Have faith in God!

If there is anything in life that is vitally important,
... then it is Faith!

Why is this so important?
Because faith is much more than just receiving from God.

Jesus so obviously lived faith, and had a special relationship with the Father,
... as we can see from His response,
... when He found the Temple being used as a 'place of trade'
He chased the traders out, and made this statement ...

Is it not written,
'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'?
--- Mark 11:17

Then the very next day whilst teaching on prayer and our relationship with God,
... Jesus said this to His disciples,

So Jesus answered and said to them,
'Have faith in God.'
--- Mark 11:22

And He went on to explain how faith, prayer and our relationship with God,
... work together in our lives. He finished by saying,

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray,
believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
--- Mark 11:24

What was Jesus saying?
Everything in life is based on our relationship with God,
... and if we want anything to happen, then we must ... 'have faith in God!'

In other words ...
Faith is an expression of our relationship with God.

Ask God!

Have faith in God, as Jesus told us to have,
... sounds easy, but how do you do that?

James, Jesus' half brother,
... who grew up knowing Jesus' lifestyle of prayer,
... and Jesus' relationship with the Father,
taught us on practically living out our relationship with God,
... and the practical application of faith in our lives.

In explaining the importance of faith in our relationship with God,
... James also told us that our faith will be tested,
and he went on to tell us how to deal with this,
... by making this well known statement,

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,
who gives to all liberally and without reproach,
and it will be given to him.
--- James 1:5

James, being a very practical man,
... did not assume that we are all super-spiritual,
but knowing that we all have expectations as well as doubts,
... went on to also say this,.

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,
for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven
and tossed by the wind.
--- James 1:6

Good advice, but ...
What does this ASKING in FAITH
... actually mean?
And, why did James say
... Ask in Faith, with no doubting?

Could it mean ...

1. to be serious when asking God for a need or want?
2. to ask and expect God to do something?
3. to ask and wait on God to do His Word?
4. to ask and expect God to hear you?

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,
for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven
and tossed by the wind.
--- James 1:6

Why did James when he told us to ask in faith,
... actually also tell us not to doubt?

Surely asking in faith means that you don't doubt,
... that you actually don't doubt God.
Yet James found it necessary to add that.
Why?
What does this doubting have to do with faith?
... surely this not doubting is not the answer to having faith?

Quite right, it is not the answer, but the catalyst,
and therefore the question that one should ask, is ...

What is it that you should NOT doubt?
What is it that will make your faith come alive?

Does it have something to do with,

Confession? .... Well that will help, but it is not the answer!
Trust? .............. That will also help, but itself needs help!
Hope? .............. The substance of things hoped for, real close!

Although they are all helpful and can help to build faith,
yet they still do not explain,
... why it is that we could be in doubt?
... and what it is that we should not doubt?

The answer to this lies not in doubting,
... but in understanding faith!
What we need to understand is that,
... faith is not a way of getting things,
but
... faith is a relationship, a way of living
then doubt becomes easier to deal with!

What are you expecting?

The fundamental problem is, that too quickly,
... we generalize and jump to conclusions.
In other words, we stop thinking before we properly start!

When we consider faith and 'asking without doubting',
what we most often think of is,
... do I doubt that God will do what He promised?
When in fact,
... that is the result of the doubt James is talking about!

So to find what James was telling us,
... let's start by looking at what else the Bible tells us about faith.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
--- Heb. 11:1

What is this hope that is the substance to faith?
... obviously that something will happen!

And, asking in faith, with no doubting',
... must obviously mean that there has to be an expectation!

Considering this,
... what are we asking and what should this expectation be?

Let's look at our original question (scripture) again ...

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,
who gives to all liberally and without reproach,
and it will be given to him.
--- James 1:5

James started to talk about faith, and then says,
... If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask ...

Why?
You ask for wisdom ... because you need to know what to do!
To receive wisdom ... you need to hear from the one that you have asked!

Now, who is it that James tells us to ask?
... GOD!
Therefore, when James continued by saying,

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,
--- James 1:6

What could James possibly have meant we should not doubt?
That we won't receive something from God?
No!
But, what he was telling us not to doubt,
... is that we will receive the wisdom we asked for from God!

James was saying that,

Faith is not just about God's promises and our needs,
Faith is not just about God meeting our needs,
But,
Faith is about a relationship with God,
A relationship in which God Himself is real in our lives,
... and not just His promises!
A relationship in which we expect God Himself,
... in which we expect to hear God Himself in our lives!

Therefore James was saying to us,

You are not going to hear God, even if He shouts at you,
unless you ask without doubting that you will hear the answer,
which simply means,
... you have to EXPECT Him to actually answer,
... you have to EXPECT Him to actually talk to you!

For that reason James also says,
Unless you are in no doubt that God is going to answer you!
Unless there is a real expectation to hear,

For let not that man suppose
that he will receive anything from the Lord
--- James 1:7

A real expectation!

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
--- Heb. 11:1

Unless you have a real expectation, (hope),
... that God is actually going to answer and talk to YOU,
... there is no faith!
And therefore ...
You will hear nothing (no matter what God says),
... there will be no answer received!
... and no wisdom from God will be heard!

Hebrews puts it this way ...

for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
--- Heb. 11:6

A real expectation of a real God,
... not allowing doubt to influence you,
listening for His voice,
... and expecting the manifestation of His promise!

Jesus put it this way,

Now we know that God does not hear sinners;
but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.
--- John 9:31

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him,
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 the petitions that we have asked of Him.
--- 1 John 5:14-15

A real relationship with a real God,
... whose voice you expect and hear!