Faith and Promises

I feel like recently I've had multiple conversations about faith and the power of God. One friend has reminded me that God has the power to answer our prayers and how often do we pray with the faith that actually shows we believe our prayers will be answered? In church we talked about faith and what that means exactly. Having faith in someone or something means you trust they are good for their word or their promises. I know I have faith in Christ and I believe, but I think I forget too much what all God promises us. He doesn't make empty promises and I need to remind myself of that. Before I left for Zambia this summer I made a list of some of the things God promises us.

God Promises:

- His power is made perfect in our weaknesses (II Cor. 12:9)
- The testing of our faith produces perseverance. (James 1:3)
- We will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on us. (Acts 1:8)
- God will complete His work in us. (Phil. 1:6)
- The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds. (Phil. 4:7)
- He will comfort us. (II Cor. 1:3)
- He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west. (Ps. 103:11)
- He can do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine. (Eph. 3:20)
- If we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, all these things will be given to us. (Math. 6:33)
- He will never leave us or forsake us. (Heb. 13:5)
- He will protect us from trouble and surround us with songs of deliverance. (Ps. 32:7)


I know the list could go on and on, but these are just a few. I know we serve a God who doesn't give up on us and doesn't make promises in order to break them. It should be our greatest comfort to know that God can't break a promise. So why does it seem like we forget these so easily and don't truly draw on the power of God in our lives? I don't know why...but I want to be reminded of these promises and that we serve a God who is faithful to those and who will never leave us or forsake us.

Random train of thought...but it's going somewhere.

So every night since I've been in 7th grade I have wished upon a star. The same three wishes every single night. Corny and dumb I know. But it all started when me and Emily Kopicko promised we would wish upon a star every night when we were apart in the summer. So one is slowly coming true and the other two are lacking, but anyway...it made me think how dumb it is to wish upon a star and that led me to thinking that even though its dumb my wishes are pretty legit. And why is it so easy to "wish upon a star" every night, but not pray about them every day?

Then this got me thinking about how big the sky is and even bigger God is. And then that made me think of the passage in Revelation that talks about the Throne in Heaven and it put into perspective who I pray to and how amazing our God is.

"...There before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightening, rumblings and peals of thunder...Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal...in the center, around the throne were four living creatures, and they were covered in eyes...Day and night they never stop saying. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord God Almighty who was, and is, and is to come..."

Anyway...random I know, but honestly that's how my brain works pretty much all the time. And it usually leads to some somewhat good thoughts. We serve a huge God that in his presence all you can say is Holy, Holy, Holy...that is amazing to me.