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According to Your Faith…

It was a Sunday morning. I had been up for a long time. As a youth and associate pastor, I came in at 5 am for prayer and was usually the last person to leave after church finished. I was tired and ready to go find some lunch.

As I was about to pack up, a young boy who was waiting for his mother came up to me wanting prayer. I asked this 5 year old what he wanted God to do for him. He pulled his thick black rimmed glasses off his face and threw them on the wooden bench we called the prayer altar and said,

“I’m tired of these things! I want Jesus to heal my eyes!”

I was rather young and I did believe that God did miracles and healings but this had a complicated edge to it. What if I prayed for him and nothing happened? Would I have ruined a child for life when it came to believing God would do anything for him? I was still immature so I was thinking about all these things.

After sizing up the situation I made a decision. I didn’t even pray a prayer. I did what was really a cop-out!

I said, “According to your faith be it unto you. “ It was really my way of putting the burden of faith back on the boy and not me and God!!

The boy began yelling, “I CAN SEE! I CAN SEE!”

There was a small clock at the back of the little church. I told the kid to look at that clock and tell me what time it was. We needed to verify that something had happened. He turned around, looked at the clock and said, “I can’t. I can’t tell time!”

About that time his mother came in and the boy was still yelling that he could see. His mom was a pretty new believer and was thrilled.

There was one problem. His dad was not a believer. In fact, he wasn’t just a non-believer, he was hostile to the gospel and to God and all that “stuff” he didn’t think was real. He was very angry when mom and son got home from church that day with the little boy refusing to wear his glasses saying that he could see.

The next day they sent their son to school. The dad made him wear his glasses. His teacher was told that he was to wear his glasses. At recess that day, the boy had a head on collision with another kid on the play -ground. He complained that he couldn’t see with his glasses so they demanded his eyes to be checked. When his eyes were checked they found that he couldn’t see with the glasses on because his eyesight was perfect!!

Somebody had faith that Sunday morning but it wasn’t me! It truly was according to the young boy’s faith! By the way…his dad was speechless!

© Copyright Lisa Swayze 2018

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Topic of Faith

On Tuesday May 30, I spent all day with Jesus and was positioning myself to love on Him and hear what He had to say about the prayer He wanted us to pray. The topic that kept coming to my heart was the topic of faith.

If you have ever had your faith challenged in the middle of a trial of some sort, you can appreciate prayer that helps strengthen believers as they make this journey.

There are many things that get in the face of the faith of believers and the corporate church. I thought it was a great thing to pray so I went to the scriptures.

Hebrews 11:1-3 (NKJV)
1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

I WAS ABLE TO GIVE THE TESTIMONY…

If you prayed with us last week, you know there was a word of knowledge of a daughter that had run away. The next day she called her mom!

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT JESUS SPEAKS A LOT ABOUT FAITH

Jesus was wowed by all these kinds of faith.
• GREAT FAITH
• LITTLE FAITH
• NO FAITH
• FAITHLESSNESS
• SEED FAITH

WITHOUT FAITH…WE CANNOT PLEASE GOD

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
6But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

YOU WILL GET MORE ABOUT FAITH IF YOU PRAY WITH ME ON THE VIDEO

ON A PERSONAL NOTE:
When I was younger in the Lord, I was confused about whether or not I had faith. I thought I had faith and tried to help others have faith then I came into a very hard trial. Everything I believed was challenged.

I WAS IN A BATTLE FOR MY LIFE AND LIMB

It happened in the 90’s. I had a bad snow skiing accident that left me with a compound fractured left leg. I busted both bones out of the skin right above my left ankle. The result was nine surgeries and surgical procedures. I spent well over six weeks in the hospital.

During that time, everyone would come into my hospital room and tell me horror stories about how the same thing happened to Aunt so-n-so and they lost their leg or they died!! I was already wilting and afraid in my heart of hearts. I had doctors telling me they didn’t know if they could save my leg. Every time they told me that I would counter with my statement of faith, but on the inside I was scared.

THE ACCIDENT TOOK ME OUT OF THE MINISTRY FOR THREE YEARS

I was a youth pastor when the debacle happened and I had to leave the ministry. I went to another church as I recovered and I did some things there but I could not sustain being on a staff. I would go to church and then have to lay down all week. The chemicals from the surgeries made me sicker than the broken leg. I was a mess.

A little over a year into the recovery, I began to have severe debilitating headaches. They kept me up with my head between my knees at night moaning and on my back in the day time. I couldn’t function. No one could help me. I tried everything medical and holistic.

I TOOK A SENIOR PASTORATE BY FAITH

I was still in the chemical sickness three years after the accident when I took my first senior pastorate by faith. I thought, “if I was healed what would I do”? I would go back into the ministry.

I HAD TO LAY DOWN TO STUDY FOR MY SERMONS

I literally laid down to prepare to preach. The only relief I got was when I stood in the pulpit to preach. My head would stop hurting! When I was finished it would fire up the misery again.

I DID THIS SEVERAL YEARS

A year or so into the pastorate, I felt I was to teach on the Covenant that we are in with God. I laid on the bed and tried to study. I began taking the church through the Blood Covenant. I led them through for months. It was almost a year of teaching on the Covenant that we had through Jesus’ Blood.

BY THE TIME I FINISHED THAT SERIES ALMOST A YEAR LATER

I was convinced that Jesus’ death on the cross had healed me! I was still sick. Nothing had changed. One day I’ll tell you the whole story about my healing but for now I will say…in ONE NIGHT Jesus healed me completely! No more headaches…no more chemical sickness!

I UNDERSTAND THE LONG HAUL! I’VE BEEN THERE!

This is why when the Holy Spirit says to pray over faith, I LOVE IT!!
I watch people struggle. I hate it for them. I know it is hard.

FAITH IS A BELIEF SYSTEM

When I received my healing, I was convinced that faith was not mustering up belief (which I was never sure I really had in the midst of a terrible trial) but faith is a belief system that rest on something. That something is God’s Word…It healed me!!

I HOPE YOU WILL PRAY THOUGH THIS VIDEO WITH ME

Put your name and the name of your church or city in the blanks and let’s see what God will do with your faith.

Blessings,
lisa

 

© Copyright Lisa Swayze 2017