Faith Without A Ceiling

Faith without a ceiling is not wishful thinking. It’s faith based on the firm foundation of Jesus’ finished work at the cross. Through that victory, believers are not left on their own. The Holy Spirit now lives within us, guiding us to understand and apply the Word of God. Followers of Christ also known as children of God, have been given an inheritance. This inheritance is the ability to pray in Jesus’ name using His authority in order to receive help for all situations. This power, when fully realized is faith without a ceiling.

When Adam and Eve decided Satan’s word was more beneficial than God’s Word, sin entered the world. Humanity has believed the lies of the enemy over God’s Good Word ever since. God is our good Father, our healer, provider, peace and joy. These things are what we inherit when we become followers of Jesus, but we need to know how to access them.

The philosophies and wisdom of the world are actually hindering our knowledge of how God works. The world is in our face, it’s louder than the Word of God. We have no idea that all good things can be ours: peace, healing, joy and provision are for all of us. Actually Jesus said to his disciples: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.” (Matt 10:8) This is command was given to all those who follow Christ, even those who follow Him today. Unbelievable? Yes, until you ask the Holy Spirit to help you believe and then give you the opportunity to see the results in your prayer life.

Each Passing Generation Bends More To The World’s Way

Consequently, with each passing generation, it seems easier to have a world bent without even realizing it. We ignore the Bible or relegate it to only a 30 minutes a day, so that we can get to work and take care of our immensely overbook “To Do” list. We chase after the American dream, exhausted at the end of the day. This is not the abundant life Jesus won for us at the cross.

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10 ESV)

The abundant life is having more than enough of everything: time, finances, peace, joy and rest. But the American dream has caused many families find themselves caught in a cycle- placing children in daycare, working long hours to afford things that are not essential, and trying to keep up with it all. Meanwhile, our children are influenced by environments and voices that may not reflect the values and beliefs we hold dear. Their days become long and exhausting, pre-care, school, aftercare, practices- leaving little time to simply be children. Evenings are rushed and before we know it, it starts all over again the next day.

Faith In God as Our Provider, Will Balance Life

When we have faith (without a ceiling) in God as our provider, we can live a more balanced life. God gave us children as a blessing, not as a burden to manage from a distance. We can trust that He, as our Father/ provider, will take care of our needs as we walk in His ways. The Proverbs 31 woman models how a mother should fit work into her family life, while the husband and father works to be the main provider. In this way we are leaving room for God to be the provider of our future needs. He is faithful to supply what we truly need, often more abundantly than we expect, without requiring us to sacrifice the time and influence we have in our children’s lives. As Scripture reminds us,

“But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.”(1 Tim 5:8 NLT)

When we strive to provide for ourselves either out of selfish ambition or fear of not having enough, we are acting as an unbeliever. When we have faith in God, trusting Him to be our provider, we please God. We also please God when we treat our children as we would like to be treated. Children undoubtedly desire to be with parents not caregivers, enjoying non rushed mornings, proper rest times and a sane schedule.

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind…A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’(Matt 22:37,39)

Faith Without A Ceiling Is A Battle

We are in a battle with what we see versus what Jesus teaches a Christ follower to do. It is a blind walk of faith, but the rewards are more than financial sustinence.

The story of Peter walking on water is an excellent example of battling faith in Jesus’ words. Jesus bid Peter to come to Him on the water and Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on water towards Jesus. But then became fearful when he looked at the wind and the waves. This is when he began to sink. When He kept his eyes on Jesus, he actually stood on water. An impossibility for a human being in our own power.

We are all called to trust God, to have faith in His provision and not listen to the threatening “wind and the waves” of the secualar world. As children of God Almighty, we do not need a plan B.

We don’t need the mindset of: I’ll get another side hustle if God doesn’t come through. No! God honors faith and when we leave a need open for Him to fill, while we take care of what is most important, namely our family- He will never leave us nor forsake us.

“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.”(Heb 11:6)

The Power of Words In Faith

God created the world using his voice. When He said “Let there be light,” light came into being. He told lame men to stand up and walk, and they did. Jesus then held the hand of a young girl who had died, refused to agree with the crowd, and instead said she was “asleep. He then told her to wake up, and she did.

Jesus’ powerful words are not meant to be read only. His Words are meant to be spoken over our situations. As we memorize Scripture, speak it regularly, and align our life with its truth, it begins to take root deep within us. Overtime, that truth becomes more than something we believe intellectually; it becomes something we know with certainty. This is the place we can speak or pray with confidence, thanking God in advance because we trust His promises will come to pass if it is good for us and a powerful witness for Him.

Faith For Healing

When I broke my foot I put my faith for healing to the test. The impact was sharp and the pain was sudden and intense. My foot quickly swelled up to more than twice it’s size and I couldn’t place my big toe on the ground without excruciating pain. I remember thinking to myself “this is far worse than labor pain” I then began to pray every healing scripture I knew at that time...”I am healed by the stripes of Jesus.” “Bless the Lord oh my soul…who heals me.” “ask and you shall receive” and I said through gasps of pain, “I’m asking for healing!”

With each verse spoken outloud, I felt the pain diminishing. Within a couple of minutes, I looked at my foot and the swelling had diminished, my toes were no longer engorged with blood and the redish purple hue was gone. The only evidence that I had broken my foot was a greenish yellow bruise at the place of impact. God had healed me supernaturally!

Faith To Help Others

Our faith can help others as well. As a Nurse Anesthetist, I see issues in surgery all the time. No surgery is routine, there are always nuances that make things a little more difficult, at times, for the surgeon or with the anesthetic. When I see the surgeon struggling or running into excessive bleeding that is hindering his work, I pray. And I have found my prayers have been effective.

During one particular shoulder surgery the surgeon mentioned the bleeding was hindering his view through the arthroscope. I reported to him that the blood pressure was within normal limits so as to inform him this was not a contributing factor to the bleeding. Then I decided to silently pray. A minute later, the surgeon inquired if the blood pressure changed. I reported that it hadn’t changed. He said “I can see perfectly now.” Of course I gave the glory to our Lord. I told the surgeon that I had prayed for the bleeding to stop so he could work. I might add, he was a bit surprised.

This is taking what Jesus won for us at the cross, and using it. He placed power within us in order to read Scripture and believe it as pure fact. This will cause us to turn our eyes away from what we see and what is logical to our human intellect and instead believe what the Holy Spirit is leading us to believe.

For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”(1 Cor 1:19 NIV)

The Holy Spirit power can change any situation! Jesus overcame death. There is nothing harder than resurrection. Therefore, a close relationship with Jesus will solve every problem we decide to fight against with the Word of God- Scripture based prayers.

Then after we pray, we stand, never wavering in our faith, until we see the deliverance of the Lord. Sometimes we may tremble, waiting to see the results. Yet, if we wait, without turning to a plan B, we will indeed see the answer to our request. This is what I call situational salvation. We are saved for eternity when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are also rescued or saved through by having a fervent prayer life.

“…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”(Phil 2:12 KJV)

Faith To Help All Living Creatures

The Lord loves all living creatures and therefore our faith can help them. There is a verse in the Bible that at first glance appears only to be speaking about Gentile believers. However, I have realized, it can literally be applied to our family pets.

And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”(Matt 15:27 KJV)

As pet owners read and understand the Word of God, we can use our knowledge of God’s Word to pray for our pets. Our pets can receive the scraps of “bread” or Scripture we have come to believe as we pray over them.

You can view a wonderful story on YouTube of a dog healed of cancer. Although simple prayers didn’t work the dog owner learned a more powerful way to pray. He learned to take authority over the dog and speak directly to cancer. The healing occured within 3 months.

God loves people and animals alike, and we are to be good stewards of our animals. Therefore God hears our prayers and heals those who believe enough to pray unceasingly, until we see our prayer come to fruition. See the story here.

“Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”(Luke 18:1)

Through the authority of Jesus, God has given us power for our prayers. When we truly believe, we can pray with confidence and witness miraculous results, both for our loved ones, and our animals. This is faith without a ceiling!

Food For thought,

Lisa