IBC Bremen Sermons

When You Take a Trip with God in Faith
Making the Impossible a Reality – Part 3
Genesis 12:1-3

Sometimes we plan our lives and say: Here is where I will live. Here is what I will do. But life is very rarely like that – with God. God wants you to take a trip with Him in faith – a life journey. When He does ask for you to join Him, He is going to make some impossible things become reality. But He will also will share with you many wonderful, happy experiences (even though some of these experiences will be tough for you). But you have to trust God. You have to say: “I will follow you and let you lead me.” We talked about this trusting God in faith for the past couple of weeks. Today, we are going to look at the process of faith. What does God do when we take a trip with Him in faith? Let us look at the life of Abraham to see what happens when you take a trip with God in faith. You will most likely need to flip through your Bible in this sermon. I will be referring to many Bible verses to show this process. You have your handout, but keep your Bible open in Genesis for God to show you some wonderful stuff today. Let us begin in Genesis 12:1-3:

Now the LORD had said to Abram:
"Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father's house,
To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
(Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV)

Our first question is to ask HOW. How is God going to get Abraham to the country? How will He make Abraham a great nation? How will God make Abraham’s name great? How will God make Abraham a blessing?

Many times we want to ask how. But that is often not how God works. God teaches us through faith. When we want to learn from God, it is through faith.

"Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.
(Habakkuk 2:4 NKJV)

The good news tells how God accepts everyone who has faith, but only those who have faith. It is just as the Scriptures say, "The people God accepts because of their faith will live."
(Romans 1:17 CEV)

Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith."
(Galatians 3:11 ESV)

The person who is right with me will live by trusting in me. But if he turns back with fear, I will not be pleased with him."
(Hebrews 10:38 NCV)

In each of these verses, the phrase: "the just shall live by faith" is quoted. The same verse that is found in Habakkuk is used by Paul and the writer of Hebrews. So when a person accepts Jesus, the have to learn to follow God in faith. We have talked about the fact that when we follow God, He makes the impossible possible. Then we have to act to make the possible a reality in our lives.

So when we look at our situation, our challenge, our difficulties, we often ask HOW. We want to know now how will God make the impossible possible. How will He bring things to pass. Yet when you look at what the Bible says, and specifically at the example of Abraham - who did live by faith - you see a process. You find that rarely did God answer the question HOW at first. As a matter of fact, God is answering other questions as we follow Him.

The reason He does not answer the HOW question is because He wants us to trust Him.

PROCESS OF FAITH

1. God will first tell you the WHAT (12:1)
The WHAT is an issue of REPUTATION.

Get out of your country

I will make you a great nation
I will bless you
And make your name great
And you shall be a blessing

God is going to do something or some things in the life of His child. What God does, will change with other people think about you. God is going to build His name through your name. That makes life special.

2. God will then tell you the WHERE (12:1, 7)
The WHERE is an issue of POSSESSION.

To a land that I will show you

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
(Genesis 12:7 NKJV)

And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir."
(Genesis 15:4 NKJV)

Then He said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it."
(Genesis 15:7 NKJV)

Abraham is still asking how. After God shows Abram in Genesis 15 that God will give him an inheritance, Abram asks for confirmation. God gives Abram a vision.

On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying:
"To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates-- the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
(Genesis 15:18-21 NKJV)

For you information, God never denies that the land belonged to someone else. But God claimed the land for His people Israel. God never denied that the land belonged to Ham's descendants through Canaan's family.

the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
(Genesis 10:18-19 NKJV)

Yet Abram came through Noah's line through Shem.
This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood.
(Genesis 11:10 NKJV)

Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
(Genesis 11:26 NKJV)

God told Abram that He would give Ham's descendants' inheritance to Abram as his inheritance. Why did God decide to give the land to Abram through Shem and not Ham? Because Ham – the father of Canaan - looked upon the nakedness of his father. “So what?” you may say. Ham was engaging in pornography and starting to place his faith in what he thought was right instead of God and His promises. (By the way, Ham was not cursed because he was black. Canaan was cursed because his parents – specifically his father was not living a life that God expected.) God calls Christians to a higher standard. God wants to give His best to us, but we got to quit looking somewhere else for what we think is best. We have to quit thinking that what society says is best for us is true. It ain't true. As a matter of fact, what society says about you most of the time hurts you. You think its good, but it is not nearly as good as what God has for you. But for God to do the impossible best for you, you have to look to Him, and not something or someone else.

Therefore God wants to make the impossible possible for His children. God takes what He thinks is best and gives it to who He wants. You can't get jealous of another person because they have what you don't. God takes the claim of an inheritance from one and gives it to another one of His children.

Because God does that, God continually calls Christians to pay attention to Him. God wants us to seek Him and what God wants for our lives. When we do, when we trust Him in faith, then God does more than we can possibly imagine.

God sets the vision for His children. He tells them, you will possess something great. God makes a promise about the where, about the ENTIRE where. God sets the boundaries of his vision for Abram.

3. God tells you the WHEN
The WHEN is an issue of PREPARATION

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
(Genesis 17:1 NKJV)

When God gets ready to do the HOW, He expects you to get yourself ready. That is why the WHEN comes before the HOW. God expects you to have a level of spiritual maturity to handle what God is going to give you. God wants to give you a blessing, a possession, but you have to be mature to handle it. One of the reasons why some of us don't have it is because we are not spiritually prepared for it. It is like when a son wants to drive a nice new car, but the son is 8 years old. He can't handle the car until he can handle the bicycle. He can watch and learn, but he certainly can't drive. Of course he could drive, but not safely. He can't even see over the hood to safely drive the car. So he has to grow some more physically and emotionally to handle the task. The same is true with what God gives His children. But God says: “walk before Me and be blameless.” He says: Mature yourself. Get yourself ready. I am going to do something and I need you ready for it.

What is that something? God gives more detail about the blessing.

Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, (WHAT)and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.
(Genesis 17:19 NKJV)

But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year."
(Genesis 17:21 NKJV)

God says that Sarah will get pregnant. But never says HOW Sarah will get pregnant. This is still the WHAT and WHERE of the faith journey. But God does say WHEN – next year.

Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time (WHEN) I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. (WHAT)"
(Genesis 18:14 NKJV)

Abraham sees that the way God is going to help Abraham fulfill the promise is through the son Isaac. God has shown Abraham the way that God will give what He promised.

4. Then God tells you the HOW
The HOW is an issue of EXPECTATION

And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him--whom Sarah bore to him--Isaac.
(Genesis 21:1-3 NKJV)

The way God was going to make Abraham a great nation was through the birth of a son. Not the son that was born because Abraham got impatient (Ishmael). Abraham went and tried to do the HOW before God showed him the HOW. God said HOW. But He never showed HOW.

What seemed like a biological impossibility became possible for Abraham. Abraham had to trust God even when it did not make normal sense. 99-year old women do not have children. This just does not happen. But God made it possible.

And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken.
(Genesis 21:1 NKJV)

The Bible never says HOW Sarah was able to conceive. We might just think it was God changing Sarah so that she could have children. The Bible never tells you completely how. But God said how. He said He would visit Sarah and that Sarah would have a son.

We live in a rational, scientific world, where all things are expected to be calculated, explained, and solved. We like to approach problems with solutions - solutions that are have a logical, rational, explanation. God can live in this rational world. But He is not defined by our rational world. When God says that Sarah will have a son, it may not take a logical, rational form or conclusion. God can make Sarah pregnant, and it may be unexplainable. This is important to know. It is important because when God says something will happen (WHAT), and He shows us the place and time (WHERE and WHEN), then He already has a plan for the HOW. We don't have to worry about the HOW. Especially when it comes to things that seem so impossible, so big, so - more than what we can do alone – so God-sized. When it comes to things like that, all we can do is live by faith.

You are going to have to let God visit you for Him to share with you how He is going to accomplish something in your life.

5. You learn to see the WHY
The WHY is an issue of PERCEPTION

But at each step of the way, God will continue to reveal Himself to you as you take you journey. The only reason why God did it was to bless Abraham. This is the only WHY we hear throughout the entire journey.

God wants to bless Abram

I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
(Genesis 12:2 NKJV)

Abram’s Response:

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
(Genesis 12:7 NKJV)

God wants to bless Abram

Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."
(Genesis 15:5 NKJV)

Abram’s Response:

And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
(Genesis 15:6 NKJV)

God wants to bless Abram

And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."
(Genesis 17:2 NKJV)

Abram’s Response:

Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:
(Genesis 17:3 NKJV)

God wants to bless Abraham

And God said to him (Abimelech) in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.
(Genesis 20:6 NKJV)

And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
(Genesis 21:1-2 NKJV)

Abraham’s Response:

Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
(Genesis 21:4 NKJV)

God wants to bless you. But in order for God to bless you, you are going to have to follow Him. You are going to have to trust Him. You have to say: God knows better than me in this situation, now I need to listen to Him. When He shows you what to do, then you need to obey. You need to respond to God's leadership and blessings. When you trust God in faith, your life will never be the same. Your journey will never end. God will do more in your life when you stay with Him. Start your journey today. Don't walk this life alone. Ask God to take you on a trip and then follow what He wants to show you.

Posted by Unknown at 6:21 PM | Permalink | Comments

Trusting God in Obedience
Making the Impossible a Reality – Part 2
2 Chronicles 7:12-22

Trusting God in faith is tied to obedience. The promise in (7:14) is for the people.

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
(2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV)

However, the issue of obedience is always personal. Let me show you something in this verse that is amazing. Solomon's future is dependent upon his obedience to God. God in essence shares with Solomon two possible futures:

FUTURE #1 (The Easy Road) – A king who sits on the throne forever. (7:17-18)

As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, "You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.'
(2 Chronicles 7:17-18 NKJV)

FUTURE #2 (The Hard Road) – Temple is destroyed. (7:19-22)

"But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. "And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, "Why has the LORD done thus to this land and this house?' Then they will answer, "Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them."'
(2 Chronicles 7:19-22 NKJV)

I could go into how God could see these possibilities. How could God say it could happen one way or the other? We may be able to watch this phenomenon on television. It would be like watching the movie Groundhog Day.
Groundhog Day is a movie about a man who repeats the same day over and over until he gets everything right. Each action that he makes changes something in his time-line. Each action (or cause) has an effect. The effect occurs to the people surrounding him.
But the fact is, we don't know what will happen. Our lives are not in a repeat-mode. God, however, knows what will happen. He knows all the „possibles“ and He knows the „impossibles“ in our lives. Because God knows the possibles, He asks for obedience from us. Because God knows the possibles become true when we obey. The impossibles in our lives, God makes possible by direct intervention.

But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."
(Mark 10:27 NKJV)

But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."
(Luke 18:27 NKJV)

The impossible becomes possible with God's help. The possible becomes reality when we obey God. So you can pray all you want. But if you don't obey God, then the impossible (which becomes possible because you prayed), won't become reality until you obey.

God shows Solomon the possibilities. God shows this in a two-step process. Last week, we learned that the impossibles in our lives become possibles in faith. This week we learn that the possibles in life happen with we obey God.
Let's look first at two promises in these verses.

PEOPLE PROMISE (7:12-14)

This promise is conditional. The promise for the people is only effective when the people come together and pray and repent. This means that God makes promises about His church that are conditional on the actions of the people together.
Let me say it in a simple way. Some things that God wants to do in our church, He will only do when we comes together, pray and repent. What are some promises that we receive as a church:

These promises are listed in 2 Chronicles 7:14-15.

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
(2 Chronicles 7:14-15 NKJV)

1.God will listen to and answer our prayers.
2.God will forgive our sins.
3.God will heal our land.

This implies that there are needs for the church. God wants to hear these needs. This means that the church needs to take a time and pray for the needs of the church. Now, I am not talking about house groups. I am not talking about the prayer points on our bulletin. I am not even talking about the prayer time before the service. I am talking about taking time to pray for the needs of the church. We need to do this on a regular basis. At the suggestion of the men's ministry, we will begin to do just that – once a month on Wednesday nights. On the last Wednesday night of the month, we will have our IBC Bremen church-wide prayer night. We will meet in the Billard's Cafe and we will pray. I will teach for five minutes and then we pray. We will organize it with some worship, and then some time to pray for the needs of the church. We will pray in a manner that focuses on the needs of the church. I encourage you to join us – once a month – the last Wednesday of the month here for prayer.
This implies that God will forgive our sins and He will heal our land. What does God mean by that? I think He means that He will heal families. Yes, I believe there is physical healing implied, but I think the focus is on the manner of marriages in the church. God is saying that He wants to bring peace to families. He wants to heal marriages. He wants to bring children closer to their parents and parents closer to their children. The church family is made of physical families. As a result, the church can only be as healthy as the families that make up the church. If there are fights,strikes, and struggles in the families, then it will affect the church. God wants families that stay together, love each other and help one another.

While God is working in the church, He is working in the individuals in the church. This leads us to the second promise, the personal promise. God shared a promise for the people in the church, and now He turns to the leaders of the church. In this case, Solomon.

PERSONAL PROMISE (7:17-22)

As we talked about earlier, God gave Solomon two possible futures. These futures were dependent upon Solomon's obedience. Solomon was placed at a spiritual fork in the road. If Solomon obeyed, there was a positive promise which said that there would be a leader in the nation of Israel from His family forever. This positive promise was the easy road for him to take.
If Solomon did not obey, then there would be another future in store for him and His people. This hard road ends in a negative promise. This points to the fact that the personal promise is conditional on obedience and growth. When it comes to God and His promises, the easy road in our spiritual life comes when we obey Him.
If Solomon does not grow closer to God, and if he does not obey God, the consequences affect him, his family, and his nation. The same would be true for each of us. If we do not obey God, then God will allow a future to occur that affects ourselves, our families, and our church.
If however, we obey God, then we see a bright future ahead of us. There is a promise for obedience.

But notice that these promise occur when the conditions are met at the same time. You must be growing and becoming obedient on a personal level, while you lead the people. The people must pray and change. Notice that the leader, the one with a personal promise, has a higher benefit. Yet he also has a higher responsibility and standard of behavior.
So our church needs to be praying as a people. But there is also an expectation for you and I who lead. (You can leading if you are in a family. If you are the father or the mother, you are leading a family.) When you lead others, you have the personal promise. God has personal promises out there for you that are only effective when you are obedient to God.

Posted by Unknown at 6:08 PM | Permalink

Growing in Faith to Pray
Making the Impossible a Reality – Part 1
Deuteronomy 7:6-14

ILLUSTRATION. PRAYERS FOR RAIN

There had been a severe drought, and the members of a rural congregation were deeply concerned that their crops would be ruined.
One Sunday, therefore, the minister said to his congregation, "Brothers and sisters, I understand your deep concern about the harvest. There is nothing that will save us, except a special service of prayer for rain. The Lord promises that if we pray in FAITH, He will hear us. So go to your homes now, fast for a week, and pray. Then, next Sunday, we shall hold a service to claim the Lord's promise because I just know it will rain next week at this same time!"
The people fasted during the week, then returned to church the following Sunday morning. But as soon as the minister saw them, he was indignant. "Go away!" he shouted. "How can you expect to claim the Lord's promise if you have no FAITH?"
"But Reverend," they protested, "we fasted and prayed, and we have come believing that the Lord will be true to His word."
"Believing?" exclaimed the minister. "Believing?! Then where in the world are your UMBRELLAS?"

I want to talk to you today about growing in faith to pray. I want to begin this new year calling on you to pray. Jesus said that without Him we can do nothing. God says that when we pray He goes to work. The Holy Spirit prompts us to pray. So prayer is essential to the Christian life. Then how come do we not pray?
Let us be honest, how much time do you and I spend in prayer? Now I am not talking about praying for others. I am talking about praying for yourself. How often do you and I spend praying for what God could give us.
Now don't get me wrong. I am not talking about praying to win the lottery. I am not saying that you should pray for God to solve all your problems the easy way. I want to talk to you about praying for promises that God has given in His word.
Now, I am going to be speaking specifically to couples today. This principle will work for singles and it will work for people who are praying for just about anything. If you need something, you need to learn to ask.

Now, James says to ask in faith without doubting.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
(James 1:5-8 NKJV)

But you say Pastor, that does not apply because that is about wisdom, not about what I want. Well, if you don't know how to get what you want, then you need wisdom to get it. So, this verse very much applies.
First, let me share with you the struggles that you and I may go through when it comes to growing in faith to pray.

STRUGGLE #1 – We often pray in faith more for others than we do for ourselves.

This means it is easier to ask God to help someone else and believe it will happen. I think every husband should want to pray for their wife. They should ask for God to help them. I think every parent would find it easy to pray for their child. They should ask for God to help them. We should believe it is possible. When our child wants to go to a certain school, we should be praying for it. When our child wants a certain job, we should be praying for it. Many times we can help. At the very least, we believe it is possible for our children. We believe it is possible for our wives. We believe it is possible for our friends.
Now, if you don't pray in faith for others, then you need to learn to do that. You need to go through that struggle. There is a reason for this. If you pray in faith believing it will happen for your wife, your husband, your children, your friends, your family – and God answers (and He will answer), then you learn that God answers prayer. You grow and God helps you. Now you don't pray for the other person because you think there is something wrong. No, you pray because you love them.
If however, you pray for yourself and you struggle, you may get distressed and think it is not possible for yourself. You may quit believing God to fulfill His promises because of some problem you think is within you.
So many of us think - “Well, the promises of God I can pray for my wife, my friend, my brother, my parents – and God answers it. Hallelujah!” This I can do. I know that I can pray for them and God will answer. Good. You grow. You find it easier to pray. That is good.

STRUGGLE #2 – We don't believe the promises of God are for ourselves

Sometimes we think: That can't happen. That promise can happen to someone else. But that can't happen to me. That promise ____________, can't happen to me. This thinking happens because we are struggling with some problems. Here are the problems that you and I may struggle with:

PROBLEM – I don't believe God is good to me.

You may believe God is good, just not to you. You may say: God is good to the person, but not to me. That goes to a fundamental false thought – God does not love me. Because God does not love me, He won't (or can't) do anything good for me. You may think that God does not love you for some reason. But God does not say that here. He says this:

The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
(Deuteronomy 7:7-8 NKJV)

God set His love on you because God loves you. God does not love based on criteria that the world may place on ourselves – We love because they are beautiful. We love because they treat me well. We love because they have money.
God does not do that with His love. God loves you because He loves you. There are no strings attached. There are no conditions. God simply loves you.
When you believe that God loves you, then you will realize that God will want to do you good.

"Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
(Deuteronomy 7:9 NKJV)

God is a faithful God who keeps His promises. He is merciful for generations to families that follow Him. This promise is only for Christians. But it is also clear that God wants to do good in our lives. You have to believe that.

PROBLEM – I don't believe I am worthy of the promise.

There is no scripture where God forbids a woman to have because of her sin. There is one verse where God prevents women from having children (He closed their wombs) because God protected Abraham and Sarah. God knew that Abraham had lied to protect himself and that Abimelech might want to harm Sarah. So God closed all of the wombs.
But nowhere does God say to a woman – you can't have children. In fact, God says the opposite. He says: pray and I will give you a child. Because God knows that it is very natural for women to have children. It is a normal thing. As a matter, He supernaturally allows it for older women.
Maybe you think you are worthy of the promise. You know that God loves you. You know that He wants to do you good. You know that He gives promises, but you don't think that the promise applies.
Here is the next problem.

PROBLEM – I don't believe that the promise applies to me.

So this promise of being able to have children is for women. You may say: Of course, she is a woman and back in those days, that was the purpose of a woman is to have children. They could not work and they had stay home and take care of the babies. So if they had no children, it was a very difficult like.
You may be a woman thinking: This promise does not apply to me. I am supposed to work. My husband can't work, so I have to work. I can't take this promise. This promise does not apply to me anymore.
Men, you may be thinking, “this promise is for women”. God does not say anything about me. Perhaps you are having problems having children, men. Perhaps you were told that you are unfertile. Perhaps you thought – yes God is good to me, but not in this case. Well, listen up.
Men, you may have thought like I did – this is my wife's goal – her promise. She wants to have a child, OK. She'll get pregnant, and she will work for it. Her work, but I will help.
But I am not too sure that this “having a child” promise applies to me. I went to the Urologist. I got tested. His answer was: “Sie sind in bisschen faul.” They are a little lazy. Not slow, but lazy.
After the visit, I was reading Deuteronomy 7. I was actually reading the part where God says that He loves you because He loves you. Then I kept reading and I discovered this verse.

You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock.
(Deuteronomy 7:14 NKJV)

After reading this verse I realized something. God loves me because He loves me. He gives me promises because He loves me. Oh, and by the way, here is a verse for me. Here is another promise, but for men.
If you believe the Bible is true, then you have to get to the point where you trust what it says about you more than you do what others say about you. For example, you will hear someone say: You are not good enough to do this: __________________. But when you in the Bible that something is true, and it is true about you, then you can have the assurance that God will make it happen.
But you have doubts. You say: Yeah, that is possible but I am not too sure it is true for me. I can't believe that. So what do you do?

HOW TO OVERCOME YOUR STRUGGLES IN PRAYER

STEP 1 – Pray to receive the belief

You may say: I want that to happen. But I don't believe it can happen. Then you have to ask God for the belief so that you can later ask God for the promise. You can't ask God in faith for something when you don't have the faith to believe that God will carry out the promise He says He will carry out.
This was the case with Heike's kidney. I believed that she could get a kidney. Because I saw no other way that Heike could make it. Because I love her, I prayed for her to receive a kidney. Heike on the other hand, at first did not believe that getting the kidney was possible. She had a belief problem. So I suggested to pray for God to give her the belief first, and then she could pray for the kidney.

Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"
(Mark 9:23-24 NKJV)

Once you have the belief that God can answer your prayers, then pray in faith for the promise.

STEP 2 – Keep praying in faith for the promise.

Praying in faith for a promise is praying like something is true, even though it is not yet true. You pray today for something that will happen later. You don't know how yet, but you pray expecting God to answer the prayer.
It is like when a child asks the father for something. When the father says that the child can have it, then the child knows it is true. The child does not think that the father will break the promise. Instead, the child knows that the father will keep the promise. This is because that is what fathers do. Jesus said it this way:

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
(Matthew 7:11 NKJV)

When Jesus talks here about God giving good gifts, He states that we must continually pray. He says to ask, knock, and seek. But the way He said it in Greek was keep asking, keep knocking, and keep seeking. So, you have to keep praying. You don't stop.
Here is a rule that I learned about prayer. You pray for the yes to your prayers. When there is no answer, it is not a NO to your prayers. It is just not yet a YES.
This leads to my next step:

STEP 3 – Wait for God to answer.

You keep praying until God clearly gives the answer. Until God clearly tells you NO (which He will not do for a promise), you pray like it is a YES. This is praying in faith for the promise. But many of us don't wait. Step 3 is to wait for God to answer. Sometimes, we want to take the matter in our own hands and say, I can do it better than God.
Sarah did that, and she screwed up big time. She had another son in the family and this son became an enemy to Abraham's family. David did that and counted the armies because He thought his army was big enough for everything. David trusted in himself and what he had, and not in what God would eventually do. People died because of David's impatience.
You have to wait, because you have to wait. God is never late and God is never early. But He is on time with His promises. Waiting teaches us to trust God because God is the only one who can fulfill the promises.

STEP 4 – Act like the promise is true.

Faith is believing something will happen before it actually does. Hebrews 11:6 says this. If we want to make the impossible a reality in our lives, then we need to pray in faith. When we have prayed for something and we believe it is possible, then we need to live like it will happen. We don't worry about it. We don't doubt it. We lay it in God's hands and we act like it is true. Noah did not just wait for the rain, he prepared for it. He started getting ready for God to act. He built a boat.
For some of us, this may mean that we need to prepare ourselves for when God will bring us what we ask. If for example, we pray for children, then we need to get our finances ready. We need to make sure we are ready for the child before the child comes. It is much easier to act on God's promise when we are ready for it.
God wants to answer your prayers. God wants to love you. Look to Him this year with faith. Don't doubt God. Look to Him to make the impossible a reality in your life.

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