THE EXTRAORDINARY FATHER LIVES IN EXPECTANCY

“By faith Abraham…” (Hebrews 11:8).

Faith is the only doorway for God to enter a human heart. The church is loaded with analysts, cynics, and skeptics; but God counts them special who believe Him. Many are experts in explaining away the possibility of divine intervention, but you should be a man who expects great things from God, and receives great things from God!

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. God said of Abraham, “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord” (Genesis 18:19). Abraham’s faith impacted his family. A living faith is one of the best things you can model before your family.

You must reject the fatalism that has invaded modern churches. Defensiveness and defeatism have captured countless congregations. How rare to find people in conservative churches who are living in anticipation of divine interventions. Entire systems of theology are committed to the notion that “whatever will be, will be.” Some believe we are doomed to a predetermined apostasy which eliminates any possibility of widespread revival. Others are convinced that prayer is basically an exercise in futility, because God has foreordained everything that will take place. The disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast the demon out of a man’s son. Jesus replied, “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29). According to Jesus, some things will never happen apart from prayer and fasting. If you pray, pray in faith. Because if you are not praying in faith, you are not praying at all. Reject the fatalism and walk in expectation of divine blessings.

Dare to believe God for the impossible. Jesus instructed his disciples to pray—“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” He would never have taught his followers to pray like that if His will was automatic. The Authorized Version references faith 231 times.

1. Only one thing pleases God—FAITH. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). God’s greatest joy is to be believed.
2. Faith is confidence in God. Unbelief is confidence is anything other than God. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you” (John 16:23). Faith can do everything God can do!
3. God’s Words instill faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). When you hear God speak, faith is birthed in your soul. Rehearse the mighty acts that came to pass through faith—see Hebrews 11.
4. Fear is the mortal enemy of faith. God had already given Israel the title deed to the Promised Land, but they had to fight to possess it. Twelve spies were sent into Canaan. They spent forty days scoping out the land of promise. Ten of those men were afraid of the giants and walled cities. They terrified the children of Israel with their evil report. Their unbelief kept them from the battle they were guaranteed to win. Those forty days of doubt were rewarded with forty years of wilderness wanderings. God took their unbelief personally—all of them died in the wilderness.
5. Your greatest friend is the one who breathes faith into your spirit. “Who, when he came… exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord” (Acts 11:23). When you find a person who increases your faith, listen to that person often. It may be your pastor, a preacher, or a writer who stirs you to believe God. The people who inspire faith in others are the ones who live and breathe in an atmosphere of expectancy.
6. Faith stirs enthusiasm. Jesus engaged the woman at the well. When she announced to her fellow countrymen, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto Him” (John 4:29-30). Her belief in Christ brought about faith in others. “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did” (John 4:39).

“The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32). A faith-filled father will see and experience more than his contemporaries. It is his faith that sets him apart.

To Think and Pray About…

• “God is honored when I confidently trust in Him and His purposes!”
• Think of three ways in which you could nurture faith in your children.
• In what areas do you think you need to grow your faith?

This chapter was written by Harold Vaughan. 

From the book “The Extraordinary Father”. CLICK HERE for more details.