“So Jesus answered and said to them, 'Have faith in God.
“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in
his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done,
he will have whatever he says.
“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you
pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have
them.” NKJV Mark 11: 22-24.
Faith in God is a very important part of the asking, seeking and
knocking process. You must believe that you have already
received what you are asking for. Believing is very difficult for
many people, but once you know that God Has all the powers,
it must not be difficult at all.
If you ask your friend to lend you five pounds and he gives you,
how much more will the Almighty give you for free if you only
ask and strongly trust that he will give you? Mind you, God
does not lend or ask for payment, He gives for free.
So many people fail to receive because they do not believe.
Take for example my friend Timothy in the following story:
Timothy, Susan and Sara were catholics. They all attended
church services at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church every
Sunday.
Timothy strongly desired a new Toshiba laptop computer, so did
Susan and Sara. They all prayed to God daily, each of them
asking for a new Toshiba laptop. Sometimes they held prayer
sessions together.
Susan and Sara strongly believed God was going to give them.
So, after three months of prayer, Susan bought herself the
laptop she strongly desired. A week later, Sara's brother bought
her the laptop she strongly desired as a birthday present.
Timothy always doubted in his mind. Sometimes his thoughts
would say: “ Can I manage to get enough money for a new
laptop? No I can't. I can't buy this new computer. May be, I can
buy a used one. But, that's expensive, too. Anyway, I can do
without.” Up to this day, he has neither a laptop computer, nor
a desktop.
Susan managed to get enough money and buy the computer she
strongly desired because she strongly desired it, asked for it,
strongly believed that God had already given her the laptop,
and she received it. Sara also strongly desired a new Toshiba
laptop computer, asked for it, strongly trusted God, and she
received it.
Why didn't Timothy receive? Yes he strongly desired a new
Toshiba laptop computer and asked for it, but did he believe
that God had already provided? No. Timothy doubted. By
thinking that he would not be able to get enough money for a
new laptop, he doubted in his heart. By thinking that he could
not buy a new computer, he did not trust in God's power, hence
he barred himself from being able to buy any other new
computer. By thinking of buying a used one, he did not believe
that God was capable of giving him a new one. By thinking that
he could do without, he completely lost all faith in God thereby
blocking himself from buying even a used one at auction. That's
why he does not have a computer up to this day.
“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.
“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son.
“If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” NKJV John
14: 12-14.
Lack of faith prevents us from receiving from God. Faith opens
all doors, helps us cross all flooded rivers, and makes us say: “I
can.” where others say: “I can't.”
A virus which is so many billions of times smaller than a
human being and weighs trillions of times less than a human
being, infects him, causes him to lose weight, and eventually
takes his life. Why? It strongly desires to do this. It strongly
believes it can do this. Thus it has unwavering faith. If we have
unwavering faith, nothing can thwart our endeavors to obtain
what we want and we will get what we desire. All our prayers
will be answered.
God does not give false promises as humans do. Why then do
you have to trust a human being who can give you a false
promise instead of putting all your faith in God?
Sometimes we say to ourselves: “God can't come down from
heaven and give me money and neither can He make it fall
from heaven?”. I say yes, he can but in a way you can't easily
comprehend. He may, like what happened to Sara in the above
story, send someone who has money to buy what you want for
you and give it to you as a present, or he may make you get a
better paying job so that you can have enough money to buy
what you want.
However, you do not have to just say to yourself: “Yes, I
believe that God will give me whatever I ask for from Him,”
and then sit back and relax taking no action.
Take for example what happened to Rose in the following
story:
Rose and Ruth were twin sisters and both were in Form Three
at Silveira Secondary School. One day, on their way to school,
they realized that they were going to be five minutes late.
“What should we do?” Rose asked Ruth.
“Lets pray.” replied Ruth.
Ruth knelt down and started praying to God asking Him to
prevent her and her sister from being late for school. Unlike
Ruth, Rose started running at top speed towards the school and
was a minute early. Whilst running, she was praying to God to
make her arrive early.
Did Ruth arrive at school a minute or more early or she was
late? Why?
“If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
and one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace, be warmed
and filled,' but you do not give them the things which are
needed for the body, what does it profit?” NKJV James 2:
15,16.
Ruth arrived more than five minutes late because she did not
run. Although she had faith in God, she did not take positive
action. In addition to this, her thoughts were concentrating on
being late. That's why in her prayer she prayed to God asking
Him to prevent them from being late instead of asking Him to
make them arrive early. Those thoughts contributed a lot in
preventing her from taking positive action towards being early
and in rubbing off her belief in being early, thereby making her
more than five minutes late.
Rose arrived early because she strongly desired to arrive early,
she believed she would be early and she took positive action by
running.
Thus, faith without action is dead. If you have faith but take no
action, instead of being five minutes late, you will be ten or
more minutes late. If you just say to yourself: “God will heal
my illness,” but don't go to Hospital, you may not be healed
because you did not take positive action towards your healing.
What makes people take negative action or no action at all
towards the attainment of their goals? Negative thoughts do.
Negative thoughts prevent you from working hard to get money
to buy that new house you desire. Moreover, they weaken or
even completely take away all the faith you had in God. If you
desire a new house, believe that you will be able to buy it and
work hard to get enough money to buy the house.
Had I only strongly desired and believed in writing and
publishing this book but not sit down to write it, would you be
reading it? No.
With all this having been said about asking, seeking, knocking
and faith, how can we make ourselves believe and how can we
strengthen our faith?
The creation and distraction of faith begins in the mind. Your
conscious and subconscious thoughts can either create and
invigorate your belief in God's unlimited powers or weaken and
eventually completely destroy it.
Take for instance, a farmer who strongly desires to have a
bumper harvest this year. Thoughts of having a bumper harvest
and all the benefits of such a harvest should dominate his mind.
Some of the positive thoughts he should always have are: I will
have enough food for my family. I will sell a lot of the produce
and make money. I will make a great contribution in feeding the
nation. I will become a farmer of the year. I will become a
celebrity. I will teach other people how to farm.
However, he must not dwell on thinking about things that may
prevent him from having a good harvest as doing so will
weaken his desire, destroy his faith and eventually result in a
poor harvest. Having thoughts like: There is going to be a
drought this year. I am not going to have enough money to buy
seeds, fertilizer and insecticides. I can't do this. By worrying
about barriers that may bar him from the attainment of his goal,
he attracts those barriers.
Instead of worrying, he should look back and start learning
from his past mistakes. He should also find out how he solved
some problems in the past. Furthermore, he should learn from
other farmers how to solve problems. Thus, instead of
concentrating on thinking about problems, he should more
often think about solutions so that he can attract more solutions.
Jesus Christ said: “And which of you by worrying can add
one cubit to his stature?
“If you then are not able to do the least, why are you
anxious for the rest?” NKJV Luke 12: 25,26
Jesus Christ knew that by worrying, we attract more of the
negative things and destroy our faith in God. He also knew that
through worrying, we prevent ourselves from taking the
necessary positive action thereby making ourselves fail to attain
our goals.
Thus, the starting point of creating and strengthening our faith
is the mind. You must control your mind to think positively
about your goal and all the benefits of attaining it. In your
conversations with other people, avoid saying negative things
about anything you want to achieve and try by all means
necessary to avoid those people who are there to discourage
you.
You now have a very strong desire for something, you always
think about it and all positive things that come with it, and you
now believe you can receive it, what's next? You need to keep
on feeding your faith so that it can be strong. You also need to
continually tell yourself that the thing you desire is now yours
and you have received it.
To strengthen your faith, you may practice creative
visualization. Creative visualization is a process whereby you
see yourself, with eyes of your imagination, in possession of the
thing you desire. For example, you strongly desire a new laptop
computer, see yourself typing an email, an assignment or a
book on your new computer. Feel your fingers hitting the keys
on the keyboard. Hear the noise made by the keys. See the
letters on the screen. See yourself playing games on the new
laptop. Listen to the music or watch the videos you are playing
on your new computer. See yourself smiling and happy that you
now have the new laptop computer you strongly desire.
You can do this twice a day, at night just before sleeping and in
the morning just before going out of bed. Make sure when you
do it you are relaxed and there are no disturbances. Through
practicing creative visualization, you think about the thing you
desire and positive things of having it, you believe that you
already have it, and you attract it. Moreover, you create and
feed your belief in attaining that goal, thereby greatly
strengthening your faith.
There are so many psychology and philosophy books that
explain in detail how to practice creative visualization and
meditation. You can also read those.
Some christians strengthen their faith through novena prayers.
A novena prayer is a prayer said at least once a day for nine
consecutive days. During the prayer, you also say your petitions
to God. Some do it before they sleep, some soon after waking
up, and others do it in the morning and at night.
By saying this prayer daily for nine consecutive days, you think
about your desires that you are praying for and their positive
benefits at least once a day for nine consecutive days. Thus,
you attract those desires and strengthen your faith in God, too.
There are also other people who create and feed their faith
through fasting. When you fast, you weaken your flesh before
God so that the Holy Spirit may be strong in you. If you
manage to conquer all the temptations that come to you during
your fast, by the end of the fast, your faith in God will be much
stronger than before. Fasting is not only depriving yourself of
food and/or water, but the fast that pleases God is whereby you
deprive yourself of your fleshly lusts. For example, helping the
poor, quitting smoking, stopping drinking alcohol for some
days or weeks and donate the money to charity, doing voluntary
work, to mention but four.
Whatever happens to you, keep on believing and feeding your
faith. Even when temptations, problems and troubles come,
never look back. Keep on fighting.
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various
trials, knowing that testing of your faith produces
patience.” NKJV James 1: 2,3.
Even when you are tested keep on saying to yourself: “Yes, I
can.” Even when great temptations come, say: “Yes, I can.” For
God knows how to put his people out of trouble, trials and
temptations. Believe and keep on saying: “Yes, I can.” Even
where and/or when others can't, say to yourself: “Yes, I can.”
So many people do not achieve their goals in life because of
friends. When you choose friends, do so wisely. There are those
friends who are always pessimistic. If you can't convert them to
optimists (anyway you may not have the time to do so) avoid
telling them your goals. They will always tell you: “Mary tried
to do that same business and failed. Can you do better than her?
You can't. Patrick tried to become a singer and failed. I don't
think you can sing better than him.”
These people always have a directory full of people who have
tried something and failed. If you asked them what they have
tried and failed or succeeded, they don't give a satisfactory
answer. Why? Because they always think of people who try
something and fail. They can only successfully think of failure
and attract failure. Thus they are too afraid of failure. They
attract failure and they fail to try anything or ask for anything.
There are also those types of friends who have asked, did not
receive during the time they thought they would and gave up.
They say to you: “I have tried it before, it doesn't work. You
can't do it. You will definitely fail.” Don't avoid such people.
Ask them why they failed and learn from their mistakes. Just
because someone failed to become a singer does not mean that
you, too, will fail.
There are also those types of friends who are always there to
flatter you. They always blind you with praises, and never give
you positive criticism. They prevent you from learning from
your own and others' mistakes.
There are also those types of friends who are just there to
discourage you. They are too jealousy of your talents. In their
minds, they think you can do better than them. They also
always tell you: “You can't.” Tell them: “I can.” Show them you
can. Never be discouraged.
Last but not least, there are those friends who always want to
compete. Remember, life is not a competition. I am not saying
you should not enter competitions. What I am saying here is
different. These friends, are just there to watch you and
compete with you. Not only are they afraid that you can do
better than them, but they are full of jealousy, too. What they
tell you you can't do, you see them trying it themselves
tomorrow. What they don't know is that you have spent so
many days creating that idea, you have already built your faith
and now you are ready to receive.
All those types of friends are there in your life. They are all
there to weaken your desire, dilute your positive thoughts,
destroy your faith and eventually fail to attain your goals and
become like them. Do not avoid them. Learn from their
mistakes. Take their criticism and discouragements as
encouragement to proceed and succeed. Be positive all the
time. Be their leader, so that they will follow after seeing you
enjoying what you have received.
Some people desire something, ask for it from God, fail to
receive it at the time they themselves thought was most
convenient for them to receive and give up. God is not a fool.
He paves the way, arranges all events, pools together all people
who will play a part in the attainment of your goal, and when
all is done, it's time for you to receive. You just need to be
patient. God gives you in the most convenient of all times you
may think of. He knows best. You may ask today and receive
today or ask today and receive next year.
Therefore, whatever your goal or desire is in life, ask, believe
and receive. Never give up. Perseverance is of great
importance.