By Darlene Aiken
What is faith? Refer to Hebrews 11
When we lack faith, we subscribe to a mentality that believes in scarcity. Scarcity is totally the opposite of who God is and what He's about. In addition, when God talks about abundance, His abundance is not like our abundance. Just for starters, let’s think about whatever we imagine abundance being and multiply it by 100 trillion just for starters. That may seem overwhelming, but we should be overwhelmed with comfort and joy. Can you imagine having 100 trillion choices every time you need to make a decision? In addition to having to make the decision amongst 100 trillion choices, whichever one you select will turn out to be righteous and awesome! I can see that you’re smiling already!!! Well, we have that and more at the bending of our knees. All we have to do is ask and have faith that it will be done. I’ve had people ask me, “Why would God grant you anything that you want?” My response was because when we become in tune with God, we only want those things that He wants for us. Since we have faith that He only wants what’s best for us, when His answer is no, then we become content with that response, “so if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” Matthew 7:11 NLT
When we operate from the standpoint of abundance then we do not fear that there isn't enough for equal distribution, rather everyone will have an opportunity and perhaps have leftovers as well. Since we are having a discussion with regard to abundance, please keep in mind the story in the book of John (6:1-14) when Jesus fed about five thousand men with the little boy’s five loaves and two fish.
How do we consistently activate our faith? I have prepared 10 tips to assist you with your faith walk.
Tip #1: pray every day and several times per day. Always find something to give God thanks for. The possession of a thankful heart moves you closer to God and thus He moves closer to you, “draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8 NASB. Also, you can't pray and worry simultaneously, so when you pray you're not worrying and if you're worrying you're not praying “never worry about anything. Instead, in every situation let your petitions be made known to God through prayers and requests, with thanksgiving.” Philippians 4:6 ISV Since worry cannot and will not ever solve any problem, you might as well pray and watch the Holy Father intercede on your behalf. As a result, you learn to depend on Him for EVERYTHING and not just when you're in crisis. In fact, when this becomes your way of life, you will begin to experience less and less emotional about crisis situations. You also come to realize that you don't need to be in control, because when you were, you messed it up with depression, misconceptions, thoughts of suicide, indulging in lack/scarcity, wrong and unhealthy relationships, overworking and not rejuvenation, poor health, bad sleeping habits, horrible eating patterns, and other ills that did not serve you well. We're waiting on The Lord and The Lord is waiting on us. He's waiting on us to move out of His way and let Him do what He does best. How terrible will you feel if everything you longed for and then some was already waiting for you, but you never had the opportunity to experience it because you were so busy worrying, trying to be in control that YOU blocked your own blessings? We must learn not to be our own worst enemy, move out of the way, consistently give it to God, and constantly work toward pleasing Him, “dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts.” 1 John 5:21 NLT. If you want the good life, go chase it. If the God life is what you seek, then stop what you're doing, drop to your knees, and ask God for it...He's waiting on YOU!!!
