More of what is Faith

My last post this morning presented an interesting question; well, at least to me. The question was what is faith, but a more accurate question would be how do you interpret faith in your life? We go through our day thinking and contemplating several things of which we must have a feeling or thought about faith when considering these things. What is yours?


The Bible defines faith as "the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen in Hebrews 11:1, which has wide implications; but as we look throughout the rest of the passage we see so many varying types of faith. Some easy to understand and other, quite difficult. When these examples, such as Rehab find themselves in these positions, how do they perceive what they are doing. It is a philosophical question in a sense, but I believe it has biblical backing.


When I look at the scenario posted earlier, I have several ideas in my mind, but I prefer to categorize in order to keep things straight. The first thing I think is are there different types of faith? I believe yes. I believe there are two types: the first is providing faith. This is the faith in which we accept what God has promised us as truth and will come to pass. Clothes, food, and even salvation. These are things that Scripture is solid on, and we take it, under faith, that these things are true and will come to pass. The items listed are by no means an exhaustive list.


For example, Ephesians when it says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." Simple and true. We believe it because God wrote it to us, and we take Him at His Word. In Matthew when Christ speaks of God taking care of the birds and flowers so how much more should we expect Him to take care of us. This is providing faith.


The second kind is reciprocal faith. A faith that requires reciprocating dialog. This is the faith that we have when we ask for something. If you really think about it, those are broad categories, but there are true. We take what God has said and claim it as truth, and rightfully so. Everything else we expect from God is asked for.


The first one I do not think anyone would argue with. The second one is more complicated. We begin to fall into the "ye have not because ye ask not," area. This is of course regulated by the following verse of not getting what you ask for because you ask for it to fulfill your own lust. I won't go do deep into the prayer aspect of this;though, it is very important.

The complicated part is when you ask for something, what part of the asking is faith? What part of the asking is lust? What part of the asking is your responsibility? That's right, I said your responsibility. We seem to have lost any concept of our own hands. We ask God to put water in our mouths magically while a perfectly good glass is in front of us. So there is the three portions to focus on.

When we pray, how much of it is faith? Do we ask and only ask, expecting nothing to happen, but hoping something will? Do we ask and claim it? I believe we ask knowing God can, but also knowing that He might not. The question then becomes, when does He do something when we ask? If it is all governed by His will? The answer is He does something when it was something He wouldn't have changed otherwise unless you asked.

For example: if you were driving on wet roads and physics take its toll, sending you spinning out of control; thus, crashing your car. Well, this is a natural thing in a sense. Your lost traction and spun. It is how the universe was designed to work. But if you ask God to give you safety, then that is something He could stop. On the other hand, if you asked Him for someone to not get elected into office and that is, indeed, part of His will, the prayer is heard but left unanswered.
This is a tough thing. God's plan for this world is far greater than our fears and and desires. We must be careful not to confuse the two.

What part of our prayers are lust. I use lust loosely here, but I think there is lust in all our prayers. We have a strong desire to see things change and that is why we pray. Rarely do we pray for superfluous things that we have no care in. I be live the difference is the whether or not we desire to consume it upon our own lust as the Scripture states. For example, you pray for a new car, not because you need one, but that you want a nicer one. On the other hand, if you pray for your father's life then you are asking for your own reasons, but their is no consumption of lust. Just a desire to see him continue to live.

Finally, how much of prayer is our responsibility. This is the biggest one that affects faith, and relates directly to the scenario I posed yesterday. When we ask God for something, but we do not lack the ability to do it ourselves, then why should He answer it? When we start looking at things from this perspective, then we begin to focus our prayers towards the things that are most important.

I have struggled with this concept for a very long time. It is a hard one to live with because of the implications. Think about it. How many things do people ask for that they can do themselves, or, more distressing, that they should have done themselves?

I am hungry. Instead of asking God for food, eat something. I don't have a job. Ask Him for His help, but He will not magically drop one in the lap of the lazy. Get out there and hoof it. Now I need Him to help me get a raise to pay off my debt. Maybe getting in debt in the first place was the problem. (I do understand that some debt is unavoidable ie school loans).

Then there are some things that we just use faith for to get our way. Just as my example in my previous post. I want you here so have faith you can get here. Well, if the Lord has given you guidelines and a budget and you break it, then what happens next is not God punishing you or not helping you: it is Him letting His child learn from the consequences of their actions.

Think about it.