3 Ways to Keep Your Faith Alive in the Face of Unbelief
Have you ever had a time when you doubted God’s direct word to you?
One of my favorite testimonies of timing in the Bible is that of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. In Luke 1, an angel visits Zechariah and foretells that he and his wife, Elizabeth, will have a son.
“…the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.’
And Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.’ And the angel answered him… ‘You will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.’” -Luke 1:13, 17-18, 20 [emphasis added]
Zechariah’s response revealed something. During the time period between his original asking and the moment of getting the answer, he was no longer hoping or expecting anything. The angel told him, “Because of your unbelief, you’re going to be mute until the baby is born.” Zechariah’s words impacted the angel and the angel impacted the situation. Words can affect manifestations! Making him mute wasn’t a judgment on Zechariah, but rather it was God’s way of protection, preventing him from talking his way out of the manifestation.
When the baby is born, in a beautiful prophetic moment, Zechariah writes, “His name is John.” Often, you can’t name the thing that God wants to do in your life until the fulness of time and the period of contradiction is completed. When Jesus took up a towel and washed the disciples feet Peter protested the role reversal but “Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand’” (John 13:7; emphasis added).
*Remember this: Sometimes it isn’t the prayer that's wrong but rather the time for its fulfillment.
How do we partner with God in His timing?
- Keep your faith alive. Zechariah had fallen out of faith with his own prayer. Fan the flame of faith within your own spirit. Be assured that God has heard your prayers and knows what is in your heart. He is faithful! Ask the Lord to confirm if the thing you seek is something Heaven wants you to contend for. Ever consider how some answers to prayer fall upon our children? (Hebrews 11:13). Some, as was the case with Zechariah and Elizabeth, come in a later season of life. (It’s interesting that Elizabeth was ready and her husband wasn’t!) And yet, some answers come unexpectedly and sooner than we think.
- Endure the contradiction. Don’t be like Zechariah. His response to the word of the Lord unauthorized or interrupted the manifestation. Watch your words and remember that what you speak has power to either interrupt or partner with God in what He is doing—in HIS timing. Don’t talk your way out of God’s blessing!
- Cooperate with divine timing. Thirty or forty years ago I prayed for things that are just now becoming a reality. God might have a season of fulfillment in mind for something you’ve been seeking the Lord for your whole life, but when the time comes you’ve forgotten that you prayed for it! It is also possible that we are the delay in the timing. The children of Israel lost time wandering around in the wilderness of unbelief. Let’s believe that God is going to do the things He says He will. We can trust His divine timing.
Question: What is God stirring within you even now?
Tell me here and comment below!
As One!
Lance
We have had a passion for the outdoors for over 30 years and getting people involved in various outdoors activities. Through our passion we have started a business helping businesses and outdoors enthusiasts in this area. We had a prophetic word several years ago and let it stir in us, through our obedience and not putting “me” into it, we are now starting to see the fruits of the seeds that were planted within our passion, vision God has placed in us!
Wow! John, Iam from Bangalore India. God gave us a promise 15 years ago to multiply our Outdoor model of impacting society with Kingdom values. Today we have teams in Sri Lanka, Ukraine and Moscow. We too are seeing the fruits of His Promise. Love to connect. Blessings
John my website is : http://www.breakthroug-india.com
Thanks Lance,from being small I have had anxiety issues which have surfaced on occasion which been addressed with prayer etc..The deal was they became part of my hidden mentality through my life.Mostly I am assured and passionate about life and creativity as an artist.. Just this week read what Jesus said ” do not let your heart be troubled” .Many years ago I had a revelation of the living wor,it was breathing and muscular like a living form..It made me take hold of these words and caused me to apologise to my heart for all I had cused it to endure because of my anxieties. It hs become so personal,this is my heart and I will protect it from the harm of fear,anxiety and ungodly stress.I have won a battle through his revelation yet again..I think sometimes we know scripture too well that the depths of the spiritual revelation are discarded..keep with periscopian messages we lov it here in the UK
Dear Lance and Annabelle,
This is my third invitation to you precious ones to take you to lunch and share with you the vision the Lord has given me since 1976. It is also something I have done much work, research, and developed plans, and have been given strategic administration for as well as scriptural insights. I have personally tested some of it, and have resources that are tapping into parts of it that are successful… but not the innovative comprehensive vision and model I believe I am to bring forward with a team of others…
Will you come to the table with me?
God Bless and Establish the work of your hands.
Pam
Producing my podcast, Disruptive Brilliance. I’ll be interviewing people who have pursued a dream and are living out what happens after – unpacking process and releasing activation.
Praying for the man that will one day be my husband.
And, praying for strategic alignments to work with you as a coach and speaker!
Have lived my life doing what my parents persuaded me to, because they thought that was best for me, they decided that I would not make money working with my creative skills, so asked me to become a Physician, Dad being one. Have always known Clinical Medicine was not for me, but after all of the time and money spent, and all of the creative skills, crushed, suppressed, did not know how to move into what I desired. Got to be a single parent so finances were important. Still have that frustration and have been talking to God about it to see how I could move into what He has purposed. No idea what my unique design is, no idea what my passion and purpose are, so in a dilemma
I have come to realize that for me, Painting is worship. Now to walk in my new identity as an artist unafraid to let the world see
I want to stop getting your emails because I’m sick of hearing about trump
Lady, all you need to do is unsubscribe.
Christian do not hate sister. Even if you disagree with Trump, remember God judges from the heart.
Keep building my property management business, so someday I can support my vision for Africa.
Use this waiting period to spend more time with God, and hearing His heart.
Wow it is this same verse reference God has been speaking to me about. Keeping your mouth shut and not taking away from or adding to the blessings be spoken. But I didn’t have all the details like you shared. So awesome
My husband and I are still in the process of “Writing The Vision and make it easy to understand” so that those who read it can “Run With It!” We are working with another retired couple; we are all in our 70s we are all too young to retire. But we need to get this part, then we can share it with you!