One morning I woke with this question on my mind. We often wake up with a word from the Lord and this one caught me really good. We ask for things from God and ‘say’ we have faith, but not all blessings are delivered quickly. There have been several times in my life when blessings took longer than I expected them to, but they eventually came. Thus, when this word came to me, I had to take a step back and wonder, did my faith expire at some point in certain situations?
Matthew 17:20 (NKJV)says: “…I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
What we need to understand is that’s not where this word from Jesus ends. Jesus goes on to say in verse 21, “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Many of us, myself included, pray for things to happen in our lives and the lives of our friends and family. We pray and expect those things to happen now. But all we do is pray. To truly have your prayer answered there needs to be the component of fasting. However, when our blessings are not manifested in the time we expect them to be, our faith wanes, and we attempt to do things on our own to answer the prayer. What am I saying here? Let’s look at these two examples.
Free From Bondage
First, in Exodus, the Israelites were held in bondage for 400 years! Can you imagine such a test of faith? When they were freed, the journey was only to take seven days. At the start of the journey God parted the Red Sea for them. That alone should have cemented their faith. They grew hungry, God gave them food. Again, their faith should have been cemented, but on each occasion their faith expired.
When Moses came down from the mountain after talking to God the people had built a golden calf and were worshipping the idol. They complained the entire time thus the blessing of freedom and the short seven-day trip turned into 40 years.
Abraham and Sarah
Another story about faith and its expiration evolves around Abraham and Sarah. Sarah, who was known as Sarai in Genesis 16 said, “Now see, the Lord has kept me from having children.” This
statement exemplifies that Sarah’s faith has expired. In order to see her blessing come forth she asked her husband to go into her maid and have a child. If we flip over to Genesis 18, God comes to Abraham and tells him in a year Sarah will have given birth to his child. In Genesis 21 we see God kept his word and Sarah gives birth to Isaac.
We cannot take matters into our own hand. When we seek what we desire from God and keep the faith without it expiring, that blessing will come. In essence God is not a man, he cannot lie. Therefore, if He says it to you, He will come through.
My Experience
Lastly, I had a valley experience during the years 2014 to 2019. This was the lowest point in my life. Many of my friends and family had no idea the amount of pressure I was under. However, I saw the things God was doing and even though it was hard sometimes…very hard, I kept my faith. I knew He would bring me out of the valley. Now I look back on that time in my life and realize I never missed a meal (probably gained a few pounds), I never missed a bill payment, no foreclosures, no evictions, no health issues, nothing! It was all due to God. Four years later I’m still asking myself, ‘how did I get through?’
In conclusion, if you are wanting or needing something from God, ask Him. Then do your part with praying and fasting for that blessing. Most of all, don’t let your faith expire!
Be blessed.
Read more by Gerald C. Anderson, Sr.
Check out Fatal Misperceptions on Amazon
Another great article on The Lyfe Magazine Online: Relationship Matters—You and Jesus