BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

On the other hand, if we don’t take the time to feed on the Word and stand on it in faith, we don’t believe so we don’t receive. “But Gloria,” you might say, “there have been times I know I prayed for something in faith and yet I didn’t receive it!” That may be true, but it’s not because the law of faith didn’t work. It’s because somewhere along the way you quit believing. Sometime after you prayed, while you were waiting for the answer to manifest, you let doubt get in and undermine your confidence in the Word. The most crucial time in your faith life is between the time you pray and the time you have what you believed for—and it’s where most believers who know how to pray miss it. When they don’t see results instantly (and this is not unusual; otherwise we wouldn’t have to walk by faith instead of by sight) they start to waver. They start saying things like, “I WONDER WHY the Lord hasn’t healed me yet? I WONDER WHY He hasn’t supplied that need I prayed about?” James 1:6-7 says when we start thinking like that we’re like waves being tossed around by the wind. We go back and forth between believing and doubting. We become unstable in our faith and, as a result, we can’t receive from the Lord. AND NOW WE KNOW WHY! How do we make sure we don’t wind up in that condition? We add to our faith the force that doesn’t quit—the spiritual force of patience! A fruit of the spirit that God put inside us when we were born again, patience is a key ingredient to our spiritual success. It helps keep our faith working while we’re waiting for what we’re believing for to come to pass in our lives. Just as faith is the victory that overcomes the world, patience is the power that enables us to stay spiritually stable when we’re under pressure. Defined in the dictionary as “a quality that does not surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial,” it’s the opposite of despondency and associated with hope. It means “to suffer long; to gird up under pressure, persecution, distress, and trouble; to remain steadfast; and includes the idea of forbearance and endurance.” Ken calls faith and patience the power twins! When we have them both in operation they always get the job done. That’s why the New Testament often talks about them together. It’s why it tells us time and again: • “Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:12) • “The trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:3-4) • “...let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2) Faith + Patience = Victory Notice, according to those verses, patience doesn’t just help you to passively put up with the negative conditions in your life. It helps you supernaturally change those conditions by sustaining you all the way through the faith process. We’ve already seen in Mark 11:24 how that process begins. You find out what God’s Word says and pray accordingly for what you desire. While you’re praying you believe you receive and take your faith stand. You make the decision to speak and act in agreement with what you’ve believed and you leave the place of prayer saying, “It’s mine, I have it, NOW!” From that point on, patience kicks in and enables you to maintain that attitude. If time passes and nothing appears to be changing, patience causes you to persevere in your faith stand. It empowers you, even in the face of trouble and difficulties, to remain joyful and expectant. That’s how you ought to be after you’ve prayed about something. You ought to be joyful and carefree! YOU CAN’T BE WORRIED AND DEPRESSED AND BE IN FAITH AT THE SAME TIME. You can’t carry around cares and simultaneously believe God. For your faith to stay strong you have to keep your mind stayed on God’s Word, “casting all your care upon Him” (1 Peter 5:7). Otherwise, before you know it, you’ll be thinking bad thoughts and getting discouraged. You’ll be calling your friends saying, “I just don’t know what I’m going to do about this situation.” You’ll forget that you believed you received and you’re supposed to be standing in faith on God’s Word. ****** article continues on p. 30 ****** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Points to Get You There: 1) Patience keeps your faith working while you’re waiting for what you’ve believed for to come to pass. Hebrews 6:12 2) When the devil puts you through a trial and tries to steal your faith, patience will turn that trial into a testimony. James 1:3-4 3) God is by nature extraordinarily patient and He put His own patience in your spirit when you were born again. Galatians 5:22-23 4) By yielding to patience you will finish your faith race as a winner. Hebrews 12:1-2 5) Faith in the Word of God always works; it’s as dependable as gravity. Mark 11:24 BVOV : 29

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