“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16 With “the shield of faith” we are able to continually block against doubts and fears.
Faith is to believe what God says and acting on it no matter what the circumstances and no matter what the opinion of others. The Bible defines faith:
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
Hebrews 11 goes on to tell how Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, the prophets and others accomplished what they did because of faith:
“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:39-40
We are to be “made perfect” (“the salvation of your souls”) which is “the goal of your faith”:
“…you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:9
We are to live by what God tells us—by faith:
“…the righteous will live by his faith—“ Habakkuk 2:4 and our obedience to God will be credited to us as righteousness: “…to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.” Romans 2:5
We receive faith:
“Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:” 2 Peter 1:1
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” Romans 12:3
And we apply faith:
“Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” Matthew 15:28 Her daughter was healed because of her faith.
“Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." Luke 18:42 The blind man was healed because of his faith.
“So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.” Acts 27:25 Paul prayed and believed God when he was told the ship’s crew would all survive. Because of his faith, Paul could bring comfort to the distraught men.
Many more examples could be given of applied faith.
We are blessed if we have faith:
“So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” Galatians 3:9
God considers our faith in Him of greater worth than gold:
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 Trials prove that our faith is genuine. Overcoming trials through faith in God is giving us a relationship with God, which is worth more than anything else.
I have been so in turmoil at times in my life that I could not even concentrate on the word of God. At those times I remembered that all we had to have is faith in God (believe what we know He wants us to believe and do what we know He wants us to do) to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
It helps to have faith when we realize that God is directing our lives and allowing various circumstances:
“A man’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?” Proverbs 20:24. (See also Proverbs 16:1, Proverbs 16:9, Jeremiah 10:23)
It’s especially encouraging to know that God will make our steps firm if we trust in Him:
“If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm” Psalm 37:23 (See also Isaiah 26:7)
When we realize how God directs our lives we can see Him in charge of every detail. The devil is involved, but God uses the devil. We can know that:
“…in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 Often we do not see the reason and results of God directing our lives—we just need to trust, obey and rejoice:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
It helps us to have faith if we have God’s perspective on trials:
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” James 1:2-8 We just have to ask and believe, and God will deliver us—in His own way and in His own time.
We should be joyful in trials because they teach on to rely on God:
“Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.” 2 Corinthian 1:9-11 Paul lived life to the fullest for God; he faced many trials but often experienced the joy of answered prayer.
God has promised that anything we ask for that is His will we will receive:
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15 This is a remarkable promise. Any prayer that we sincerely ask God will be answered according to His will.
Sometimes it seems like God is not answering what we asked of Him, but we do not necessarily understand His will:
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" Romans 11:33-34
Consider the story of Naomi in the book of Ruth. Naomi’s husband and two sons had died. She felt the Lord had turned against her:
"Don’t call me Naomi, " she told them. "Call me Mara (bitter), because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me." Ruth 1:20-21
But God was showing His great love for Naomi through her daughter-in-law Ruth who left her home and family to come with Naomi to Israel. Ruth married a kinsmen redeemer (a symbol of Jesus) in order to give Naomi a son (to continue the line of her family):
“The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons (the perfect number of sons according to Jewish tradition), has given him birth." Ruth 4:12-15 This son (Obed) was the father of Jesse who was the father of David, the greatest king of Israel who was the ancestor of Jesus. God was giving Naomi a great privilege when she thought He had turned against her and had not answered her prayers.
Jesus often commented on faith. He commended some for their faith and He rebuked some (mostly His disciples) for their lack of faith:
“Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.” Mark 16:14
This should speak to us because we who believe in Him are His disciples:
“…Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” John 8:31 We should have the most faith.
Jesus did not do many miracles in His home town because of their lack of faith:
“And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.” Matthew 13:58
He said that we only need a little faith to do miracles:
“He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. " Matthew 17:20
We can do great things if we have faith:
‘Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, `Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."’ Matthew 21:21-22
All we have to do is ask, seek and knock in order to get our needs and the needs of others met:
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7 Luke 11:9
We can do what Jesus did and more:
“And these signs will accompany those who believe”: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mark 16:17-18
I feel there should be more miraculous healings in the body of Christ (those who believe in Jesus). Sometimes it is lack of faith. But we can’t judge. For example, both the person asking for healing and the elders show their faith when they follow James’ (God’s) command:
“Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well…” James 5:14-15 We just have to pray and believe, knowing God loves us and will do what is best. We have to thank God when we are healed for all healing comes from Him.
In Murdered Heiress Dr. Petti Wagner tells that when she was praying for her son the Lord told her, “If you don’t give up, I won’t either.” If we keep asking, God will keep working. How many times, does the devil win a battle, because we give us before the answer comes?
“If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength.” Proverbs 24:10 God has promised us the victory in any battle if we continue to rely on Him. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
We can win every battle against the enemy by trusting God:
“…This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4