Choose Faith

Matthew 21:22 ESV

I don’t know about your experience with faith, but my experience was ever changing. During the late 1960’s through a good part of the 1970’s the Jesus movement put emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus. Contemporary music changed the face of church worship services.

The movement also changed the ‘face’ of how we view faith.

Matthew 21:22 tells us, “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

As a child of the 1950’s I was raised in a traditional church that practiced structured worship services. Every service had the same elements of hymns from the hymnal, prayer given by the pastor, a special worship song from the choir, a sermon given by the pastor, and closing. The only instruments were the piano and/or an organ.

The Jesus movement updated music adding guitars and other instruments and in many larger churches hymnals were replaced with words on a screen. The intent was to personalize worship services. The faith component was a quiet belief that Jesus was present with us seemed to emphasize the movement of the Spirit in individuals.

The phrase in Matthew 21:22, ‘if you have faith’ became the focus in many circles.

That begged the question, what is faith?

Even those who believed in Jesus questioned their faith when their prayers were not answered as expected.

Many who didn’t have prayers answered wondered if God loved or cared for them at all.

I can tell you from personal experience it was very difficult for many.

I remember doing hospital visits and sitting with a dying child while a mother was outside crying because she had been told her child only had a few days to live. She asked me, “why didn’t God answer my prayer?”

I was honest and told her I did not know.

I also told her God loved her child and their family. She struggled to believe that. I understand her struggle. But I have not walked in her shoes. I don’t know the answer but I do know she will see her child again sitting with Jesus.

I came to believe that faith is about believing God is the way and trusting the way even when we don’t understand it.

Faith is not about us getting our way. It’s about believing that God has a good plan.

Deborah

acrazyjourney.com