"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).
My mother gave me an assurance that "God is". This God is the God of the Bible whose Son Jesus came that first Christmas to save all the people; He was born far across the sea in the Northern Hemisphere, and long before even my Grandpop was a boy. I was then a child and do not remember more than this. For decades both Father God and Jesus were beyond my tangible knowing; even so, I believe that I have never doubted these essential truths.
Francis Schaeffer wrote about this same God as "the God who is there"; now that I'm older I can truly grasp this concept. My God is "there", and also here, in my heart.
I believe that we can know God and believe, and that this belief builds our faith and makes it possible for us to "see" in our spirit "things not seen" by our physical senses - things God shows us, through Jesus, by His holy Spirit.
Today our faith seems to be a fight, a daily conflict, a wrestle. So much of the world wants to undermine our faith. Friends send me conspiracy stuff; sadly these seem to be about proven facts rather than imaginings or trouble-in-the-making, not "just theories". What are we to make of all that is happening to our lives in our world?
"We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life" (1 John 5:19-20).
Praise Jesus who is always for us, otherwise we would be swept away in fear and despair like so many of our neighbours (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith sees what is "unseen". Faith sees God's reality, hidden from our physical eyes (Job 10:4).
"Having faith means to be so convinced that one is dependent on God and the facts pertaining to God. It implies a life so surrendered to the divine that lifestyle and conduct are changed to conform to the ways of God" (John Laughlin, "Church Words", 2026, p59).
Knowing God in Prayer - Talking With Jesus
Prayer is a profound gateway to the spiritual world; "God is spirit" (John 4:24; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Corinthians 5:5). Prayer is spiritual. And remember, our God commands us to pray:
"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).
Many Christians say they find prayer difficult, even elusive? I learned to pray by praying, also by attending prayer meetings - people there were kind and happy to help me learn, especially when asked.
Often I pray Bible verses, or themes of Scripture; I will have a concern and find a similar situation in my Bible, this makes a great starting point. Sometimes I pray the reality of who God is, or His purpose in the Creation, or who we Christians are, in Him. But mostly I pray briefly, as thoughts, troubles, hopes or joys come to mind, (so not structured or formal). This is how Trish and I will chat when we have a day together - so I talk with Jesus. We Christians are always together with Him (Matthew 28:20). This is true fellowship, and I get to know our Saviour Lord. In the early days I didn’t say much, I listened and prayed along silently. Lots of "amen".
Prayer is a gateway to intimacy with Jesus - prayer, and making time, asking Jesus to be with us as we wait on Him. So precious, I find this to be life changing.
"you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul" (Deuteronomy 4:29).
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).
"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).
Knowing God in Truth
Our God is real and alive. We know Jesus who is "the fullness of Him [our God of all creation] who is all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28; Ephesians 1:17).
We read about Jesus in our Bibles. Even now Jesus is acknowledged by serious historians. We hear about Him from teachers, preachers, friends and so many testimonies of His glorious work in people's lives, in our time, right here where we are.
The "armour of God" includes an offensive weapon - our sword - the Word of God - the "sword of the Spirit" and this is Jesus Himself being present to us (Luke 11:28; Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12). We always have Jesus in us (John 14:17, 14:20, 15:4), and with us (Deuteronomy 31:8; Matthew 28:20). He is the "Word" of God able to "to divide soul and spirit, joints and marrow" (Hebrews 4:12). Jesus is truth (John 1:14).
Knowing God In His Word, Jesus
Mark 11:22: "Jesus answered them, 'have faith of God'". Our modern English Bibles read "have faith in God", but the original Greek of this verse has "of", meaning, "have God-like faith", or (essentially) "have My certainty"! This is my desire.
This is key for us Christians - we are "people of faith" (Colossians 1:4). I've been pondering faith for years; many authors and teachers have helped in my (still growing) understanding.
"Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). Hearing Jesus' Gospel is key, the "good news" that a Saviour has come to redeem the people (Luke 1:68). More than our salvation, Jesus by His Holy Spirit will grow us (present tense continuous) "until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). Father God knows that we will be a "radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless". Then it will be time to marry our bridegroom, Jesus - a great mystery (Ephesians 5:27).
We "hear" through Jesus' own Word in our Bibles, from Christian teaching and also from testimony - testimony from our own life or ministry, or from another close to us, or from Hudson Taylor or William Wilberforce or Billy Graham, or King David or Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6).
Ephesians 6:10-19 tells us what to look for in times like ours, and something of how we are to be, Jesus wants us to be able to "stand". He wants us to see that He knows about our situation and that He is present with us to shield us and come to our aid, to bring us His "shalom" (John 14:27): "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12).
We need Jesus to help us in our faith. Our Jesus is "Lord of all" (Acts 10:36, 17:24); He has given us "authority" (Matthew 10:1) and "power" (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
This is where, I believe, faith comes from. Because we come to "know" our God:
"We are not of those who
shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the
soul [and our shalom, our integrity, our ability to love]" (Hebrews
10:39).
Faith is linked with perseverance, and also with suffering:
"Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring" (2 Thessalonians 1:4).
"The Lord
will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard
your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever" (Psalm
121:7-8). We can believe these words, even when things are hard. People who
survived the WWII concentration camps and the Russian gulags lived the truth of
this verse even when they were in such peril. Many of Jesus’ "twelve" were killed horribly,
yet they were able to remain true to Him, strong in their spiritual bond. Jesus asks us to cling to Him, to
hold and to stand to the end.
Jesus has given us His "authority" (Matthew 28:18-20). We sing "demons will have to flee", these are true words. When we believe that our authority is as Jesus describes it and speak into situations, we will see faith at work. We will be aligned with Him. We will have responded to what we know to be true, demons will flee.
"Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:3-4).
Again and again our Bibles assure us and testimony shows us, that we can rely on our God of all Creation; to me this is the "substance", the very "proof" of faith; we have something which, as Christians, we can "know" and thus "see" in our spirit; our spiritual eyes have been empowered by Jesus' Holy Spirit and by His Word. This is an essential element of the New Covenant where we are brought inside God's Kingdom as sons and daughters (1 John 3:1).
This "inside-ness" is the focus of PsalmsOfJohn post "Inside Out" of June, 2019
Faith is linked with perseverance, and also with suffering:
"Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring" (2 Thessalonians 1:4).
Jesus has given us His "authority" (Matthew 28:18-20). We sing "demons will have to flee", these are true words. When we believe that our authority is as Jesus describes it and speak into situations, we will see faith at work. We will be aligned with Him. We will have responded to what we know to be true, demons will flee.
"Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:3-4).
Again and again our Bibles assure us and testimony shows us, that we can rely on our God of all Creation; to me this is the "substance", the very "proof" of faith; we have something which, as Christians, we can "know" and thus "see" in our spirit; our spiritual eyes have been empowered by Jesus' Holy Spirit and by His Word. This is an essential element of the New Covenant where we are brought inside God's Kingdom as sons and daughters (1 John 3:1).
This "inside-ness" is the focus of PsalmsOfJohn post "Inside Out" of June, 2019
•
Permalink https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2019/06/inside-out.html
"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:5-8).
"Jesus answered him, 'Do not fear; only believe'" (Mark 5:36; Luke 8:50).
At Bible College we were taught to ask: "what does the Bible text say?" These verses are so clear, so simple, right? But often not easy to do.
Knowing God In Testimony - Here And Now, Effective In People's Lives
We find that God is faithful; many times our Bibles assure us of this. "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 straight your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).
These wise words continue: "It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones" (Proverbs 3:8). This is a promise, not a suggestion. Don’t we all long for "healing" and "refreshment"?
I will see someone in need and know to pray, know the words to pray, and know that the person will be healed (or their heart or their circumstances made right), they will be (or begin the journey to be) set free. My spiritual eyes see what God sees (Proverbs 15:3), the Kingdom of Heaven comes near (Luke 10:9, 21:31), and the physical world responds as it must. This is sovereign, God is at work (John 5:17). Our Lord Jesus always leads in these encounters, my compassion or desire to help or the fervency of my prayers does not bring them about; it is Jesus.
Then
the "confidence", "confirmation", "conviction", "evidence", "assurance", "proof", "substance", is clear to me, I see clearly and pray. I am
confident that I am in the will of God (Romans 8:27), even that I have "the mind of Christ" (1
Corinthians 2:16). Just think about this: me, a mortal man, often distracted,
faulty and weak (2 Corinthians 11:29), being so gifted, so able, even for a
moment! You too. This is for every
Christian.
Jesus drew me to Himself - to me this was the ultimate revealing of Himself. Jesus took a grip on my arm and pulled me in to Himself in love; this was physical – I truly felt His grip on my arm, and His drawing me against His breast. A miracle. Finally He had broken through all my fears and doubts and mistrust.
This is one view of my faith. Jesus' touch. Certain knowledge. Unshakeable. There is a sweet song: "To get a touch from the Lord is so real", so true.
Before I had a personal "knowing" of Him or of Jesus, I learned that this God that my mother knew is faithful. He gave me a miraculous healing. I had no faith, yet Jesus saved me from lung cancer. After Christians prayed, I felt God's hand reaching into my lungs and drawing out all the black gunk and damage from years of heavy smoking. I felt His touch, His fingers working, all the harm being drawn out. I knew then that I will never have lung cancer. This was from Trish's faith, thank you Jesus for your obedient people. Soon after this I had a chest X-Ray as part of a job application; the "shadows" seen on previous X-Rays were not there - gone! Praise Jesus.
This story is told in post "My Lungs: T2" from May 2010. I have tears in my eyes as I remember.
• Permalink https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2010/05/t02-my-lungs.html
I know that Jesus is, I remember His physical presence. Sometimes I see Him, He will be looking at me: I have His attention, He smiles. He often speaks to me, clearly so that I cannot doubt.
Our Bibles explain this in the lives of many godly people who have gone before us: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:1-2). We look at these witnesses' lives and take heart from them.
Heroes
I see that my experiences are normal for Christians. I have sat under the teaching of John G. Lake who prayed for thousands of people who were healed; he believed that his understanding, and his gifts, were completely normal as told in the Bible; he is one of many who can be found in Christian literature. My experiences and testimonies are similar, mostly smaller, and less frequent.
It was the teaching of John Lake which led me to pray about, and then embark on "30 Days In Jesus' Hands", one of the most profound and love-filled times of my life. John Lake, my Christian hero, taught me scriptural truths in a way I could understand.
• For my testimony of this season of Jesus' love, kindness and power, search "Jesus Hands" or "In Jesus' Hands" in PsalmsOfJohn.com. Jesus heals; He encourages and He heals.
Hebrews chapter 11 lists many heroes of faith; they were people of action; they pushed ahead into what their spiritual eyes saw; they were not content to simply know what Jesus was thinking or planning, but trusting that they knew God, they obeyed and moved forward, often before they could see physical doors opening. Some "received what was promised" (Hebrews 11:33), but others did not (Hebrews 11:13). Many suffered, even unto death. But our God remembers that "they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith" (Hebrews 11:2).
Our
God is very big and nothing is beyond
his reach (Psalm 8:3). Jesus wants all His disciples to minister in His name, all of us who
receive the living Word of God (Matthew 10:8), thus bringing God’s love and
power to people in need everywhere.
With the blind man (John 9:6), Jesus knew before He made the mud and smeared it on his eyes that God was healing him and he would see.
George Müller could see, before he asked the hundreds of orphan children to sit down for breakfast, that someone was bringing the food they would eat, and would soon be at their door. He "saw" through his certain knowing that God's Word is true (Luke 12:22, 30).
George Müller is another hero. He never asked people for money or let anyone but our God of Heaven know his needs. Gifts of many kinds came for his work as they were needed, God provided in ways we find amazing; Müller saw the physical reality conforming to God's Word Jesus. He built and ran orphanages, brought thousands to Jesus, and gave away Bibles, scholarships and money. He said he simply trusted God to do what He said in His Word.
John G. Lake knew the Bible; to him God's Word was perfectly clear - Jesus came to heal the sick, the demonized, (the mentally ill), and the brokenhearted, and to set people free (Isaiah 61:1-3; Matthew 10:8a). Jesus expects us to continue this work now (Matthew 10:8b; Ephesians 2:10). He has gone to Heaven to rule and reign with Father God.
Are these men exceptional? I think so. I used to worry that my faith seemed so small beside theirs. Then I thought about Edmund Hillary and Roger Bannister, I was 11 years old when Hillary (also from New Zealand) climbed the worlds highest mountain, Mt Everest, in the Himalayas, and was 12 when Roger Bannister, an English medical student, first ran the sub-four-minute mile.
Like Edmund Hillary, I love the mountains and spent months in the Himalayas; I was so thrilled to climb a peak of 16,500 feet (5030 metres), much less than Everest - my mountain did not even have its own name. From that peak I could see Everest, magnificent in the distance, with many other snow-capped mountains all around. The same thing with running, rowing, basketball and so much else; I loved to participate but was never exceptional. I am simply me. Don't we all like to achieve? But we do well only at some things, and then not always. Only a few people truly excel and are newsworthy. But we can all do our best (Colossians 3:23), especially in our availability to Jesus (Isaiah 6:8), and in our obedience to Him (Matthew 7:21; 1 John 2:3-6).
We celebrate George Müller still, he said: "faithfulness is not only about belief but also persistent action", and "I live in the spirit of prayer; I pray as I walk, when I lie down, and when I rise up".
This aligns with God's promise to His people: "I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people" (Leviticus 26:12) and Isaiah's understanding of the truth of this, even in the New Covenant that we live under today: "for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).
Our Lord Jesus, "the mighty God", is "an everlasting Father" to us, who "provides" (Luke 12:22-24) and "heals" (Matthew 8:16) and "sets free" (Galatians 5:1). Thousands (millions?) of testimonies show all this to be true.
Can I stand as Paul commands? "So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you" (2 Thessalonians 2:15; Ephesians 6:13).
Some Conclusions
I
have come to see that having "faith"
does not make us miracle workers, rather we grow into the assurance that "the God of all the earth shall do
right" (Genesis 18:25). We believe that our God in Jesus is who He
says He is. He is faithful and can be trusted. We do see miracles, things which
cannot be explained in physical terms or by science; our Jesus intervenes by
the power of His Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:19-20).
In spiritual conflicts, we can stand on Jesus' name, and the Devil will have to "flee from you" (James 4:7), our faith together with His name is our "strong shield" (Psalm 140:7).
In our family we are often joy filled and encouraged because we have seen miracles, our God working on our behalf, His grace flowing towards us. We have also had times of crisis and have known ages of achingly unanswered prayer with sickness, unemployment and other big troubles. My response is to cling ever tighter to Jesus (Acts 11:23; Hebrews 10:39). I have reported that "my faith became like bullet proof steel" and "my dependence on Jesus became radiant", even though things seemed not to be improving. I know that I know my God and His faithfulness, and I can fully trust Him. Jesus has faith enough for both of us, He is our source: "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17).
Praise Jesus, praise His name. Amen.
In June 2010 I posted "Jesus’ Faith in Me", It seems to me that today I am saying the same thing with different words:
• Permalink https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2010/06/jesus-faith-in-me.html
Praise Jesus our lovely Master, Teacher and Friend.
Favourites
(John 14:1, Jesus’ words)
"Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me".
(Philippians 1:6, Paul writing)
"[I am] confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in me will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ".
John Lake’s prayer:
"O God, our Father, let our lives be once and forever and for all be settled on the eternal rock, Christ Jesus, Lord God, where our lives shall stand".
Hallelujah. Amen.
Permalink to this post "Faith: Knowing God"
https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2026/01/faith-knowing-god.html
"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:5-8).
"Jesus answered him, 'Do not fear; only believe'" (Mark 5:36; Luke 8:50).
At Bible College we were taught to ask: "what does the Bible text say?" These verses are so clear, so simple, right? But often not easy to do.
Knowing God In Testimony - Here And Now, Effective In People's Lives
We find that God is faithful; many times our Bibles assure us of this. "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 straight your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).
These wise words continue: "It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones" (Proverbs 3:8). This is a promise, not a suggestion. Don’t we all long for "healing" and "refreshment"?
I will see someone in need and know to pray, know the words to pray, and know that the person will be healed (or their heart or their circumstances made right), they will be (or begin the journey to be) set free. My spiritual eyes see what God sees (Proverbs 15:3), the Kingdom of Heaven comes near (Luke 10:9, 21:31), and the physical world responds as it must. This is sovereign, God is at work (John 5:17). Our Lord Jesus always leads in these encounters, my compassion or desire to help or the fervency of my prayers does not bring them about; it is Jesus.
Jesus drew me to Himself - to me this was the ultimate revealing of Himself. Jesus took a grip on my arm and pulled me in to Himself in love; this was physical – I truly felt His grip on my arm, and His drawing me against His breast. A miracle. Finally He had broken through all my fears and doubts and mistrust.
This is one view of my faith. Jesus' touch. Certain knowledge. Unshakeable. There is a sweet song: "To get a touch from the Lord is so real", so true.
Before I had a personal "knowing" of Him or of Jesus, I learned that this God that my mother knew is faithful. He gave me a miraculous healing. I had no faith, yet Jesus saved me from lung cancer. After Christians prayed, I felt God's hand reaching into my lungs and drawing out all the black gunk and damage from years of heavy smoking. I felt His touch, His fingers working, all the harm being drawn out. I knew then that I will never have lung cancer. This was from Trish's faith, thank you Jesus for your obedient people. Soon after this I had a chest X-Ray as part of a job application; the "shadows" seen on previous X-Rays were not there - gone! Praise Jesus.
This story is told in post "My Lungs: T2" from May 2010. I have tears in my eyes as I remember.
• Permalink https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2010/05/t02-my-lungs.html
I know that Jesus is, I remember His physical presence. Sometimes I see Him, He will be looking at me: I have His attention, He smiles. He often speaks to me, clearly so that I cannot doubt.
Our Bibles explain this in the lives of many godly people who have gone before us: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:1-2). We look at these witnesses' lives and take heart from them.
"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful" (Hebrews 10:23). It is God's faithfulness (Romans 3:3), our knowing leads us to faith in Him, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, remembering that Jesus is the centre and the fullness of God (Colossians 1:15-20).
"Jesus said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent'" (John 6:29).
"Jesus said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent'" (John 6:29).
Heroes
I see that my experiences are normal for Christians. I have sat under the teaching of John G. Lake who prayed for thousands of people who were healed; he believed that his understanding, and his gifts, were completely normal as told in the Bible; he is one of many who can be found in Christian literature. My experiences and testimonies are similar, mostly smaller, and less frequent.
It was the teaching of John Lake which led me to pray about, and then embark on "30 Days In Jesus' Hands", one of the most profound and love-filled times of my life. John Lake, my Christian hero, taught me scriptural truths in a way I could understand.
• For my testimony of this season of Jesus' love, kindness and power, search "Jesus Hands" or "In Jesus' Hands" in PsalmsOfJohn.com. Jesus heals; He encourages and He heals.
Hebrews chapter 11 lists many heroes of faith; they were people of action; they pushed ahead into what their spiritual eyes saw; they were not content to simply know what Jesus was thinking or planning, but trusting that they knew God, they obeyed and moved forward, often before they could see physical doors opening. Some "received what was promised" (Hebrews 11:33), but others did not (Hebrews 11:13). Many suffered, even unto death. But our God remembers that "they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith" (Hebrews 11:2).
With the blind man (John 9:6), Jesus knew before He made the mud and smeared it on his eyes that God was healing him and he would see.
George Müller could see, before he asked the hundreds of orphan children to sit down for breakfast, that someone was bringing the food they would eat, and would soon be at their door. He "saw" through his certain knowing that God's Word is true (Luke 12:22, 30).
George Müller is another hero. He never asked people for money or let anyone but our God of Heaven know his needs. Gifts of many kinds came for his work as they were needed, God provided in ways we find amazing; Müller saw the physical reality conforming to God's Word Jesus. He built and ran orphanages, brought thousands to Jesus, and gave away Bibles, scholarships and money. He said he simply trusted God to do what He said in His Word.
John G. Lake knew the Bible; to him God's Word was perfectly clear - Jesus came to heal the sick, the demonized, (the mentally ill), and the brokenhearted, and to set people free (Isaiah 61:1-3; Matthew 10:8a). Jesus expects us to continue this work now (Matthew 10:8b; Ephesians 2:10). He has gone to Heaven to rule and reign with Father God.
John Lake and George Müller knew Jesus, the Word of God, and knew that He is true (John
1:14).
Are these men exceptional? I think so. I used to worry that my faith seemed so small beside theirs. Then I thought about Edmund Hillary and Roger Bannister, I was 11 years old when Hillary (also from New Zealand) climbed the worlds highest mountain, Mt Everest, in the Himalayas, and was 12 when Roger Bannister, an English medical student, first ran the sub-four-minute mile.
Like Edmund Hillary, I love the mountains and spent months in the Himalayas; I was so thrilled to climb a peak of 16,500 feet (5030 metres), much less than Everest - my mountain did not even have its own name. From that peak I could see Everest, magnificent in the distance, with many other snow-capped mountains all around. The same thing with running, rowing, basketball and so much else; I loved to participate but was never exceptional. I am simply me. Don't we all like to achieve? But we do well only at some things, and then not always. Only a few people truly excel and are newsworthy. But we can all do our best (Colossians 3:23), especially in our availability to Jesus (Isaiah 6:8), and in our obedience to Him (Matthew 7:21; 1 John 2:3-6).
We celebrate George Müller still, he said: "faithfulness is not only about belief but also persistent action", and "I live in the spirit of prayer; I pray as I walk, when I lie down, and when I rise up".
This aligns with God's promise to His people: "I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people" (Leviticus 26:12) and Isaiah's understanding of the truth of this, even in the New Covenant that we live under today: "for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).
Our Lord Jesus, "the mighty God", is "an everlasting Father" to us, who "provides" (Luke 12:22-24) and "heals" (Matthew 8:16) and "sets free" (Galatians 5:1). Thousands (millions?) of testimonies show all this to be true.
Can I stand as Paul commands? "So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you" (2 Thessalonians 2:15; Ephesians 6:13).
Some Conclusions
Other times our faith enables us to persevere and wait on Jesus. I can neither predict nor
demand answers, but I do expect to participate with my Saviour Lord and rejoice with
Him.
I remember that Jesus did only what He saw His (now our) Father doing; praise Jesus that He now leads His people, us, even me (John 5:19; John 16:13). And I pray "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8).
In spiritual conflicts, we can stand on Jesus' name, and the Devil will have to "flee from you" (James 4:7), our faith together with His name is our "strong shield" (Psalm 140:7).
In our family we are often joy filled and encouraged because we have seen miracles, our God working on our behalf, His grace flowing towards us. We have also had times of crisis and have known ages of achingly unanswered prayer with sickness, unemployment and other big troubles. My response is to cling ever tighter to Jesus (Acts 11:23; Hebrews 10:39). I have reported that "my faith became like bullet proof steel" and "my dependence on Jesus became radiant", even though things seemed not to be improving. I know that I know my God and His faithfulness, and I can fully trust Him. Jesus has faith enough for both of us, He is our source: "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17).
Praise Jesus, praise His name. Amen.
In June 2010 I posted "Jesus’ Faith in Me", It seems to me that today I am saying the same thing with different words:
• Permalink https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2010/06/jesus-faith-in-me.html
Praise Jesus our lovely Master, Teacher and Friend.
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(John 14:1, Jesus’ words)
"Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me".
(Philippians 1:6, Paul writing)
"[I am] confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in me will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ".
John Lake’s prayer:
"O God, our Father, let our lives be once and forever and for all be settled on the eternal rock, Christ Jesus, Lord God, where our lives shall stand".
Hallelujah. Amen.
Permalink to this post "Faith: Knowing God"
https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2026/01/faith-knowing-god.html
