BELIEVING GOD FOR SOMETHING!

The believer like any other human being has needs, desires, aspirations, obligations and expectations. Some of these are fulfilled naturally and require very little or no effort in their actualization. However, life is full of uncertainties, difficulties and failures. The believer has additional hindrance as he has an enemy whose sole interest is to frustrate the actualization of his desires, needs and aspirations.

The believer's life should be enveloped in God as Paul puts in Acts 17:28

For in Him we live and move and have our being..."

This illustrates the fact that the believer should depend upon God for his satisfaction of his needs and desires. Thus in every area of our lives, be it the desire for material well being, promotion, career/business breakthrough, good health, marital protection, spiritual growth and well being, we must look up to God for their fulfilment and actualization. Our successfully believing God for something not only ensures that our desires are satisfied but also serves as encouragement both to others and ourselves.

There are certain factors such as faith and prayers which we must possess or do if we are to successfully believe God for something. However, there are also some attributes that we must not entertain, as they will hinder us from successfully believing God for something. A continual trust and dependence on His goodness, willingness and ability to always act on our behalf demoonstrate our commitment to God as Lord and Saviour. Every believer must come to that understanding that everything he is and will ever be and have, all emanate from God. He is not known to fail nor disappoin anyone who places implicit confidence on Him to meet every of his need and aspirations.

What Exactly does it mean to believe God for something?

Well, this is simply expressing our trust and confidence in God's ability to meet our desires, needs and aspirations. The scriptures declare that

"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof..."
Psalms 24:1

Scripture also tells us that the Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills and all good and perfect things come from the Lord.
Just as a child looks up to his parents to provide for his entire needs so also must we depend upon God for the fulfillment of all our aspirations, needs and desires.

Believing God for something is to take advantage of God's goodness and faithfulness. He has promised never to forsake nor leave us in distress or helpless.

Attributes we need to exhibit when believing God for something

• Faith: Faith is central to our believing God in order to receive from Him. It is indeed central to our having an effective relationship with God. We can only come to God and hence receive from Him through faith. God is a rewarder of those who come to Him believing in His ability and willingness to do that which we desire of Him.

• Positive Confession: There is power in the words we utter from our lips, as they represent the thoughts from our hearts. Hod has given us the power of creation through the words we speak. Positive confession is a demonstration of our rejection of the suggestions of alternatives from the devil. They also help us to keep on believing because God has said in His word that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Positive confession is a good weapon against doubt, discouragement and apathy. It is no doubt wishful thinking but an exercise of faith. Positive confessoin should be based on the word of God.

• Holy Living: Our lifestyle defines the level of our relationship with God. God is holy and thus, only holy people can approach Him without guilt. Holy living gives us the confidence that we are right with God and as such we still enjoy His favour. Consequently, we are sure that when we call on Him, He will hear us and perform that which we desire of Him.

• HardWork: The scripture teaches that God will bless the labour of our hands, Believers are encouraged to be diligent and it brings blessings and rewards. Believing God for something does not mean that one should fold his hands in idleness. It is the seed we sow in hard work that God will use to fulfil our aspirations. A word of caution, however, hard work should replace our total dependence on goodness and faithfulness of God.

Conclusion

Every believer has needs or ambitions which could either be personal or global. Some of these needs may be beyond his natural capability and in such cases he looks up to God for satisfaction. His acceptance of Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Saviour brings him into special relationship, the Lord is interested in the well being of the believer, (Jer 29:11). The believer is encouraged to put faith in the Lord God to meet even his basic material needs. God is delighted in us being absolutely dependent on Him for all of our lives' needs.

We are encouraged in His word to trust, because His promises are for the good of His people always. These promises are to be actualized by the believer through simple faith in God. Let us break the shackles of unbelief from our lives and believe Him for breakthrough in every area of our lives no matter how difficult or insignificant.