DEPEND on God
and he will provide.
As Christians we
hold that as the core ideal of our faith — by
faith. Faith is both a noun and a verb. It is the name of our belief system,
yet it is also the process by which we live a transcendent life. By faith (in
Christ) we are declared righteous!
The process of
our faith, by faith, can be thought of as follows:
Firstly, we need
to discern the purpose of the day, and
that can only be achieved by being in tune with our Father through the prayer
of seeking, of supplication, of supply, to know his will.
Secondly, we
need to defer to God’s power, again,
by prayer, which in this case is the surrender of our will (or our power) for
his.
Thirdly, we need
to depend on God’s provision, furthermore,
by prayer, in trust that what he wills for us to do he will also provide for.
***
1. Discern the Purpose, by
Prayer
As we discern
the purpose — the objective — of God’s will, by prayer, then we are encouraged that
we have the knowledge of his will. God has a purpose in our lives, and he has a
purpose in our day. God also has a purpose that we call his ‘will’. Christians
are encouraged simply when they know the will of God. To have knowledge of his
will means we have knowledge of his purpose, in and through us. God’s purpose
might only be understood by endeavouring to discern it; by prayer — by being in
tune with our Father.
When we go to
God in prayer, endeavouring to discern what God wants, we are preparing to
defer to God’s power in preference to our own. We cannot do God’s will unless
we defer to his power by the constancy of prayer.
2. Defer to his Power, by
Prayer
The power to
carry out God’s will comes when we defer to his power, when to defer to our own
would fundamentally compromise the mission of discerning and doing God’s will.
As we defer to God’s power we are equipped. We swap our will-to-power
for his. And as we make that swap — to stop going under our own steam — we operate
in humility that surfeits strength so God’s power overflows in and through us.
To listen intently
when we would otherwise speak and fail to hear means the strength of God’s
favour is received in clubs and spades. We understand that God’s will is not
about us getting our own way. As it applies to us, it’s about others. God
equips us with ears to listen, so we may be quick to listen, slow to speak, and
slow to judge (James 1:19-21). As we listen we have the mental capacity also to
pray, because it’s far easier to pray whilst we listen than it is to pray while
we speak. We pray for both their need and for the equipping of God’s power in
us so we might help.
Such a
strengthening is also power for listening to our own heart and soul, so we
might pray for God’s equipping in those gentle and humble places.
3. Depend on his Provision,
by Prayer
By dependence on
God’s provision we are empowered to do
everything we need to do to accomplish his will. Again, we see a Kingdom
reversal in action, here. Only as we depend on God’s provision, in faith, will
we be empowered to do what he wills us to do. If we insist we have enough power
of our own, God will hold onto his provision, because we do not need it. We
have reverted again to our own will. But, as we grab hold of this divine power,
by letting go of our own egotistic will, we are given what we need — by prayer —
in order to carry out what God wants us to do.
***
Faith is an
assurance. It is an experience by prayer. It is confidence to know that
provision is power is purpose. By faith we believe in our purpose, invest in
God’s power, and trust in his provision. By faith there is purpose, power and
provision.
***
God’s provision
is not simply about God providing us our own needs, as he does. God’s provision
is also a Kingdom portion, where God will encourage us to
discern his purpose (his will),
equip us with the humility to defer to
his power so we’re motivated to carry
his will out, and empower us to depend on his provision to actually do what he wants
us to do.
God will encourage us to
discern his purpose, equip us to
defer to his power, and empower us to
depend on his provision.
© 2015 Steve
Wickham.
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