Believe!

As I was sitting in a conference this weekend listening to the speaker, I heard the voice of the Lord speak to me. Out of the blue, He reminded me of a prayer that I had been praying starting about eight years ago. It was a prayer that I prayed in desperation almost everyday for probably about 3 years. At that point, I began to pray this prayer less and less and because of circumstances, I stopped believing that it would ever be answered. I had not thought of this prayer in a long time.

As the Lord reminded me of this prayer, He reassured me that my answered prayer is coming soon. Wow! It blessed me so much to think that even though I had given up on praying the prayer, the Lord had remembered. God is faithful! This made me think of one of my favorite passages of scripture in Romans 4:18-21. These verses tell the story of Abraham's faith when He was promised a son by the Lord. Verse 19 says, "Without weakening in faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead- since he was about 100 years old- and that Sarah's womb was also dead." I find this very amusing. Doesn't it make make you laugh when you read "the fact that his body was as good as dead." I am not even halfway to 100 and I can see the humor in this. I can imagine Abraham looking at himself and saying, "Alright God, if you say so." Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old. Naturally, it was impossible for Abraham and Sarah to have a child. But this did not stop Abraham from believing because he was not trusting in his own ability.

In Hebrews 11:1, faith is defined as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." When we have faith, we stop looking at the circumstances and trusting in them and we start looking at God and trusting in Him. In verse 18 of the Romans passage it says "Against all hope, Abraham by hope believed..." Even when things look hopeless, we can have hope with God. Faith does not make sense when we look at the situation with our own eyes. But when we put our trust in God who is Almighty and in whom nothing is impossible, we rise above the circumstances of this world and we BELIEVE. I love that in God's kingdom even when the odds are stacked against us, we can have the victory!!!

God has taught me this weekend that it is not a good idea to give up when I am on the winning team. There was a reason that the Lord had me praying eight years ago and He was working even when I lost hope. Now I am waiting and praying again as I prepare to see the glory of the Lord. Maybe you have given up on a prayer. Maybe a circumstance in your life seems hopeless. I want to encourage you that you are on the winning team. Don't look at the circumstances! Don't trust in your own ability! and whatever you do, don't try to fix it!! Look at Jesus and cry out to Him!! And as you are waiting and praying, be like Abraham. Realize the hopelessness without God's help, maybe even laugh, but most of all BELIEVE!!