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What is Faith?

SCRIPTURE  

Nehemiah 1:10-11
“They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
 
Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

OBSERVATION 

Have you ever wished something great would happen to you? Many of us have. But, wishing and faith are very different. Faith is an assurance or a confidence that the things you hope for in Christ will happen. Faith is the activating ingredient to the promises of God. When we hear the promises of God and believe them, we see faith rise in our hearts. And, this gives us the courage to overcome our doubts and fears. 
 
Nehemiah has faith that God was going to give him favor with the king. So much so that he was bold enough to make a crazy request of the king. Faith gives you confidence. If God is going to do something great through you, it will require faith - faith that what you see in your heart will come to pass. The Bible tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith; therefore, we can assume God will never call us to something that does not require faith. As you look at what God is calling you to during this New Wave Faith Journey, ask yourself, “Does this require faith?” If it does, then you are on the right track to seeing God do something great in your life. If you can do it alone, you need to dream bigger and let God place faith in your heart. He wants to move through you and give you a great assurance today.
 
APPLICATION 

When you consider your commitment to the New Wave Faith Journey, does it take you beyond your comfort zone?  Does it challenge or frighten you? Does it make you doubt? If it does, this is a pretty normal thing. This is where faith comes in. God calls us to go beyond ourselves in order to depend on him.  Take time to pray about your fear and doubts until God fills your heart with confidence. You want to trade in your doubts for faith that comes from God.

Prayer

God, today I ask you to give me a new level of faith. Please fill my heart with the assurance that you are on this faith journey with me. Help me to open my heart and trust you more every day. Lord, help me to walk by faith.

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