Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things we’ve not yet seen. Faith is the assurance that we have the thing we’ve prayed and hoped to receive even before it actually arrives. In this way, we can think of faith as a title deed to the blessings we desire. God has given you and me the responsibility of holding this title deed mentally and emotionally, and we do this by coming into agreement with God’s power and love in our minds and hearts. We can lay claim to the blessings we’re praying to receive when we are fully persuaded and sold out on the reality that God will give us the thing we desire. We must trust and never doubt, but this is where many of us lose our way.

Doubt is defined as uncertainty or a lack of conviction. Doubt is the unbelief of a carnal or flesh-oriented mind. Romans 8:7(ESV) states, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law;” As believers, we can in no way have this attitude towards God, because it is an enemy against His Word and Will. Most believers would say, “No, I could never have that kind of mindset”, but our actions paint a completely different picture.

In a literal sense, we know that once we have a title deed from a bank, it’s proof to everyone that by all legal accounts, the property is rightfully ours. Faith works in much the same way. The Apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 12:3(NLT), “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.” You and I didn’t create faith. We couldn’t create it, and we can’t control it. Faith belongs to the Father, and He has given every living person a portion of it. We have within us the mental and emotional capacity to exercise faith by believing God’s Word completely and totally.

You’ve gotten rid of fear
Doubt is fear, and it is impossible to have both faith and fear at the same time. Fear is a weapon of the enemy, and he uses it to separate us from the more than abundant life that Jesus Christ has made available. How do you recognize when fear is gumming up your ability to exercise faith? One of the ways we can recognize fear is to understand how it operates. It’s extremely stealth and deceptive, and often it operates behind the scenes, in our subconscious. Because we don’t recognize it, fear causes us to say one thing and do something totally different. James 2:26(NLT) tells us, “Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.” In other words, faith requires the fuel of our actions to back it up. James 2:17(NLT) also says, “So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” Many of us know this from God’s Word, but throughout our lives, we’ve greatly underestimated the potency of what these verses reveal.

As our spiritual maturity increases, we are expected to know and do more. There’s no way to get around this. Once we find out from God’s promises in His Word that a blessing is available for us to receive, we shouldn’t go to God empty handed. We should meet Him in a place of expectancy AND responsibility. We should know that the enemy will try to scare us out of a posture of faith by doing everything he is allowed to do to chip away at it. The way to get rid of the kind of fear that blocks our faith is to do as James 2:17 says and come before the Father prepared to increase the good deeds required to back our faith. This is the way to honor God and actually demonstrate our gratitude and faith before the blessing arrives. If we’re not asking the Father what He requires of us, we’re not spiritually prepared to receive.

You know what God says you can have
The only way that any of us can know about God’s promises is to read them in His Word. How else can we know what is available to receive? Sometimes, we think that we’re believing rightly, but in truth we’re not. This happens when we skip the first step and go right into claiming and proclaiming our intention to receive. God blesses His Word, and faith requires us to renew our minds to it.

We must always allow for the possibility that everything we want isn’t for us; it’s not in alignment with God’s purpose for our lives. So, not only do we need to know the promises of His Word and renew our minds to them, we also need to hear from God that our desires are aligned with His plan. For instance, some of us have a tendency of wanting to be involved with a certain type of guy, and God has a man for us that is nothing like the men we’ve dated in the past. Will we seek God with all our hearts? Will we let Him have His way, trusting that He knows best, or will we continue to take matters into our own hands? Proverbs 19:21(NLT) teaches us, “You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” We must know what God wants for us, and the way to do this is to stay in His Word and keep on asking Him until we’re clear we’re following His Will.

You’re consistently backing your faith
2Thessalonians 3:5(NLT) contains a prayer that we should be intimately familiar with if we’re spiritually prepared for the blessing we hope to receive. It says, “May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.” Patient endurance is non-negotiable when it comes to our Christian walk. We must have endurance because it is a characteristic of Christ, and we must live by his example. The degree to which we want our desires is always going to be tested, and we should be prepared for that. As believers, if we make the mistake of placing our desire for a blessing above our desire and motivation to please God, we’re working against ourselves. We should increase our good deeds even if it seems our blessing is delayed. This is how we prove to God that our love for Him is genuine and the most important priority in our lives.

Understand that faith requires something from us, everything does. Through our faith in God, He prepares us, and we need to get on board with this if we truly desire to receive His blessing and then use it for His glory. Leave all your fears behind. Saturate your mind with the promises of His Word, and let good deeds be the greatest habit pattern of your life. If you are serious about learning what God is revealing to you, do what is required of you this season and know that your blessing is coming.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

“Three Answers that Prove You’re Ready for the Blessing”, written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2023. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.