Amanda BethSharing the Truths Behind the TRUTH

Feb 6th Monday’s Blog: Ignite The Fire In Your Spirit – Dare To BELIEVE!

But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

—Jeremiah 20:9

Before we continue our series, I want to announce the Kindle version for my book “You Can Have a Happy Family” will be FREE on Amazon Wednesday and Thursday (2/8-2/9) to celebrate National Marriage Week. If you know anyone who needs encouragement in their marriage, please spread the word by using the share tab below.

We continue our series today on igniting the fire in our spirits. You can  follow this link if you missed any posts in this series.

This week I feel led to talk about unbelief since it’s the main cause of unfulfillment in the body of Christ. Unbelief is like a fire extinguisher. Nothing will put out the fire in our spirits quicker than unbelief.

Since following Christ, God has continued to work with me on my attitude. Just when I think I’ve got it all together, God shows me a part of my attitude that still needs to change. Lately God has been showing me that the root cause of a bad attitude is unbelief. My pastor shared a similar message yesterday about how bad behaviors are caused by bad beliefs. He said behind every self-defeating behavior is a lie that we are believing. And to stop defeating ourselves we must stop deceiving ourselves.

My neighbor is a Christian, but she’s always very doom and gloom. She has some medical problems, and her husband is in a nursing home. When I saw her last week, I asked how her husband was doing. She kind of rolled her eyes and said, “He’ll never get better.” So I asked how she was doing. She said she had to go for surgery in a couple days and she seemed pessimistic they would find cancer.

To try to lift her spirit, I mentioned some miracles I’ve seen God do in people’s lives. I shared how some have gone to the hospital for surgery and were sent home because the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with them. I thought she would disregard what I said, but surprisingly, she recalled the same thing happened to her father when he was scheduled for cataracts surgery years ago. She said the doctor sent him home because they couldn’t find anything wrong with his eyes.

By drawing her attention away from her problem and encouraging her to focus on what God could do, I believe it sparked a little faith in her heart. The day after her scheduled surgery, I sent her a text asking how she was doing. Amazingly, instead of being negative, she said she was doing well, and thanked God that there was no cancer!

Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

—John 11:40

Sometimes we say we believe God, but our actions tell Him differently. When we murmur and complain to everyone about our problems, we are telling God we don’t trust Him. When we handle our problems our way instead of God’s way, we are telling God our plan is better than His. When we complain to God, begging Him to answer our prayers, we are telling Him we don’t trust He will.

I used to be the queen of doubt. It used to drive my husband crazy. He would always say, “How could you have so much faith at one moment and then when circumstances change you lose it, just like that?” I’d read a passage in the Bible, get all excited and tell my husband how much I trusted God. No sooner would I share it with him, than I’d get tested with a trial that related to the verse and quickly lose faith.

James 1:5-8 says, “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.

Why is it so hard for us to believe God will answer our prayers? I believe the main reason is because the world tells us different. The world’s ways are contrary to God’s ways. It’s sometimes hard to believe God’s promises when we are constantly bombarded with deception.

It’s been almost three years since God called me to the ministry of writing. The devil has sent a lot of deception and people to come against me to try and stop me. In the last year, it’s been a struggle to keep my faith with so many voices telling me different.

My husband has been supportive for the most part. Yet lately I’ve felt as though he thinks I am wasting time and money writing, because he hasn’t seen any fruit from it yet. To avoid hurting our relationship, I have been trying to only write late at night when he’s asleep. I’ve stayed up as late as 5 in the morning to get my work done. It’s been difficult with having four young children to care for and homeschool.

In the last couple months I have been worn down and contemplating if it’s worth it. Over the weekend, while cleaning my house, I asked God to show me if I am in His will and if I am doing the right thing. I thought maybe I have been misled and I’m not in His will.

Later that evening, I was laying in bed with my husband when I asked him to pray with me. As he was about to pray, He remembered something that happened at work that day. His boss was talking to him, lining him up on a job, when all of a sudden my husband felt God say, “Support your wife and tell her she is doing the right thing.”

My husband was surprised. I was surprised too since I hadn’t told my husband my prayer. God caught my husband’s attention, so He could deliver a message to him and answer my prayer!

God is amazing! He truly hears and answers our prayers. We don’t need to worry and doubt God. We need to simply believe Him.

Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

—Mark 11:22-24

Whatever problem you are facing today, God has the solution. Stand on God’s promises even if everyone around you is telling you there’s no hope for your situation. Keep rejoicing in God’s Word and trust in His faithfulness. As you trust Him, He’ll ignite a fire in your spirit, and nothing the devil throws at you will be able to extinguish it!

Heavenly Father,

We praise You that You hear and answer our prayers. We praise You that even when we don’t know what to pray, You know what we need. Help us overcome any unbelief and doubt we may have. Help us to stand on Your promises, and trust the Word that goes out from Your mouth will not return to You void, but will accomplish what You desire. It will achieve the purpose for which You sent it (Isaiah 55:11). You are faithful to Your Word.

 In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

 Questions for my book:

Do you have a story you would like to share about a prayer God has answered?

Do you want to share a special miracle you have witnessed in your life or the lives of others?

I would love to hear your stories. I will be using some of them in my next book: Escaping Boredom In Christianity.

Please know I am reserving the right to use any comments on this site in my book. However, I will not share any personal information in the book (i.e. names, email addresses, websites, etc.). Your comments will be completely anonymous.

Thanks in advance for your comments! Be sure to come back next Monday as the series continues.

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