Lessons In Faith

I've told you before that one day I will write a book called "These Prayers I've Prayed." It will be an account of the suprising and mysterious and infinitely faithful ways that God has answered prayer in my life.
Last night, the women who come to my home each week for Bible study decided to take a night off from our regular study in favor of spending time recounting God's faithfulness. We went through our group journal together to look at the prayer requests He's heard and answered during our 8 months together. We took turns sharing the verses He's been encouraging or challenging us with in our personal times with Him. And, we prayed with one another and for one another. It was refreshment like jumping into a swimming pool after mowing the yard in July!
There is an issue in my life that I've been praying through for a couple of weeks now. God's given me an incredible sense of peace about it, but rather than grab onto that peace and glide atop the stormy sea with my hand in His, I've chosen to doubt and be tossed about like a wave on the shore (James 1). Right before the girls arrived last night, I was fretfully telling a friend on the phone that I just didn't know what to do with myself anymore. I couldn't seem to pray in one direction on the issue, and I was somehow fearful of the peace God had provided, unwilling to believe it could really be that simple.
Enter share time.
Ginger says, Hebrews 11:6, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God, but he who comes to Him must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him diligently."
Didn't I just teach on the shield of faith at that retreat a couple of weeks ago? What was it that I told those women? Oh yeah, faith is the only maneuverable portion of our godly armor. Our confident belief that God is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do is our defense against the enemy's flaming arrows. Whew! Wish someone had told me that! Oh wait ...
Erin shares. Romans 4:20-21 says this about Abraham, "Yet, he did not waver in unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God was able to do all that He had promised." Two years ago, right before things went completely dark in life for a season, a friend from one of my classes at seminary called me at home one night to share those verses with me. She said she was reading them and felt the strongest urge to share them with me, that God wanted me to hear them. I took them to heart and made Abraham's testimony the goal of my own life, especially when the lights went out. I didn't always do a great job, but a little more removed from that season, and I can see that God did indeed remain faithful even when I was faithless, and He has blessed every time I've chosen to believe Him and believe in His goodness over and above any evidence to the contrary. :-)
As I listened to more sharing, James 1:2-6 kept coming back to mind. "Consider it pure joys, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance and perseverance must finish its work so that you will be mature and complete, not lacking in anything. But, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault. But he who asks must believe and not doubt for he who doubts is like a wave on the shore, tossed to and fro by the wind." Woah. For years, I've practiced asking God for wisdom, but I've ignored the consequences of asking without believing. Storm tossed. That's a picturesque word, an accurate description of my state of mind when I let myself lose sight of God's constant faithfulness, that everything He does is for my good.
In closing, there are three more verses that I just have to share.
Luke 1:45 says, "Blessed is she who has believed what the Lord has promised will be accomplished in her."
Romans 8:32 says, "He who did not spare His own Son, but graciously gave Him up for us all -- will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?"
I John 5:14-15 says, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God. We know that whatever we ask according to His will, He hears us. And, if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have whatever we have asked of Him according to His will."
So, what's the point? Just this. Pray boldly, with utter confidence that a loving God is listening, and desires to graciously give to you all the good things stored in His heart for those who are His own.