Whatever we become and achieve in life is determined by our ability to trust God. However, it is only when we believe in Jesus Christ and are confident that God will do as He promised that our lives can be transformed.
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and one of the primary reasons that many
christians do not live a godly life
do not live a life that is rewarding and
a life that is has
is permeated by peace and joy and
happiness and contentment even in
difficulty in trial
is because their faith is not steady
it’s not strong
it’s not firm it’s not mature they’re
still in the baby stage
of wavering faith thinking well maybe he
will maybe he won’t
next on in touch wavering faith
and jesus came up and spoke to them
saying
baptizing them in the name of the
following holy spirit
faith is not only the key to answer
prayer faith is the key to everything in
your life
every aspect of your life is affected by
it
what you accomplish and what you become
in life
is affected by your faith whatever you
achieve in life
wherever you head out whatever direction
of life you’re going in
your faith is the key now all of us have
a degree of faith whether you’re a
christian or not and many people have
faith in things that really don’t turn
out right and they end up being
disappointed
that when you place your faith in god
through his son jesus christ
life is going to become exciting you’re
going to have a sense of accomplishment
and achievement
you’re going through difficulty and
hardship and trials in your life
but the difference is this you’re
walking with him
you have his presence his power
his assistance in your life to see you
through it no matter what
and when i think about how people look
upon god
and how they look at their life and
oftentimes leave him out totally
and wonder why things are as they are
well what is faith in the first place
faith is simply
the confident conviction that you and i
have
that god is who he says is and he’ll do
what he promised to do
that’s what that’s what our faith as a
christian is all about
we have this basic conviction that he is
who he says he is
and he will keep his every single
promise and as a believer it won’t take
you long to figure that out
likewise we don’t have to worry and fret
about things
the scriptures in fact jesus in the
sermon on the mount said don’t be
anxious about all these things
but he brought us to trust and paul says
also in philippians that that p the
peace of god garrisons us about protects
us
when we walk and live by faith and trust
him you’re gonna walk
with anxiety and frustration and worry
and you’re gonna walk in faith can’t
have them both
all in the water don’t mix faith and
unbelief do not mix
so what how is it that you and i develop
faith and how does that faith grow
well i want to talk about this whole
issue of wavering faith
that is i mean by that yes he will no he
won’t
i think so i’m not sure and so there are
lots of people who just waver in their
faith all throughout their christian
life
and wonder why god doesn’t do more in
their life and you may be one of those
persons
well in this particular message
i want to show you how to deal with that
so that you can
grow in your faith it cannot just simply
be
little faith that waivers great faith of
assurance
perfect faith god does something awesome
and great in your life
it’s yours for the hearing and the
applying in your life and i trust that
you listen very carefully
so i want you to turn to the book of
james and we’ll read these first eight
verses together
and he is writing to those who are
undergoing difficulty in hardship
and this is the way he addresses them
he says in first chapter verse 1
james a bond servant of god and of the
lord jesus christ to the 12 tribes
who will disperse the broad greetings
consider it all joy my brethren when you
encounter various trials knowing that
the testing of your faith
produces endurance and let endurance
have its perfect result
so that you may be perfect and complete
lacking in nothing that is that you’re
growing and maturing in your christian
life
but if any of you lacks wisdom
let him ask of god who gives to all
generously and without reproach
and it will be given to him and what
he’s simply saying is if you’re going
through difficulty at this point
ask god to give you the wisdom to know
how to face it and to walk through it
and then he says but he must ask
in faith without any doubting any
wavering
for one who doubts is like the surf of
the sea driven and tossed by the wind
for that man
or woman ought not to expect that he
will receive
anything from the lord being a
double-minded man or person
unstable in all their ways that’s a
pretty strong statement
he says if you’re unstable that is if
you’re just weaving back and forth about
whether god will or whether he won’t
he’ll keep his word maybe maybe he won’t
then you’re unstable if you’re unstable
in your faith which is the foundation of
how you live
you’re going to be unstable in other
things and one of the primary reasons
that many christians do not live a godly
life
do not live a life that is rewarding and
a life that is has
is permeated by peace and joy and
happiness and contentment even in
difficulty in trial
is because their faith is not steady
it’s not strong
it’s not firm it’s not mature they’re
still in the baby stage
of wavering faith thinking well maybe he
will maybe he won’t
so i want us to address this whole issue
because it is a major
issue in everybody’s life and when you
think about it
what he says in this passage he says if
a person’s faith
is continually wavering now watch this
that doesn’t mean that it never wavers
all of us have come to circumstances and
situations in our life
where maybe we’ve never been confronted
with that particular issue before
or it may be that we’re facing something
we don’t know exactly how to deal with
it
and so we may waver in our faith that
ought to be a stage
not a continuous waving of our faith
because it begins with
little faith the bible says and it can
grow into great faith which
you have assurance on the basis of what
god said that he will keep his promise
and do exactly as he says perfect faith
means that you’ve reached the stage in
that given situation
whereby you’re so fully persuaded that
you don’t ask him anymore
you just say thank you god it’s a done
deal and you walk away
from the difficulty of it and the
uncertainty of it with absolute
assurance that your heavenly father
has given you perfect faith it’s it’s
as good as done so wavering faith
is that juvenile kind of faith and it
should not last in their life very long
but for most people that’s the way they
live their life
now with that in mind and i think about
uh how many people wonder why
and god doesn’t bless them the way he
desires to bless them or way he promises
to bless they wonder why
because they’re unstable when it comes
to their faith
and if your faith affects every single
aspect of your life
that’s one area you need to be steadfast
firm confident assured that this god
whom you serve
will keep his word every single time and
two things are absolutely essential
to a personal relationship with jesus
christ and that is that we believe that
he’s who he says he is
and that he’ll do what he promised to do
so with that in mind i want us to think
about a couple of things here i want you
to turn if you will
to the 11th chapter of mark for a moment
11th chapter of mark
and this is a very important passage of
scripture about
faith and about god answering prayer and
you’ve read it many times probably and
wondered
what in the world does that mean so in
the 22nd
verse of mark chapter 11. the scripture
says
jesus answered saying to them have faith
in god
truly i say to you watch this whoever
says to this mountain
be taken up and cast into the sea and
does not doubt in this heart but
believes that what he says is going to
happen
it will be granted to him now was jesus
saying that you and i could just walk
around had enough faith we can knock
this mountain down toss this with noah
no
he’s not talking about throwing down
mountains what he’s simply saying is
this
he is saying that no task
that is asked in harmony with god will
not be done
that is whatever we ask listen that is
in harmony
with his will and our life god will
bring it a pass
is he going to do something just because
we ask no if it’s not his will it’s not
going to happen
so he’s not talking about tossing
mountains down he’s talking about
that degree of faith we have and then he
says therefore i say to you all
all things but which you pray and ask
believe that you have received them and
they will be granted to you
believe that you have received them he
says and they’ll be granted to you now
when i think about that and i think
about our people’s faith
and how they weave and wobble around uh
i want to take just a moment to give you
a glimpse of the place of faith in our
life
now watch this i don’t want you to try
to write them down i’ll get back to them
later
what i want you to see is this every
single aspect of the christian life
is wrapped up in faith and we’re going
to put them up rather quickly so you can
get them
we have access to god by faith
we walk in our christian life by faith
we have sonship with him by faith
we live daily by faith we have
righteousness by faith we have
forgiveness of sins by faith
we have christ indwelling us by faith
we receive the holy spirit by faith
we are protected by faith we stand
firm in difficulty by faith we resist
the devil by faith
we have victory over the world by faith
we have victory over the evil one by
faith
we have victory over difficulties and
circumstances by faith
we have power through faith every single
aspect of your life is wrapped up in
faith
so when somebody says well i have
faithful how much faith well
you know i believe in god that’s not
enough we’re talking about
practical faith that works every single
day
whether you’re in your family on your
job or in pleasure whatever it might be
our life is to be a life of faith fully
trusting
in this god who is so clearly described
in the word of god
this god who is always truthful he never
changes his mind
he’s a god of goodness and love and
mercy and kindness
he is omnipotent omniscient i’m the
present he is a god of
righteousness and judgment this is the
god in whom you and i believe
here is a god who is absolutely always
truthful
never untruthful it is his very nature
to be truthful
he cannot be otherwise it’s an attribute
of who he is
and yet in spite of that many people
flounder through life
wondering why they’re not blessed and
why they have this trouble and that
and the issue is that they do not really
and truly believe that god is who he
says he is
and as long as i doubt him i will miss
his blessing
that’s very important you listen
carefully because many people
think they’re trusting him they think
they’re believing him
because they say well here’s what he
says and and
you know i believe what he says well do
you specifically believe
that this request you’ve made of god god
is going to answer
and if so on what basis just because you
asked no
well just because you’re good enough no
my simply
asking and my being good is not going to
make god do something
that’s not his will nor is he going to
respond to that to answer
he’s going to respond on the basis of
who he is his will
his purpose and his plan his goodness
his love and his mercy
and his kindness toward us god is an
awesome god
who has us in mind and the day you were
born listen
the day you were born god already had
in store for you all the blessings
for all of your life on this earth and
it’s the way we respond as to how much
of that blessing
we’re able to enjoy and to achieve in
life
and we claim them by faith we walk in
them and enjoy them by faith
that’s why it’s the most important
aspect of your christian life
everything else depends upon it now when
we talk about
uh wavering faith here’s what we’re
talking about we’re talking about faith
that sort of staggers uh i believe in
this moment and then
i’m questioning him at this moment i see
my way clear
now but tomorrow i’m not sure and so
instead of being
steadily focused upon god that kind of
faith is
wishy-washy it staggers uh it’s like a
cork you throw
in the ocean and the wave takes it this
way and the wind blows it this way and
it’s back and forth and back and forth
and the person who has wavering faith
is unstable they’re unstable the
scripture says in all their ways
that person says well i’m not very
stable look at your faith
what is it that’s governing you are you
governed by what people say about what
god says
and what i want you to see is that god
does not change
and what he promises he’s going to keep
no matter what now
let’s um well a good example of that
wavering faith would be this
when peter uh and jesus were in the boat
jesus had been teaching and he said let
me get in the boat with you and push you
out a little bit from land
and i’ll be able to be heard better and
so he gets in the boat
he finishes his message so when he
finishes his message jesus says to peter
peter
let’s go fishing now um
this was the time that uh didn’t exactly
work the best in the world for
peter because first of all
he was the fisherman and he knew
that fishing at this time of day was
absolutely
not going to work and jesus said let’s
go fishing so he he
finds himself wavering fish this time
well
he i heard him speaking i know who he is
but
so he had a good reason for waving in
his faith and sometimes you’ll face
something
you’ll say i know that’s what god said
oh but lord do you know all the detail
do you know what she said you know what
he said you know what’s going on in my
life lord
i know that’s what you said but oh god
how can this possibly be
so we waver in our faith for different
reasons
and what i want to do is i want to talk
about what some of those reasons are and
that causes
us to waver in our faith and you’ll see
them on the screen
i want you to jot them down as i said
last week gentlemen the back page your
bible
somewhere that you won’t lose them
because when you find yourself doubting
look in that last page of your bible and
say well now wait a minute
could it be this this this and sometimes
we don’t understand what’s happening
that’s why i want you to jot these down
why do we waver we wait unless we waver
when
trusting god is in conflict with human
reasoning
and you say well like what well let’s go
back to peter for a moment
so there they are in the boat and uh
when jesus says
let’s go fishing here’s what human
reasoning said from peter’s point of
view it’s a waste of time
i’ve been fishing in the sea of galilee
for years and years and years
i am a fisherman you’re not a fisherman
jesus you’re a teacher
you’re a prophet uh you’re a speaker but
uh i’m the fisherman
and so i know that fish in the silver
galilee do not bite
in the middle of the day they bite at
nighttime that’s how we pull up these
big
uh big uh troughs of fishes
just all kind of fish at night time
human reason said it’s a waste of time
jesus said let’s go fishing he gave in
to jesus
because of course jesus spoke with such
authority i’m sure
it came upon he thought forget what i
think i’m going to do whatever he says
and you’ll recall they had a great bunch
of fish
the nets were full and breaking so
sometimes you’re going to come to human
reasons i’ll give you a good example
it’s a simple example
if somebody said to you i want to give
you ten thousand dollars
but uh i’m going to take a thousand of
it
that belongs to god but you’re gonna
have more with nine thousand
human reason says nine thousand dollars
will never buy as much as ten thousand
dollars
that’s what human reason says it’s not
reasonable
it’s not reasonable that nine thousand
will buy more than ten thousand
yes it will for what he protects he
gives you a better deal here in other
words
i can go through and i’ve lived long
enough to tell you you
cannot fail or lose tithing your income
reasoning doesn’t work oftentimes with
god
because he he is above and beyond
reasoning that’s what faith’s all about
faith says if i give him if i give him
ten percent
my nine’s gonna buy more than that
that’s what faith says
lack of faith says man i gotta have all
ten of it there’s no way in the world
that you can do that if you count from
man’s viewpoint
right but look what you look what you’re
doing we’re talking about an omnipotent
god
who owns everything who can send things
into your life you never thought about
you never dreamed of
that’s who he is and that’s the kind of
god he is read the third chapter of
malachi
and see what he promises he says he says
it’ll be overflowing
because god watch this god always
rewards faith period a second reason
that we wave in our faith
is we allow our feelings to overcome our
faith we say well
i know that’s what god said but i’m you
know what i feel so unworthy your
unworthiness has nothing to do with the
blessings of god
you feel unworthy you say i feel so
inadequate
uh what do i feel of fear what are
people going to say i’m a fear of
criticism and failure
and loss and all the rest you’re looking
at the wrong thing
in other words if god says here’s what i
want to do in your
life trust him what he’s requiring of
you may be difficult
where he’s requiring you to go may be
difficult and i
can think of sometimes that people have
said to me and god told me to quit my
job
and they argued with god and argued with
god and argued with god about it and
finally they finally did it and what
happened
god gave them another job made far more
money all the different kind of
blessings that came their way
human reason says you don’t quit your
job without another one
and this day and time that’s real
reasonable we highly agree
but let me if god tells you to quit it
you better quit it
if he tells you i got something better
for you you better better trust him
god’s not going to tell you to do
something listen that he doesn’t know
what’s going to happen on the other side
of that
and so i’m not suggesting anybody quit
the job i’m suggesting that you
obey god and watch him work in your life
and oftentimes people are not willing to
obey him think about this
if you disobey him you you don’t you
don’t have any idea what
could have been yours if you’re to trust
him
god’s not up to tricks he he’s not a
mystery god
he’s a god who loves us if he tells you
not to do something
he knows what’s on the other side of
what you’re about to get if you do it
you say well this is my this is my only
chance this is my last chance noted
if god is in control and he is he knows
exactly how to
organize and arrange our life and when
when we should do things
of course we fail to see god at work in
our circumstances
then we waver and one of the reasons we
waver sometimes is because
he tells us to do something or we ask
him about something
and it doesn’t happen immediately and so
we
result by saying well i must have been
wrong in asking for that no
well i must have asked for the wrong
thing not necessarily
well i i must uh well i must this and
i’m going to say we waiver
and oftentimes god
is ready to answer your petition but
watch this in his time
in his way for example if god
is responding to a request that you made
and he knows there’s something in your
life that’s not right
and watch this anytime god wants to
bless you
always uppermost in his thinking is
where you are
spiritually and you walk with him
because if we live in sin and disobey
god and god just blesses and blesses us
what will happen we just keep on living
in sin thinking we’re getting by with it
so if you’re asking for god for
something in your life
and it’s not happening you need to look
at yourself first of all and say lord
what do you what do what do you see in
my life that you need to deal with and
about 99 of the time you’re gonna find
something
and so he wants to deal with that
because secondly
it may be that what what you’ve asked
him for is his will
he wants to do it but he knows to you
deal with that sin in your life
it won’t work when you get out here
because you’re going to mess up
and that’s what happens when we try to
live in the will of god we’re going to
trust him
we want to keep something in our back
pocket over here just for us
that doesn’t fit who god is and what his
plan is for our life
then what happens he’s protecting us
likewise one of the reasons he doesn’t
give it to us quickly
is because he he gives you the blessing
by saying
here’s what i’m going to do trust me say
okay god i’m going to trust you
a day goes by a week goes by month goes
by
you’re saying i made a mistake no he
just said trust me
he didn’t say trust me in five days
here’s what i’m gonna do most of the
time
god doesn’t give us any details and the
reason he doesn’t give us any details is
he wants us to trust him so here’s what
he’s doing
you ask him about something and and you
feel like well that’s what god wants me
to do
and it doesn’t happen what you don’t
know what you don’t realize the way god
operates
he’s over here working to do what
getting the situation right so you can
have what you ask
because it’s his will but that’s the
time has to be right
there may be other people involved god
knows for example you’re trying to buy a
house
and you want you got to have it right
now he may know that if you just wait 60
days
you can save thousand dollars but you
gotta have it now
and if i gotta have it now i’m not gonna
walk by faith
and how many instances i could give you
personally and many of you could do the
same thing
and so if i understand if i understand
how he works
then i understand that watch this timing
is very important to god a good example
he said to joshua you march around
jericho seven times
seventh day seven times that day here’s
what i’m gonna do
they probably marched around at one time
and said well nothing happened two times
nothing happened
three times that four five six joshua
must be out of his mind seventh day
seven times and what happens the wall
comes down
all of us have had walls in our life
that we want to come down
today and we thank god you’re late no
he’s not late
listen whatever god gives he gives the
best
he doesn’t give second rate anything
we’re the ones who get in trouble
by insisting on doing it our way in our
timing instead of trusting god
then of course uh when we listen to
negative counsel from other people
now remember this there isn’t anybody in
this world
who knows perfectly the will of god for
you but god
there isn’t anybody in this world who
knows when your life’s going to end but
god
there was there’s nobody who knows the
circumstances of your life
nobody who knows how well you’re
equipped or how ill-willed you’re
equipped
nobody knows you like god so when you
ask him about something
and uh then you start listening to other
people
most of the time watch this carefully if
you’ve got friends
who are not very doing very well and you
talk about how god’s going to bless you
you know what that i hate to say this
but you know what they’re on they
their attitude is well how’s god going
to bless you he’s not blessing me
and so what happens am i right amen
now say amen you know it’s true because
that’s the way though human nature is
and so the best thing to do if you ask
god about something don’t ask anybody
else
if god has said here’s what i want you
to do watch this
it doesn’t make any difference what
anybody else thinks
as long as you’ve got the mind of god
you can live with that
and he’s going to give you clear
guidance for what you ought to do
you you can’t trust god and everybody
else and i’m not saying don’t trust
anybody
but i’m simply saying this if god leads
you in a particular direction
and you know he has what difference does
it make
well don’t listen you don’t have to
answer to everybody else you just answer
to god
who’s the blesser not your friends but
god trust him
then of course when we uh focus on our
circumstances rather than god we’re
going to waver
and i think oftentimes uh what happens
the more you focus on your difficulty
your hardship or even your pain when
you’re suffering
the more you focus on it what happens
the bigger it gets
well i mean i’ve been going through this
and i’ve been going through that
and if your friends listen to you and
say i’m so sorry i feel so sorry for you
the more pity they give you the bigger
it gets the bigger it gets
the more you doubt god and so the issue
is focus and i think when i think of
focus i think of
many instances in the bible but one of
the primary ones is daniel
and the lion’s den and so
the bible says he slept with the lions
all night
if he’d have been focused on lions he
would have been sleeping
he’d have been over the corner somewhere
all crouching down hoping that they
wouldn’t see him or something
and it brings me back to one of my most
favorite illustrations
when god just did something for me in
one of the most difficult times of my
life
it probably was one of up to the very
top
and this lady came to see me and she
said
i want you to have lunch with me and
then i want to take you up to my
apartment and show you something
well she was about 70 something and i
was 30 something so i felt pretty safe
and so so um
uh we ate lunch and i i went to see you
and i was going through a very difficult
time at church they were doing their
best trying to get rid of me
and uh so she uh
we walked in she said don’t sit down i
want to show you something
i walked over and showed me this picture
of daniel in the lion’s den
and she said now son uh i want you to
tell me what you see
so i said well and i can still remember
look at that picture i see
this line over here looking up and this
one looking down and
see the bones and so i thought of
everything this little lady
could possibly have thought about and i
said she said do you see anything else
i said no she said if you’ll notice
and then the picture had all these lines
and daniel had his hands behind him he
was looking at this ray of light
she said what i want you to see is
daniel doesn’t have his eyes on the
lions
but on god it was like god hugged me
that day
because from that moment on all of my
fears disappeared and all of my
uncertainties
and uh a lot of other things probably
disappeared
because she got my focus right
when you focus on the trouble and the
heartache and the burden of the pain
it gets bigger and we feel less
confident
less significant and overwhelmed because
remember this
daniel was looking at omnipotence
who created the lions
he could shut the lion’s mouth he got to
kill every one of them in a second
he just let him hang around while
daniel went to sleep that night
and before he probably went to sleep and
when he woke up he went up and looked up
and
just reminding of god that he was where
he was because he had obeyed god
and god delivered him it’s where your
focus is and when i think about faith
if i can think of any other word that
that joins me to faith it’s focus
as long as i’m focused on him and what
he says in his word
and being in his word and looking at him
rather than
rather circumstances
this unconditional loving god i know
he’s going to see me through whatever it
may be no matter what it is
then of course when we’re ignorant of
god’s ways and i have uh mentioned that
several different times and that is if i
don’t understand his ways
then i’ll question you so what’s his
ways the best way to describe that is
this
watch this god always operates
on the basis of principles not on the
basis of feelings and how we feel and so
on principles for example
the simplest one is we reap what we sow
more than we sow later than we
sow god always operates he does never
change that
and so for example one of those
principles is obey god leave all the
consequences to him that means
i’m going to do what he says i’m going
to let him take care of the consequences
god always acts for example he says one
of those principles is
that god acts in behalf of those who
wait for him
and so if i’m going to act on the basis
of principle then i know i’m going to be
heading in the right direction doing the
right thing because
god operates on principles and that’s
the reason you and i can learn how
to relate to him because if i don’t
understand his ways then i’m going to
say god what are you up to
well he’s just up to doing and being who
he says he is
and so you could come up with most any
problem and i believe
give me a little time and i can come up
with a principle to say
if you’ll obey this principle watch what
happens because
god wants us to obey him and listen
leave the consequences to him let me ask
you a question
is there any consequence of your
obedience god can’t handle
right none he can handle every one of
them well if i
obey him and leave the consequences to
him
here’s what happens i’m going to be able
to have peace and a sense of joy
and confidence and assurance it doesn’t
make any difference what’s going on
because he’s in control
and if i’m obeying him he’s already
taken care of it
because listen the only thing that can
happen in your life
is what god allows if you’re a child of
god
what he allows he allows for a reason i
may not like it and there have been lots
of times i’ve told him i didn’t like it
and you know what he said nothing
nothing he just let me
hammer away with it and deal with it
until i finally said god
you’re right i don’t like this i know
you’re right because that’s what your
word says
and even though i don’t like it i want
you to have your way no matter what
you can’t lose then of course one of the
other reasons is simply this
guilt over your past or present sin
now watch this when you’re living with
guilt in your life
or you’re living with sin in your life
you’re going to have a very difficult
time trusting god
because sin short circuits the power of
god in a person’s life
and one of the reasons that he doesn’t
answer a lot of people’s petitions
because
they somehow overlook that they think
that somehow i can send a little bit
here and send a little bit there and
send a little bit here and send a little
bit there
and god he’s just going to overlook all
that he doesn’t overlook sin you know
why because it’s a destroyer
sin doesn’t destroy it warps out
thinking and so
when we have for example let’s just say
that something happened back out in your
life and
you’ve never been able to forgive
yourself for watch this here’s what
you’re saying
when the bible says if i confess my sin
repent of that sin he’s faithful and
just
that means he always does just means he
has the right to he died for me
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness
that’s that’s the law of god that’s
that’s his promise if i trust him
i’m going to accept his forgiveness and
move on but if i don’t
trust his promise of forgiveness i’ve
got that weight
that load of unforgiveness that burden
on me continually and so what i’m saying
is god
i know that’s what you promised now
watch this carefully
but god you lied would you call god a
liar
but you do when you refuse to accept his
forgiveness
and you keep carrying guilt and sin in
your life that you’ve asked him to
forgive you and to cleanse your oven and
you still have it what you’ve said is i
know that’s what you said
but it’s not true now if i said that to
you
you would say are you calling me a liar
now we don’t like that listen the very
idea of calling god a liar
is obnoxious to us it’s hard for me to
say it but what i want you to see is
it’s reality
he says here’s what i’m going to do you
say no you’re not
then you call him a liar
you want to get in real trouble just
keep calling him a liar
when you can trust him and believe what
he says
and oftentimes we fail to do it let me
go back to a verse
go back to that chapter 11 in mark from
i want you to see something interesting
here
i won’t read that same passage again but
i’m going to come to the end of it
when he says in verse 22 have faith in
god
let’s move on down to verse 24 when he
says therefore i say to you
all things for which you pray and ask
believe that you have received them
and they’ll be granted to you look at
the next verse whenever you stand
praying forgive
if you have anything against anyone so
that your father who is in heaven
will also forgive you your
transgressions but if you do not forgive
neither of your father who is in heaven
forgive your transgressions now that
doesn’t mean
that if you sin that you’re no longer
safe he’s talking about
daily our daily sins that is if i don’t
confess and deal with it
then what it’s standing between god and
me
and i have to deal with it and so it’s
interesting he put that verse right
after he talked about answered prayer
because he knows what sin does in a
person’s life
it just cancels out what god desires to
do
so then the last thing i mentioned is
when we listen to the lies of satan
what happens we’re not going to trust
him remember what he said to eve he said
eve oh eve you won’t
god didn’t mean that he didn’t mean that
you’d surely die
he just couched it in a way that she
fell for it
when you listen to the devil’s lies and
satan’s you say well does satan talk to
you
where do you think all that stuff comes
from where does all
lust and sin and disobedience and hatred
animosity and unforgiveness comes from
because satan will tell you look god
understands how you feel
look what they did to you they
mistreated you god doesn’t expect you to
forgive them
you just go your way and don’t worry
about it that’s the devil’s lie
and he’s full of them and one of the
reasons people don’t have what they need
the reason they don’t have any peace and
joy in their life is simply because
they are listening to the wrong voice
and the devil will trap you
with trying to deceive you into thinking
that what he’s saying is true
now let’s talk about the consequences
for just a moment i’m going to list them
rather quickly
what are the consequences of not
trusting him and that is having wavering
faith yes he will no he won’t
listen to this first of all we become
double-minded that’s what he said in
that passage
he says if you don’t trust him you’re a
double-minded man
yes he will no he won’t i think he can
i’m not sure
likewise he says we become unstable in
our ways
and a person who can’t make up their
mind and the person can’t who cannot
accept their focus on god and follow him
and obey him
is unstable in all their ways and you
and i know plenty of people like that
they don’t understand what’s going on
they think that’s just life and many
people have accepted
a very low level of living when god
never intended them to live in that
fashion likewise we’re going to miss the
blessings of god
and that’s one of the most evident
things you don’t trust him you miss the
blessing
what does he have for his children he
has the best you say well i know folks
who have more than i have and this
and the other but you know what you
don’t know what more than you have
is doing in their life it may be good it
may not be good if god gives it to them
that’s one thing
listen he knows what you and i he knows
what you and i can handle
he knows what’s best for us at certain
times in our life and all of us
can look back and think well god why did
why did you why did it take so long for
me to get to this place so what it takes
so long for me to learn this or whatever
it might be
all of us are different god loves every
single one of us unconditionally
there’s nobody he loves anymore he loves
anyone else he’s put us in this life he
has a will and a purpose and a plan
i might not always be able to understand
it but one thing for certain
i know that his blessings will come in
his perfect timing
and he knows what that perfect timing is
and we
we listen if you and i knew
if anybody knew especially a lost person
if you knew
what you were missing as a result of not
trusting god as your savior
putting your life in his hands you would
get saved
immediately but you don’t know that
and a believer living in sin living a
backslidden life
you know do you know what you’re missing
you’re missing the best of god’s
blessings
because he desires to bless us with his
best then of course
continuous wavering destroys our faith
when you say well yes he will no he
won’t yes
you get in that habit after a while you
don’t believe anything you say well i
tried
and it didn’t work i trusted him and he
didn’t come through
god always comes through the issue
is am i in a position for him to bless
me by trusting him
and sometimes of course the result of
that is we mislead other people
and i think about parents who
disobey god don’t trust god they sit
around the table at night moaning and
groaning because
this has happened to them of this
they’ve lost this and they lost that and
why does god treat them that way what
are you doing you you you’re drilling
into your children’s minds
that god isn’t trustworthy you can’t
really trust him he’s not who he says he
is forget this bible business because
what and what you do you destroy your
children’s faith
you impact listen you impact other
people you mislead them
and as a result you you we lose our
influence
when you go to work for example every
day and you’re complaining about this
and complaining about that
and they say hmm what’s wrong with them
what’s happening to them
we have an influence and a testimony we
can make an impact or we can fail
and the greatest way to make the
greatest impact is trusting god and
allowing people to watch
how god works in your life it’s costly
very costly not to trust him
and one of the reasons it is we make
wrong decisions if he tells me to do
something and i don’t do it
i make a wrong decision i suffer the
results and the unbeliever looks at you
and says well
if your god’s all that good then why
doesn’t he provide for you
and so they have a right to expect you
and me to live
above what is the natural normal life
that they think about
very very costly we make wrong decisions
it costs us our peace for one thing you
can’t have a staggering
wavering faith it’s on today and off
tomorrow and have any peace whatsoever
and anxiety jesus says don’t be anxious
about anything
god doesn’t want us living with anxiety
and worry
he wants us living in trust
believing him and we can always rest in
his awesome
faithfulness to us then of course as we
say we make constant decisions
those decisions oftentimes are financial
decision
relationship decisions and work
decisions
because when we fail to trust him it
always
cost us something and sometimes a great
deal
and then it’ll discourage your prayer
life he said why should i pray
i trusted god and this didn’t happen but
did you really trust him was your heart
clean
were you trusting him or were you just
going by feelings was it on the day and
off tomorrow
and then i would say one last thing that
is how do we correct this
how do we correct how how can we get our
faith steady
focused no matter what’s going on well
there’s several things
number one when you listen
when you begin to waver in your faith
stop and ask yourself these questions
very important question just stop and
ask yourself you find yourself waving
you
you think you know what god said you’re
not sure then
listen to these questions number one
where do these doubts come from
one of the first questions you ought to
ask and you see when you ask the
question where do these doubts come from
does this sound like god is this the way
god opera is this the way god
acts and some oftentimes you’ll say god
would never say that
according to scripture that’s not the
way god operates so you ask yourself the
question
where do these thoughts come from
secondly ask yourself this question
has god ever failed me in the past
and the answer is no he has not has he
ever failed me in the past
why do i think he’s going to fail me now
and the third question is this
did god not promise to meet all my needs
and you look in the scripture and you go
to philippians chapter 4 what does he
say
my god will supply all of your needs to
conan’s riches in glory in christ jesus
if he’s not then there must be something
going on in my life that i need to deal
with
the fourth question is this did he not
give me the holy spirit to enable me
to achieve and to do whatever he called
me to do yes he did
or what’s going on here in my life that
i’m struggling in my faith
then of course did he not did he not
promise to be with me
at all times here i am worried about
this thinking i’m going through this by
myself
didn’t he promise to be with me in every
circumstance yes he did he said i will
never fail you
nor desert you nor leave you under any
circumstance
so if that’s true i know that whatever
i’m going through i can trust
god that he’s going to go with me
through it
he’s going to preserve me he’s going to
protect me and he’s going to teach me
what he wants me to learn
if i’ll just listen to him carefully
and then the question is anything too
hard for god what would you say to that
well three people said no what would you
say to the question
is anything too hard for god
right then if i’m facing a difficulty
where should my focus be not on the
difficulty
but upon my father and whom
there is nothing too difficult and of
course
is watch this last one is this one of
those forks in the road
is this one of those forks in the road
in which my unbelief
could cost me
for a whole lifetime a lifetime of
regret
write it down is this one of those
situations in which
the wrong decision lack of faith
failing to trust him could cost me
in my future all of my life
that i’d have to end up saying if i’d if
i do this and if i do that
if i to the other how do i correct it i
ask myself some questions
listen watch this carefully the second
thing i’m going to do
i’m going to meditate upon the word of
god watch this
daily
unhurriedly
and applying what i read if i want my
faith to be steady
i’m going to be meditating upon the word
of god which means i read it
i ask him what it means to me i want to
i want to
i’m not going to get in a hurry i’m
going to apply it to my life
and ask him to show me what are you
saying to me in this passage watch this
god speaks in different ways but one of
the most accurate
primary way god speaks to us is through
his word
and the question is what is he saying
somebody says well god’s never spoken to
me oh yes he has
yes he has that’s what this book’s all
about god’s speaking to us
and if i’m going through some situation
and i want to correct
my wavering faith i’m going to ask those
questions and i’m going to get in the
word
and i’m going listen i’m going to
meditate on it carefully
and i think oftentimes when you do it
privately
and i’m going to apply what i read on
i’m going to listen to what he’s saying
and i’m not going to doubt him because
he knows i’m coming to the word
seeking an answer and seeking
clarification
likewise i’m going to try to recall
instances in the past when i was
troubled and
god faithfully answered my petition
this is why i say you should have a
bible whatever bible you have
and it ought to be one with enough
margin in it that you’ve got
room to write in it and then when you
come to one of those situations and god
speaks to your heart through a
particular verse
write in the margin a date and just put
one or two words what that is
you know what happens after a while your
bible becomes a biography of god working
in your life
now i would never tell anybody how to
read the bible necessary but i’ll give
you a suggestion
when i’m gonna when i’m reading and
meditating on the word of god
i do not use this bible right here
you say when you preach out of it that’s
right when i open this bible
i’m going to work i’m listening to god
for what he wants to say to me
but to me primarily through me to you
so what do i do for my own private
devotion i read two different other
bibles
you say well do they say something
different no they just sit in a
different way
and one of them is the living bible
because it’s so very
ca it’s so down-to-earth and casual the
way it’s written but it’s true
and uh i will usually read either that
or one other version i’m not going to
tell you what that is you
thought oh i got to go and buy me
another no you got the right version
in fact the one you have in your hand
that i preach from is the most accurate
it’s the most accurate translation it’s
boxy it’s not easy to memorize they
can’t old king james version is the best
is the best bible to memorize it just
flows this thing doesn’t flow like that
at all
but it’s the most accurate what i’m
after is god what did you say
how did you say how did you say it i
want to be sure that what i convey to
somebody else is exactly what you said
when i’m reading from my own personal
devotion then i listen
i don’t have you in mind sorry i
i have me in mine what does god want to
say to me
you have to decide how you read the word
of god
but read it and ask and remember we said
read it carefully
unhurriedly and you prayerfully
and you read it for god to speak to you
you’re you and you and you’re reading it
very sincerely god
my heart’s open to what you have to say
then i would say
courageously choose to obey
and leave all the consequences to it
that sometimes
it’s going to take a lot of courage to
trust him
i think about my son andy when he was
just about
five years of age and we had him at this
pool learning to swim
i’ll never forget this as long as i live
sand is your turn to dive in
and i look at him and he’s walking
around the pool like this
talking to god about giving him the
courage
to jump in and i thought about how many
times god
i haven’t been in a pool but i’ve been
in front of a lot of other things saying
lord
give me the courage to take a leap
and i can tell you and all these years i
lived the christian life
i’ve never leaped and regretted it
not one time i couldn’t tell you enough
how awesome it is to trust god and the
thing about that you’re living your life
without him
let me tell you it is foolish it is a
disaster
you’re suffering for things you would
normally have to suffer for you don’t
have
what god would provide for you he’s a
great god of goodness and love and mercy
and kindness and generosity
to his children if you’ve never trusted
him as your personal savior
nothing i’ve said is going to work for
you it’s when first of all you come to
grips with your life
and recognize that jesus christ is the
son of god
whom he sent into this world and your
behalf and mine
in order to die on the cross and in
doing so
he took all the sin of all humanity
placed upon him
and condemned him listen condemned him
with the death
that those without him would suffer one
day
but he only suffered it for that short
period of time
for all of us when you’re willing to ask
jesus to forgive you of your sin
and tell him that you’re trusting him as
your personal savior you’re not trusting
in your goodness
you’re trusting him as your personal
savior you’re believing that his death
paid your sin dead in full
asking him to forgive you receiving him
is your savior your lord and your master
the moment you do that he’s willing to
forgive you and
set you on a whole new path and the path
i’m talking about is the path i’ve just
finished talking about
it’s the walk of faith that you’ll be
happy
and grateful to god from the first day
you took that step
and that’s my prayer for you in the face
of challenges
believers who recall the faithfulness of
god find
faith that doesn’t waver visit
intouch.org
to learn more about how to grow in your
faith and to watch today’s message
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if you want great faith one of the
things that’s absolutely necessary
is that you and i read the word of god
we we meditate upon the word of god we
absorb it and then do what
we obey it and then watch god work
father’s day advice scene one take one
when i’d get ready to leave the house my
father would always yell down
remember who you are and that really
stuck with me
he’d say son five minutes early that’s
on time
on time was late and he would always say
tell your kids about jesus
i love you dad and
cut that’s a wrap people
where did you grow up um
maybe we’ll go to the park today
absolutely yeah
be careful hold on
i’m a planner ready for everything
now i’m out of work for months i can’t
imagine how my wife and kids gonna see
me
just one day at a time now that’s about
all i can take
and i’m praying like i never prayed
before
now every day
it’s the ultimate conversation
it’s very important for a child to get
off to a good start in life
we all know this and it’s why a parent
will read to a child who can’t yet talk
and ensure that their young ones eat
right stay healthy
but how much more important is it to
give them a foundation
in almighty god i can tell you from
personal experience
that such a beginning is far more
valuable than the right schools
more precious than any inheritance you
would leave them to be raised with a
biblical understanding of god
and to feel his love through a godly
parent is to be born into privilege
now wouldn’t you like to give a child
that kind of start well today’s email
comes from to us
from a young lady who wants these things
for her son
the email reads i watched in touch a
while ago when dr stanley’s son
was preaching what stuck out to me was
when andy said
he couldn’t remember a time in his life
when he didn’t have hope in god
i’m the mother of a seven-month-old son
and this
is something i want to instill in him
how can i teach my son to always have
hope
in the lord that’s a wonderful question
well let me just start by giving a
little personal testimony
as far back as i could possibly remember
i remember my mother talking about god
when i didn’t even understand i’m sure
what she was talking about
she was always talking about him and
whenever we would discuss things somehow
god was always in the issue and i
remember there were times when we had
great needs just the two of us
and she would say well let’s talk to god
let’s pray or
whatever she would say in different ways
different times but also remember that
she and i would always kneel at
nighttime
by the bed and my mom would pray i can
still hear a voice
i can still hear her call my name in
that sweet wonderful way
i would simply say this when your mother
does that
it’s ingrained in you you just grow up
knowing that god is an
absolute vital part of your life and i
would say the same thing for my children
that i wanted to do the same for them so
i would kneel by the bed at night
and talk to them about jesus about god
when they didn’t know what i was talking
about
but i knew that one day they would
understand and it wasn’t for me to
decide what that day was
i just wanted to be sure there was
nothing left unsaid
and i would simply say to this mother
and to every mother the key
in teaching your children to trust god
to hope in god is example
no matter what you say it’s always
example
when they see you and they hear you
talking about the lord and your
dependence upon him
and your confidence in him and when
you’re praying
about everything with your child very
early in life
continually speaking encouragingly about
him
speaking often about him and his
presence and his love and his provision
no matter what problem that comes up
bringing god into the issue
and what happens is after a while
they’ll bring it up
they’ll be talking about god and they’ll
be talking about asking him to give us
help
so when you think in terms of your child
remember this carefully the child
may may listen the child may hear what
you say
but they will do what you do if you want
to grow your child up to believe in god
through the lord jesus christ and to
have hope in him
and trust in him and confidence in him
it comes from you mom and dad
no matter what somebody else says it’s
what you say
but also more important what you do
begin before the child even
understands you say well why should i
talk to my kid about
about jesus about god when they don’t
understand in their little subconscious
mind it’s being poured into them
that awesome truth and god is saying
more to them than you could ever imagine
by example teach them to pray very early
as early as possible what a wonderful
privilege think about this what a
wonderful privilege you have
to work and to watch and to pray and to
rejoice as that child grows up
trusting jesus as savior very early
believing that god is sufficient for
every need of their life
and most of all seeking god’s will and
purpose and plan
for their life what an awesome
opportunity
well thank you for joining us today for
in touch scripture tells us
those who wait for the lord will gain no
strength
they will mount up with wings like
eagles they will run and not get tired
and they’ll walk and not become weary
truly
god acts on our behalf on behalf of all
of those
who wait for him make this the example
of your life
and your children will have the best
start
ever touching the world with a passion
for god
and compassion for people in touch with
dr charles stanley
is a presentation of in touch ministries
this program is made possible by the
grace of god
and your faithful prayers and gifts
your Wavering Faith just hit home so as a rock to always hold on to your words were so very a home run for me