04/16/2024
Today's let’s talk about a topic that has nagged at me in the past, and caused me great fear to this day. Our subject is a loss of intensity in our relationship with God. Many people call this a crisis of faith and if we are not careful it can lead us into a total breakdown in both faith and belief. Our ultimate goal is to increase desire and deepen our relationship with God, and developing a deep devotion to His Son Jesus Christ is the way we do this. So how do we overcome these moments of doubt, and the times when our faith seems flat and its effervescence is gone?
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ”
Philippians 3:8 ESV
Our faith should be strong and lifted up in Jesus, however, somewhere in our spiritual walk we can find our desire for Jesus challenged. People will often mistake a questioning of their faith with a loss of faith, but these two are very different. Questioning God and His Word isn't a loss, it is most often the first step to achieving a higher plain of faith and worship. Unresolved questions or conflicts can have a negative impact on faith unless we resolve them... Admitting they exist is the first step in doing that, and asking the Holy Spirit for understanding is the next.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 14:26 ESV
“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
Luke 11:9-10 ESV
As I was reading Pastor E.M. Bounds he wrote that the first thing we should do when our desire wanes is to pray for an increased desire to pray. At first I didn't fully understand that strategy, but it struck me that without an open conversation and dialogue there can be no resolution. How can we possibly resolve an issue we have with God without discussion; without talking it out? Then, as we reach an understanding of God's will in the situation that is causing us to question Him, our desire will become infused with a new power, and with this new power and desire will come a heightened need to pray. There will be a rush of growth that will lift us off our feet in joy.
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”
Psalm 28:7 ESV
I knew a man (gone to be with the Lord now) who was a missionary to Russia during the Cold War. One day he was in Moscow and stepped out into a crosswalk to switch sides of the street. He immediately realized that he had stepped into the path of a speeding vehicle. He said that something happened at that moment, and the next thing he knew, he was on the opposite side of the intersection safe and sound. He described it as a rush... A miracle. This is the rush that comes when we overcome questions and lapses in our faith... God doesn't abandon us; he takes action, and His Spirit moves us from our doubting to a place of absolute trust..
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10
If we find ourselves in a crisis of faith this morning, let's pray our way through the situations or questions that have brought us here. God is patient and will walk the distance with us. He will take those long walks and have the deep conversations that are necessary to reconcile us to Him. Even when we feel there is an impasse He will not give up on us... Only we can walk away, and even then His Holy Spirit will follow. So, today let's pray that our desire for Him is increased beyond all expectation. Let's ask the Lord to give us a burning desire to pray more often and with the intensity of a windblown fire.
May God be with each of us this day; may His voice and ours find accord, and the discovery of a new and wonderful plateau of faith ignite our desire for Him and strengthen our prayer life. Amen
Prayer:
Father, thank you for those times in our walks of faith when we ask you the difficult questions that are worrying us, or which make us susceptible to temptation and doubt. Thank you for your Holy Word that contains the answers we seek, and for your Holy Spirit who gives us an understanding of them. Help us Father when we are confronted by the lies and half-truths of Satan, and our faith comes under attack. Teach us about the true power and nature of our faith, and how you fight our battles for us, teach us how in the Name of Jesus we can say “get thee behind me Satan”. And with the remembrance and understanding that your Spirit gives us how we can use your Word like a Sword to defend ourselves. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who was, and is, and is to come. Holy are you who never abandons us, and answers us whenever we ask the hard questions concerning our salvation, faith, belief, grace, and eternity. Wash us clean with the blood of your son Jesus, the Lamb of God, and at last when we come before you in judgement see only his perfection that cloaks us. Choose not to remember the times we have asked you questions that have teetered on the edge of doubt, but only recall those joy filled moments when we accepted your answers and our faith was magnified. Call us your children, your friends, and the brides of your Son Jesus, and set us a place at the family table where we can discuss your Word for all eternity. On that day, and forevermore, we will never ask again… “Oh God, where are you?’
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Rich Forbes