by Doug Webb

Many people ask me why I spend so much time studying faith and believing God’s promises. It is simple.  Faith pleases God and I want to make God smile. Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.”  I also study because God wants me to be his partner, his co-laborer who helps him establish his promises into the earth. 2 Peter 1:4 states that we can partake of  God’s divine nature through His exceeding and precious promises.  Who wouldn’t want to experience God’s nature on a personal level? God makes a promise. We trust and believe that God has the desire and power to make it come to pass.  The key to faith is trusting God’s heart to fulfill His promise. God is pleased with your trust in His heart.

Mark 9:23 states that all things are possible with God. I intentionally left out this three word phrase in Mark 9:23: “if you believe”. The whole scripture says “If you believe, all things are possible with God.”

Believing makes the difference. Who needs to believe?  We do.  I heard a preacher say something very profound.  Faith is only present where the will of God is known. Wow! That is so true.  If there is any uncertainty concerning the will of God you can’t fully believe.  This is why promises are so important. God wouldn’t promise something that he doesn’t will to happen.

The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures are the only way to know God’s will. If you don’t know the scriptures and don’t recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit, you will not be confident in your prayers. Guess who controls that?  You got it. You! Don’t worry. Guess who will help you memorize and understand the scriptures. You guessed it again. The Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit will teach you all things and guide you into all truth. All truth!! (John 14:26; 16:13) God has given us pastors, teachers, apostles, evangelists and prophets to help us as well.  

If you look carefully, you will see that God is constantly looking for men and women who trust what He tells them.  He is looking for active believers, not just those who passively go through life thinking “whatever will be will be”. He’s looking for proactive believers who confidently stand on his scriptural promises no matter what the circumstances look like. Furthermore, in the next posts I am going to review cases where God seems to be searching for redeemed humans to help Him execute his will on the earth. He is hunting for particular believers – humans that believe his promises and commands. We will probe deeper into these assertions in subsequent posts.

I want to first address one key component to partnering with God and believing.  Do you believe God wants you to be his partner?  Do you believe you are a worthy partner?  These are key questions. Here’s another. Do you believe God wants to hear what you have to say? Many of us lack confidence when we pray to God. These scriptures will help.

Psalm 24:1 is a familiar scripture. The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world, and those who dwell therein.

The following scripture is not as familiar.
Psalm 115:15-16 May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.

God created the earth and it is easy to understand that it is God’s earth.  However, we need the Holy Spirit to lead our scriptural investigation in order to discover what it means for God to give the earth to humankind.  

Let’s look at Psalm 8.  “O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!…When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?  For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.  You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; you have put all things under his feet.”

Again, it is a consensus that earth is God’s. He is Creator. He ultimately owns everything. But, what does it mean that God has given dominion of the earth to men? Could it be that many times when we are waiting on God to do something that God might be waiting on us?  What does it mean to be given dominion? Furthermore, do you view yourself the way God views you?  As a believer, redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ, do you see yourself as a  victim in this world or one crowned with glory and honor with dominion authority?

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Why do I bring up these lavish scriptures? Often times we don’t realize our value to God. You are worth the life of God because He gave His life so that we can have the possibility of enjoying God forever. That thought is amazing by itself.  Add on an additional layer, in that He gave His life for His enemies.  We were in our worst state and He gave His best. Wow!  

Why am I spending so much time on this? It affects your faith. If you don’t know your worth and see yourself as God sees you, your faith will be weak. You will have difficulty receiving God’s promises in your life and therefore a lack of confidence when praying for others. Why would God answer the prayers of someone He views as worthless? Because of the blood of His Son, He sees you worthy.

Don’t get discouraged. Look at this promise that Jesus told his disciples.

John 14:12 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

These are the words of Jesus regarding the life of those who would believe in Him.  This promise just isn’t for the disciples. Was Jesus exaggerating?  Why is it better for Jesus to leave the earth?

In our next post, we will review more exciting scriptures and you will see yourself as God sees you.  You are God’s Superhero.

Blessings,
Doug