How should we come to God when we have a crisis? All of us will face problems in this life. And as a “spiritual” reflex, the children of God run to God when a tragedy occurs. The biblically literate understand that God responds to our faith and not necessarily to our needs, so the child of God attempts to come to God in faith. However, some Christians come to God in an emotional state of desperation. In this desperate state of mind they seek answers from God, but they do not move into the realm of faith. Sometimes in this state of anxiety, believers can assume that they are operating in faith, but they are actually operating from a stance of fear. In a crisis situation, fear can seem like faith, but they are entirely two different forces. Another problem occurs when the believer comes to God based on natural reasoning. These believers know about faith, but they are not operating in the spirit. They walk away from their time of prayer assuming that God will answer them, but they have not sought the Lord with true faith. Their belief is shallow because it has no spiritual root. Make sure that you are operating in genuine biblical faith; fear and presumption often masquerade as faith, but while faith can move mountains, fear and presumption move nothing. We need to understand what faith is.
We need to understand what faith is, how we receive faith, and we need to know and understand the object of our faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is the spiritual reality of what is hoped for. The spiritual creates the physical, and many times what we pray for has been delivered to us in the spiritual realm, but it has not yet manifested in the natural realm. When the child of God walks in faith, they receive their prayer request in the present; they consider their prayer to have been already answered. When the believer stands in faith, they are not waiting on the answer to their prayer, they are believing in the present spiritual reality of the answer to their prayer. If we do not yet have faith, we obtain faith through God’s word. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). As we meditate on God’s word we receive faith; specifically, the faith that we receive corresponds to the subject of what we are meditating on. In other words, if you want faith for healing, meditate on scriptures dealing with healing. If you need a financial blessing, meditate on scriptures that address prosperity and material blessings. Faith should not be based on our own abilities, it must be focused on God. “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). Many Christians have faith in faith. These Christians are trusting in a process. But true faith is trust in God. He is the source of our assurance. Our hope and trust is in God and his power. We must walk in faith and not in presumption.
Our fellowship with God should be to the point where we know that he is speaking his word to us because we cannot stand in true faith unless God has empowered our confessions. We meditate on God’s word to receive faith, but we take a stance of faith only when God has authorized us to do so. One of the major flaws in the “Word of Faith” movement is that believers are encouraged to “name it and claim it” apart from the direction of God. We walk in presumption if we simply quote a few scriptures and then assume that God will grant our petitions. We have to get an OK from God before we start to claim things. God is not a genie that we can come to and command. Our faith is in our Creator, and we submit to his will and purpose.
Faith is one of the keys that we must use in order for God to answer our prayers; therefore, our faith must be genuine faith and not a perverse type of fear. “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord” (James 1:6). Desperation will cause a person to try different things hoping that something will work. The desperate Christian hopes and wishes that God will answer their prayers, but they do not have a spiritually grounded assurance. For those who are operating from fear, prayer is often considered to be their last hope. In other words, they have nothing else to try, so they come to God as a last resort. Not only is this not exercising faith, this type of mindset is actually an attempt to test God.
How do you stop praying in fear or believing based on shallow assumptions? Instead of coming to God in fear, meditate on his word until you have built up genuine faith. Allow God’s word to burn away all of your doubts and fears. “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29). God’s word will be active in your mind, and it will create the faith that you need. Once you are saturated with God’s word you will be full of faith, and your prayers will originate from a position of spiritual assurance and authority. You will then be seeking God with genuine faith. And the Lord has promised us that faith filled prayers will be answered. “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).
Grace and Faith Ministries 