Fear, Prayer, & Faith

I have been reading my ministry school lessons, digging deeper in the Word and recognized something I have never noticed before.

We are told to fear the Lord. If you research, you learn that the literal translation of fear when we are told to “fear the Lord” is referring to respect or honor. Not fear in terms of cowering away or being terrified. In so many places we are told by God, by Jesus, or by a messenger of God to “Fear Not” or “Be thou not afraid”. Fear is not something we should be entertaining as children of God.

I have been reaching out to God, trying to figure out why some prayers are answered and others are not. When you are a process oriented person, this is frustrating because I want a pretty little diagram or set of instructions to make things happen. God cannot be reduced to something so rudimentary, he is bigger than what our natural selves can fathom. Stop trying to turn your faith into a process map.

Where Is My Answer to Prayer

Plenty of my prayers are answered. God is faithful in ALL things. The prayers that are answered are those where my faith is really in action. What I shared in my blog about tithing, I acted upon it in faith. I saw immediate response to that act of faith, both in spirit and in the natural.

What about those outliers? Why am I still at this job that I do not particularly want to be at? Why is my husband still working in the same place after 2 almost 3 years of prayer to get him out of there? In areas about healing, we speak with authority and stand on the God given dominion we have. On jobs…how do I activate my faith? We have applied to jobs, had interviews and then…crickets. What else can I do to take action? Well, I have written 3 or 4 resignation letters at this point, each with specific dates. It is foolish to quit a job that at least gets the bills paid without another job in line. Then when the day comes and goes I find myself questioning, my faith shriveling into what it once was or worse I wonder what did I do wrong.

Wisdom

James 1:5 tells us if we lack wisdom and ask God for it, He will grant it to us. Let me tell you, I have been praying for wisdom. When I returned to church I came with 40 years of bad teaching. A lot of tradition and “this is how we interpret it” teaching. The kind of teaching that turns what God meant as freedom into a prison sentence. (Honestly, in all my years in church I do not remember many joyful Christians from my youth.)

Faith comes by hearing the Word of God and this morning I received such encouragement. I was reading in our text by Kenneth Hagin, that it took him time to unlearn all the tradition and bad teaching he encountered in his youth. He would catch himself in the pulpit saying something that was not Biblical, but was widely accepted as tradition or “the way it’s always been taught”. He would correct himself, until he stopped that kind of talk. It is a picture of 2 Corinthians 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” I have always considered that scripture as evil thoughts, worldly thoughts and so on. Wrong thinking and teaching belongs to arguments against God too. Sometimes I correct myself mentally, but that is not enough. It has to be out loud, I have got to make sure the devil hears I recognize his lies and that I’m not falling for that anymore.

What Do I Do Now

First, I have to check how I am thinking and praying. Second, I have to act upon my faith and seek God’s direction in how to take action. Third, I have to remember that God does not change and return to step one, checking how I am praying.

I do not know when I will see the manifestation of these new jobs for Joe and me, but they are already ours. There will be no added sorrow to it, so the fact we have 1 vehicle will not impact the joy of these jobs. In the meantime, I will give my best where I am. I will focus on the instruction of Philippians 4:8. I no longer want to give “mouth” to that which is destructive. I do not want to elevate things contrary to God, just because I am frustrated with my job or another situation that arises.

I want to be a woman of great faith, a voice of encouragement, a harbor of hospitality. The devil does not get to select how I feel emotionally from day to day. God has given me joy. JOY! So hands off devil. You have no authority in my life. I am in ministry school when you tried to tell me it was impossible. I am smiling and praising God, even in the viper pit of circumstances you try to conjure. Take your lies and be gone. I belong to God - mind, body and spirit. His timing is perfect. He knows what is best for me and I trust Him above all others to work things together for my good. I am not afraid. I love God and he loves me, there is no room for fear here. The only fear permitted is the devil running away for fear of what faith will drop on his head next.