"For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith…” (1 Thessalonians 3:5 NIV)
The apostle Paul knew that personal faith is a living, fluid
thing.
Scripture speaks of “little” and “great” faith /as well as of
people who are “full of faith.”
* fluid; subject to change or movement
While some have faith that “is weak,”
there are Christians //whose “faith grows” and even those //who “excel in
faith.” Faith must be “continued in,” and it varies in size.
(Jesus
talks about faith that is “small as a mustard seed.”)
Most important, there are false doctrines //that “destroy the faith of
some,” and there are Christians //who have “shipwrecked their faith.”
In
this context faith means the moral persuasion or conviction //that leads
the heart to rely on Christ.
Because it can grow or diminish, Paul was
anxious to know the level of faith among his converts in Thessalonica.
The apostle realized as well that every believer faces
difficulties. He didn’t want the Thessalonians to be unsettled
by their
trials, so he reminded them that he had earlier told them () they were
“destined for them.”
[Paul’s Spirit-inspired teaching on this subject] is
very different from the modern teaching //that says “word of faith”
people need never experience negative circumstances.
Paul sent Timothy
to see how well the believers at Thessalonica were holding up under
ongoing persecution.
[The Greek word Paul uses for “trials”] pictures the
pressure //that comes from being “crowded or pressed.”
When Paul said () he
didn’t want the believers to be unsettled, he was using a word that
meant “shaken,” like the wagging of a dog’s tail.
Faith is absolutely essential, not only for spiritual health, but also
for breakthrough prayer.
James says it is not merely prayer but “the
prayer /offered in faith” //that will make the sick person well
(James
5:15).
Jesus himself taught plainly that prayer must be combined with
faith to secure an answer:
“If you believe, you will receive [whatever
you ask for in prayer]” (Matthew 21:22).
When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them,
“Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they
replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith
will it be done to you”; and their sight was restored (Matthew 9:28-30).
-Pastor Cymbala (excerpted from Breakthrough Prayer)
Read 1 Thessalonians 3:4-5.