My Faith and My Grief

How Important Is Faith, and What Hinders Me?

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Here is the bottom line: pray and listen!

Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
(1 Thessalonians. 5:17–18)

Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (Luke 22:42)

God wants us to learn to go through whatever He allows before us, persuaded (having faith) that He will get us through or He would not have allowed it.

“Hold it! Hold it! Why the Bible, and why all this emphasis on prayer? Isn’t that what we pay doctors for?”

There is simply no other place to go to on this earth where the Creator understands all and can do anything:

Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. (John 6:68)

Or how about this word?

But he answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)

When man started out with God, it was walking together and living just the way Father desired (His will). What a love story. Then man’s selfish nature took control, and he fell into sin by listening to Satan. He was prompted to do his own thing and lost the beautiful fellowship he had with God. God longed to get back to that beautiful relationship. Through Jesus, God made a way for man to get back into that relationship, but he had to be born again. Now God wants us to see that by walking with Him, His creation can get through anything, even the great losses life can present. The key is faith.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

You see, God always wanted to be with us. To show us that He had deposited on earth all the natural elements to live a beautiful, comfortable life. From the Bible we learn how to relate to Him again and what He desires of our earthly existence. To accomplish this, He had to make a path so that He would be in us as He was at the beginning.

At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
(John 14:20)

Then we pray to talk to Him about everything. Then back to the Bible to learn what He has promised. Then back on our knees to ask, seek, and knock.

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13)

Then we rejoice by thanking, worshiping, and praising Him for His faithfulness in our situation. Get this fixed in your experience: God loves you and went to His death to prove His love and faithfulness to you.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

All the tabernacle and temple symbols were ways of expressing that God loves us and wants to dwell with us and in us. In short, He wants to be in you and work out His will while there.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

We must by faith live the way God desires, by His will. Hey, folks, God is really into us and wants to use our situations to help win other lost souls. Can you imagine that the God of the universe desires to be intimate with us and use us in His plan to save the world? He loves all of us—just not all that we do.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17)