Faith itself does not take huge efforts but it does require effort, action, attitude.
1. Staying in the Word
The word is enough for the
Holy Spirit knows how to influence each listener individually. Some of us have felt that Scripture is too general and feels too far away to speak directly to our hearts. That is because we have not spent enough time in it. If we make a habit of reading it it comes alive and becomes the main conduit for the Holy Spirit to direct our lives.
Romans 10:17
Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is
heard through the word about Christ.
Faith makes it
so that the word is never common.
2. Staying in prayer
If we pray according to His word the "yes" is instant. Whether
he takes 5 minutes or five years to answer that does not matter. All we
do is receive, thank Him and wait for the manifestation. God wants our heart to be right in our prayer.
The reason we
walk by faith and not by sight is because when we pray Satan tries to distract
our prayer by egging us to keep questioning the result of the prayer: "why
isn't it here?", "has God heard me?", etc. When we keep doubting
by wanting to check results all the time (walking by sight) as opposed to
waiting on God patiently (walking by faith) we actually put a stop on the flow.
We must stand firm with confidence
Hebrews
10:35-36
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.3. Following the commands
With faith it's always exciting. Our faith is augmented by hearing the word. Through it we can get to know God better but it is only by following God's commands the word that we are deemed worthy to know God even deeper. He does not cast pearls before swine and he will give more to those who use what they are given wisely.
John 14:21
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.
4. Expecting
Faith comes
by hearing but it is exercised by doing. When we
have the Holy Spirit and let him operate the true attitude of faith is
demonstrated. There is a boldness, expectation, joy and security which is above
going through the motions. We walk in it natural and automatically.
5. Keeping the enemy where he belongs
When the
enemy attacks through people we don't feel bad for us but for them because we
know they are missing out the blessing. We know we are protected by God and
Satan is not a threat, he is a small little thing.
Satan keeps
attacking Christians because he knows some of them will buckle. We should have
an attitude of standing our ground. The Devil should know when he attacks us He
will be defeated miserably and retreat.
“Your
picture should be in a post office in Hell” Jay Eberly
6. Speaking to obstacles
Zechariah
4:6-9
[6] So he
said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by
power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty. [7] “What are you, mighty
mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring
out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!' ” [8] Then the word
of the Lord came to me: [9] “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation
of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the
Lord Almighty has sent me to you.
Zechariah
was building the temple and was speaking to the obstacles. Once we know who we
are and that the spirit gives us victory we can have the bold attitude of diminishing
any obstacles in the face of the God we serve and the Spirit which empowers us
in all things. That capstone, in buildings, is usually the last stone put there
to embellish the structure and give it identity. When we look at the last stone
we know that the work will come to pass. We don't need to look at the other
obstacles. We deal with them but we look at the end result and receive it as
accomplished.
7. Rejoicing for its own sake
We
should always rejoice even when we don’t feel like it. Joy always comes first. Other things flow from
there.
Matthew 27:50 (NKJV)
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up
His spirit.
Jesus
shouted a victorious war cry in front of Romans who knew what that meant. Here
was a supposedly defeated man shouting victory.
Jesus’
shout brought forth this completion.
The best
way to follow Holy Ghost is to lose all preference. Rejoicing is
an action, a discipline which flows from an attitude of faith.
8. Disregarding the weather
Faith is
easy when you're in peace because peace is a companion of faith.
I had a tiny bit of faith and acted on it by declaring that
God would change my present circumstances. Then the peace, end to worries, end
to anxiety, end to fear and end to anger gave me a greater faith to stand on
the rich knowledge of God. There is a
cost otherwise it would not be faith.
9. Confessing our faith
Just as we confess sins, we confess hopes and that will not only help us stand in faith but it defines faith itself. Hebrews 10:23 shows the hope we profess is the hope we confess. This means we are in agreement with God about what hope is and we stand on that truth.
10. Welcoming the test
The same way we need faith to persevere in waiting on God's promises, the testing of that faith produces that very perseverance (see James 1:3) just like exercising a muscle. Muscles at the gym have to be put through work and attack with exercise to become stronger.
Andy De Campos
