't just benefit the house; it also benefits the occupants because it is a safe refuge for all inside. And so, when the Bible tells us to be like a wise man who built his house on the rock, it's telling us that we need to build our faith on the firm foundation that is Jesus Christ.
We're being told to place our hope on the solid foundation that is Jesus Christ. This is because when the forces of evil try to wreak havoc on your life, the strong foundation on which your faith is built will not be overcome; the walls in your life will not be breached. And so, Saints, let me encourage you: let your foundation be Jesus Christ.
Let your faith be in Jesus Christ. Let your reason for joy, your reason for hope, be because of Jesus Christ. Because truly, I tell you, when you stand on the solid rock that is Jesus Christ, you will survive.
When the rain falls, you'll survive. When the floods come, you won't be destroyed. When the winds blow, you will stand.
Now, allow me to speak about doubt for a moment. Beware of doubt, because doubt is the enemy of faith. Doubt will only ever see the obstacles in front of you; however, faith sees the way.
Faith believes that God will make a way, even when it seems like there is no way. Doubt will see darkness; doubt will see despair, but faith will see the day. Faith will see the light; it will see hope.
Doubt will limit you as a person, but when you trust God, you can take a leap of faith. Trusting God dispels all fear. Faith and fear cannot simultaneously occupy your mind and heart; it's impossible.
You either have one or the other. I want to talk to someone today who has struggled with doubt in their faith at one point or another, and it's nothing to be ashamed of because many of the figures in biblical history faced doubt at some point in their journey with God. Moses had his moment of doubt; it occurred when he questioned his ability to speak publicly after God instructed him to go and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt.
Abraham is another person who doubted God. The Bible says in Genesis 17:15-17, "Then God said to Abraham regarding Sarai your wife, her name will no longer be Sarai; from now on her name will be Sarah. And I will bless her and give you a son from her.
Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations; kings of nations will be among her descendants. " Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. "How could I become a father at the age of 100?
" he thought. "And how can Sarah have a baby when she is 90 years old? " In this passage of scripture, Abraham literally laughed in disbelief.
Imagine that! God tells you something, and because it's so far outside the realm of what you believe to be possible, you laugh. Let me tell you something: unbelief can be a great enemy in our lives.
Sometimes, people are so consumed by what's going on in their lives that they begin to think they live under constant spiritual attack from the devil. But I would like to tell you that sometimes our greatest enemy is not the devil; it's not demons, but rather it is our unbelief. Let me show you how dangerously powerful unbelief is.
The Bible reads in Matthew 13:53-58: "When Jesus had finished telling these stories. . .
" Illustrations: He left that part of the country and returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, "Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles? " Then they scoffed, "He's just the carpenter's son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas.
All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things? " And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
Then Jesus told them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family. " And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief. Now let that sink in: The Son of God in the flesh, the one who walked on water and performed miraculous healings and wonders, did very few miracles in Nazareth because of their unbelief.
Unbelief restricted the power of God to operate. Now, I encourage you: Don't let this be the story of your life. The truth is, God can perform miracles in your life if you believe.
God can break you free from that addiction if you believe. God can mend your marriage; he can change your children's behavior—only if you believe. Our hunger for God must exceed our hunger for everything else.
Stop giving your attention to all these different things. You may be pursuing things that are not wrong; they may not be sinful. You may simply want to better your life or career, but I'm asking you to have a desperation, an intense hunger for God that exceeds everything else.
So chase that dream job, but make sure you're chasing God first. Chase that business, but make sure you're desperately chasing God first. Someone who has set their heart to trust and believe in the Lord can never be broken.
And what I mean by that is a believer who has encountered Jesus, a believer who has been truly transformed by the power of God—you cannot uproot that type of person, nor can you shake them. I believe this is the case because the Bible says in Jeremiah 17:7-8, the Amplified translation reads: "Blessed with spiritual security is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord; for he will be nourished like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear the heat when it comes; but its leaves will be green and moist, and it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought, nor stop bearing fruit. " A believer who has set their heart to trust in Jesus is spiritually secure.
That means you aren't vulnerable to attack. It doesn't make you immune because we all fall under attack from the enemy at some point, but you're not vulnerable; you're not exposed. Let me put it this way: Think of a house—a house where all of the windows have been left open, the front door is wide open, the back door is wide open, there are no curtains, no blinds, but there is plenty of valuable material inside.
That's the picture of a person who is not spiritually secure; they are open for attack from the kingdom of darkness because their trust is in everything but God. But you see, to be a believer who really trusts in Jesus Christ, a believer who truly believes the word of God and declares that greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world—that person is secure. When you put your trust in the Lord, something happens within you.
You have a boldness about you when you know and trust that your steps are ordained by God. So, where have you placed your trust? In whom have you placed your trust?
