Hebrews 11 verse 1 – “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Faith requires us to put our trust in something or someone even when we do not see it or have visible proof. This can be quite challenging; however, Faith is the very base of our Christian walk and our relationship with the Lord. In this 5-day devotional we will discuss the importance of Faith and learn about some people in the Bible who showed examples of how to live by faith.

When we develop an intimate relationship with the Lord, we know who we are in Christ and in turn this produces and elevates our faith. When we do not know our identity as children of the Most High, the measure of our faith is not as great as it should be. Therefore, I wanted to start Day One of this devotional with explaining the importance of intimacy with the Lord.

The Bible says in James 4 verse 8 – “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” When we draw near to our Father, He also will pull us close and we will begin to hear Him speak and know His heart. Then we can step out in faith because we believe and trust Him.  There are several ways we can develop intimacy with our Father. One of the ways is by Seeking the Lord through studying His Word – The Bible.

The Bible also says in Deuteronomy 4 verse 29, “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. It also says in Matthew 6 verse 33 – “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

We also have to be mindful of intimacy blockers which is basically anything or anyone that will prevent us from developing an intimate relationship with the Lord and prevent us from hearing Him. These could be various things such as sin, social media, TV shows, etc. 

Prayer: Dear Father, help me to seek after You and desire to know You more. Please help me to spend time developing an intimate relationship with You so that I may truly know Your heart and hear from You because I know this will in turn build the faith and trust that I have in You. Amen.

Hebrews 11 verse 1 says “Now faith is being sure we will get what we hope for. It is being sure of what we cannot see” 

This verse means we are placing our trust and confidence in God without knowing any details.  We basically BELIEVE before we SEE. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 7 – “For we live by faith, not by sight”. 

For today’s devotional, the example in the Bible we will learn about is Abraham and Sarah, whom God blessed with a son at a very old age.

Hebrews 11 verse 11 says - And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered Him faithful who had made the promise. 

The story of Abraham and Sarah and how God blessed them with their son can be found in Genesis 18:9 to 15 and also Genesis 21:1 to 6. I encourage you to read the story when you have some time. I will summarize it for those who may not be familiar with it. Abraham was ninety-nine years old and his wife ninety years old when the Lord informed Abraham that Sarah would have a son. They were both considered old and past the normal age to have children. Can you imagine a 90-year-old woman giving birth to a baby? Every time I think about it, it amazes me because I think about my grandmother having a baby. Even thinking about my mom having a baby seems pretty foreign to me. But this was a promise the Lord made to them and He fulfilled it. Abraham and Sarah had faith that the Lord would do it and He indeed delivered on His promise. 

What we can learn from this is that even when the situation seems impossible OR the medical report is saying otherwise OR when it seems difficult, it is important to note that once God has said it, He will do it. There is nothing too hard for Him to do. We do not have to know every single detail; we just need to listen and obey. We should not let fear get in the way. Whenever we step out in faith, God is pleased with us. The Bible says in Hebrews 11 verse 6 – “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

PRAYER – Father, please help me to have faith like Sarah did. There is nothing too hard for You to do. I trust You with all my heart and I choose not to focus on the details or the process; rather I trust and place my confidence completely in You.

Hebrews 11 verse 7 - “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.”

The full story of Noah and the Ark can be found in Genesis chapters 6 and 7. I encourage you to read it when you have some time. A lot of us might be familiar with the story of Noah. Genesis 6 starts off explaining to us how the Lord was very unhappy with the human race because of the wickedness of the people. He even regretted that He made human beings here on earth. He said He would wipe the human race from the face of the earth. However, Noah found favor in the Lord’s eyes. The Lord was pleased with Noah. Noah was a righteous man and walked faithfully with the Lord. The Lord told Noah all the violence and wickedness He had seen. Then He told Noah to build an ark for himself and his family so that they would not be wiped off the face of the planet. God told him exactly how to build the ark including the number of rooms and the dimensions. God also told Noah who to bring into the ark. Noah did exactly as he was told. Noah, his family, and the animals got on the ark and then the Lord shut the ark. Then the rain came for many days. Every living thing outside of the ark died. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left.

It took a great level of faith for Noah to build this ark. I think about it and wonder if it were me, if I would actually take on the task OR beg God to pick someone else. I looked up the size of the ark and converted it to feet; it was about 400ft. To help you understand how big it was, it is like the length of a football field. I can only imagine how long it took to build and the quantity of materials involved. I can imagine when Noah received the instructions, he likely thought it was impossible. But the Lord helped him, and he built the ark and he and his family were saved from the flood. 

I encourage you today to be obedient to the Lord’s instructions when it seems difficult to understand or when it may be something that has never been done before.

Prayer: Dear Father, I choose to have faith and be obedient to Your instructions even when it is something I may have never seen or done before. I choose to live by faith even when I am not sure how things will turn out. Amen.

Hebrews 11 verses 17- 19 - “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[c] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.”

The full story of this can be found in Genesis 22. We read a bit on the back end of how God blessed Abraham and Sarah with their son Isaac at the age of 99 and 90 respectively. Fast-forward to Genesis 22, the Lord asked Abraham to take his son who he loves and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Recapping this story is still pretty wild to me. After waiting ninety-nine years to have a child, the Lord asks you to sacrifice the child. I would ask so many questions and try to delay as long as possible, or even try to run away from God. But the Bible lets us know that Abraham got up early the next morning to do as the Lord had instructed. When Abraham and Isaac were on their way, Isaac asked his father, Abraham where the lamb was. He said the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice? Abraham answered him saying the Lord will provide.

When they arrived at the location for the sacrifice, Abraham bound his son and was about to slay him, but the Lord called him and stopped him.  Genesis 22 verse 11 says “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Abraham looked up and saw a ram. God did provide the animal for the sacrifice. This act of faith was huge! 

God blessed Abraham so much. He had many sons and descendants. Hebrews 11 Verse 12 says – “And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” We also can read more about the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob in the Old Testament. They are considered Patriarchs which means father/ruler of tribe etc. These three were well revered and still are.

The story teaches us so much about complete trust in the Lord. Abraham fully trusted that the Lord would provide and indeed He did even though God’s instructions, which were to take Isaac to sacrifice him, seemed crazy. 

Prayer: Father, please help me to trust You completely. Having faith is not always easy. Sometimes we may not even see the results of obedience to Your instructions, but we know You are a faithful God, and You are true to Your word. Therefore, You will always fulfill Your promises. Thank You for being a faithful father.

On Day One, we discussed how being intimate with our Father helps us know our identity in Christ and in turn increases our level of Faith.  On Day Two, Three and four, we discussed examples of those in the Bible who demonstrated Faith in the Lord. Today, on our final day of this devotion, we will make some bold faith declarations. 

We are making these declarations in faith because we are speaking into our future. The words that we speak have life and are powerful. Proverbs 18 verse 21 says the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. This simply means that God has given us the ability to speak words of life or death into our situation.

Job 22 verse 28 also says “Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.”

As we make these declarations, we believe in faith that the Lord will do it. Join me in making these declarations:

• My heavenly Father supplies all my needs. Philippians 4:19 – “And my God will meet all my needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus”

• I have perfect health. Psalm 103 verses 1 to 3 – “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not his benefits; who forgives all your sins and heals your diseases.”

• I am on top and not beneath. Deuteronomy 28 verse 13 – “The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.” 

• I am not afraid; fear is not a part of me - 2 Timothy 1:7 – "God has not given me a spirit of fear and timidity. I have a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline".

• I live in abundance and do not lack anything - Philippians 4:19 "My God richly supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ" 

• I live in peace and I am anxious for nothing - Philippians 4:6 "I am anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, I let my requests be made known to God"

Please take some time to write down your own faith declarations and speak them over your life daily.