Tag: Believe

4—God Promises to Provide for Your Needs (Updated 3/19/22)

Have you ever had to depend on God for something? I have, and God provided miraculously, like finding a young Rhode Island chicken in my vegetable garden that I asked Him for. He provided a mortgage for a home I could afford when I was a single mother. You will never know how God can provide until you are in need. It is unfortunate that no one wants to be in need and is afraid of having to depend on God. Imagine, we serve a God who promises to provide for us. When the Israelites were roaming the desert, God provided food and water, plus their shoes and clothes never wore out for 40 years. How amazing, so why do we fear dependence on God?

Never forget that God keeps His promises. 2Corinthians 1:20 tells us, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” Also, Romans 4:20-21 states, “No unbelief made him (Abraham) waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” Abraham waited 15 years for the promise to be fulfilled.

To claim God’s promises, you need to be reconciled to Him by believing that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sin and was raised from the dead and is seated in heaven (1Cor. 15:3-6 and Rom. 10:9-10). God promised that we could be his children when we receive Jesus, His Son, and believe in Him (John 1:12).

All of us had experienced disappointment when our prayers went unfulfilled. I wrote a series of posts on why God sometimes does not hear our prayers or wants us to wait for His timing, or He says “No.” You can find these posts here. In my last post, l focused on claiming God’s promises to answer our prayer. Remember, most promises are based on meeting conditions. The main condition is having faith like Abraham.

God promises to hear our prayers and to provide for our needs.

We all have needs, some small and some large. For example, my youngest son was taking piano lessons. We needed a small spinet piano for him to practice with. I rarely listen to the radio, but I had it on the very day and time someone put an ad on Care and Share to give away the exact piano I asked God for. The fact that it was free was an extra blessing because we did not have spare money. So, God does hear our prayers and does want to meet our needs.

We need wisdom, and we often pray for wisdom. God promises to give us wisdom in James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” BUT we must ask, believing that God will give us wisdom. James 1:6-8 states, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Apply God’s promises to your needs.

No one wants to be in need, but we still have a God who promises to sustain us and provide for our needs from birth to old age. Isaiah 46:3-5 states, “Listen to me,… who have been borne [carried] by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; 4) even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs, I will carry [sustain] you. I have made you, and I will bear; and will save [rescue you]. ” This is my favorite promise.

Read the following promises. The first time say, “I believe (promise).” Read it the second time saying, “Thank you, Lord, (promise). Note the conditions.

I believe, Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” “Thank you, Lord, that You promise to supply every need I have according to Your riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Matthew 6:25-26 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Matthew 6:33-34 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Malachi 3:10  “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

Proverbs 3:9-10 “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”

Conclusion

As you read the following questions, ask God to search your heart and examine your mind because our hearts are deceitful (Jer. 17:9-10). Read the post called UNHEALTHY BELIEFS: What are they and where do they come from? to learn how to remove unhealthy beliefs from your life.

Did you pray for something specific you felt you needed, and were disappointed when God did not provide it? This happened to me, and Satan said to give up my faith in God because He didn’t care. Satan is a liar. God does care and wants to meet our needs (1Peter 5:7) according to our faith.

What unhealthy beliefs keep you from depending on God to provide for your needs?

Are you determined to meet your own needs and wrongly think you don’t need God? What wrong thoughts do you need to transform? Do you trust government agencies to provide for your needs because you lack faith? Do you believe the God who created the Universe can’t provide for you?

If you have a testimony about God’s provision and want to encourage others who read this post, please share it below.

RELATED POSTS:

15 Promises We Can Trust God to Keep

Trust God to Keep His Promises

1—God’s Promises – Introduction

All verses are from the English Standard Bible. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share the links with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected, and no part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom.

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Exposing Satan’s Attack on Christian Believers

How many people do you know won’t go to church for one reason or another? In my last post, I explained why Satan wants to destroy the church. He is effectively dismembering the body of Christ, but most Christians do not realize the unseen war all around them, so they let it go on. It is time to fight for the spiritual life of your fellow Believers and the Church. If you don’t know how to fight demonic forces, I recommend my book called Fighting Unseen Battles.

In my second post of this series, I addressed why people leave the church. Though there are many reasons, the number one reason people leave the church is being offended. Have you been offended by someone or something in the church? What was your natural response when you became offended? Most offended people simply leave the church and lose their faith, which is Satan’s goal for all of us. People are messy, and so is the church. Jesus said in Luke 5:32, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Satan causes Believers to Doubt and Walk Away From God

I ended one of my posts with Hebrews 3:12, which states, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.” Doubt is unbelief, which comes from the devil. Unbelief is a sin; otherwise, why would it be called evil? Unbelief is disobedience, as we are all called to believe.

Doubt leads to disobedience. Read in Genesis 3 how Satan deceived Eve into eating the apple. He began by causing her to doubt God, which led to disobedience and separation from God. Satan uses the same tactic. If that does not work, then he uses distraction. I know many young people who grew up in the church, then later believed Satan’s lies, began to doubt, and were lured away from their faith through worldliness. My oldest son is one of those people who stopped believing, and many of my friends and Pastors I know have children who doubted and walked away from their faith.

First, don’t judge them; they need your love. They know how you believe, so preaching to them does not help. Second, pray for God to remove the blinders that Satan has put on them (2Cor. 4:4). Remind God that He promised that His Word would not return void and accomplish what He intended it to do (Is. 55:11). Pray for God to restore them and lead them back to the path of righteousness (Ps. 23:3). Seek your Heavenly Father to keep drawing them to himself. (John 6:44). Don’t give up faith; keep praying for those who fell away from the faith because of doubt and worldliness. Hebrews 11:6 explains, “But 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.” Continue to diligently seek God for your children and for everyone who has fallen away. Keep in mind that you are fighting an unseen war.

A friend said the worst thing she did was encourage her son to go to college. She feels that college caused him to doubt God, now he has walked away from his faith. My youngest son went to college and remained firm in his faith, but my oldest decided he would instead go the way of the world, which caused him to walk away from his faith. Many people doubt God because of unanswered prayers. I wrote a series of posts to expose this topic because I struggled in this area. You can read all my posts in Posts About Prayer. Satan will use any means to cause doubt, which is why we need to take every thought captive and make it obey Christ (2Cor. 10:5).

Lured Away from Our Faith By Worldly Activities

I have known many Christians who skipped church to participate in secular activities. Once in a while is okay, but what often happens is a person can find other activities they would rather do than go to church. For example, my husband is part of a group of guys who shoot at clays. Though the activity is held Sunday morning, he does not miss church but goes right after church and is usually the last group to do the rounds. More and more, sporting competitions are held Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, which keep the kids and parents from attending church.

Since the pandemic and mandating churches to close their doors, many churches have lost members because the members are either too afraid to go to church or it is easier to do internet/TV church. I explain the danger of not attending church in my first post. Leaving the church for worldly pursuits is a slow fade; it is usually not all at one time. I have written a lot about the dangers of worldliness. Here are two posts, Recognize Worldly Thinking and be Free and Unseen Battle With The Secular World.

I had an inmate in my Bible Study admit to being strong in her faith, and she read her Bible every day. One day, as she watched TV, the Holy Spirit drew her to read her Bible, but she ignored the Holy Spirit and kept watching TV. Soon she stopped reading her Bible altogether and began to hang out with her old friends, who enticed her to get back into using drugs. She said she knew that when she stopped reading her Bible and stopped going to church, that was when Satan enticed her to hang out with her old friends. Now she was in jail again.

CONCLUSION

I could write so much more but I would love to hear what you think about these topics and your experience. I hope you read my other posts for a better understanding and to learn how to fight these unseen battles. I encourage you to buy my book. If you want to know what my book is about read my review post.

May God Bless you richly,

Joyce