Faith Filled Family Magazine September 2016 | Page 70

all things work together for good
for those who love Him and are
called according to His purpose
(Romans 8:28). This complete
surrender to praise is an act of
ones will and may most often be
contrary to personal feelings.
Similar to confessing scriptures,
this principle also suggests that
continual praise stimulates or
summons faith. However, it
may be difficult for individuals
to express praise and thankfulness to God that they or a family
member is dying from an incurable disease or is afflicted physically or emotionally in other ways.
To do so seems to suggest that
God is responsible for the suffering. It is unimaginable to accept
that a loving God would be
responsible for cruelly inflicting
His children with evil. However,
individuals have written books
documenting testimonies of how
submission to praise, regardless
of the situation, altered impossible circumstances, surpassing
human understanding.

Other beliefs about how to affect
faith and the future include the
teaching that worship is the key
to experiencing the presence of
God and the presence of God is
the foundation for miracles. The
Bible explains that God inhabits
the praises of His people (Psalm
22:3), and therefore miracles
occur as a result of His presence. God is faith Himself and
He causes faith to arise in individual hearts according to His
will which then results in miracles. There have been well documented occurrences of verified
miracles that occurred when
God’s presence was ushered in
as result of worship.

Additionally, religious organizations are beginning to acknowledge and teach about the law
of attraction, which is basically a worldly concept of utilizing faith. This ideology teaches
that thoughts are the creative
elements of the universe. The
principles of this law state that
whatever happens to us in
life happens as a result of our
thinking. The Bible agrees with
this principle by stating “for as
he thinks in his heart so is he”
(Proverbs 23:7). The theory
also suggests that if an individual wants to change current or
future circumstances in life they
must be aware of the effects of
their thoughts. The key to this
concept lies with the focus of
thought, whether good or bad.
According to this theory, individuals can attract things by
focusing their thoughts on them,
which make it imperative to think
good thoughts. Additionally, individuals are taught that if they
ask for anything they should
believe they already have what
they have asked and they will
have it, which is similar to teachings in the Gospel of Mark (Mark
11:24). Associating feelings with
the belief that they already have
what they have asked for, is said
to encourage the manifestation
of the very thing they desire.

There seems to be so many
formulas for building faith and
acquiring spiritual benefits for
life’s circumstances. I have
believed them all. I have tried
“them all.” These rituals have
not yet worked for me. They
have not yet worked for many
others, because a large portion
of Christendom is still powerless
and suffering. If it was solely
about applying any one of these

methods, many more individuals would be experiencing prosperity in all areas of life. There
seems to be something missing—a truth key perhaps.
I am convinced that these rituals
are based on biblical principles
and that God has worked miraculously through them, but there
is an elusive reason why they do
not work for all or all the time. It
may be that God does not limit
His actions solely to one particular method. The missing key
to why these methods have not
worked for everyone in every
situation may lie in the fact that
the miraculous is still subject
to the will of God—the Spirit of
God who is living, sentient, and
who is responsible for the creative process. It is my belief that
these observances serve as
spiritual germination processes
designed to grow spiritual roots
that reach deep into the Spirit
where the miraculous receives
nourishment and strength to
push through and into reality.
It is easy to fall into the trap of
thinking that we have the power
to manipulate or change situations solely by reciting a certain
form of prayer or chanting scriptures repetitively. Although there
is nothing wrong with exercising
our faith this way, we should be
cognizant that these activities by
themselves do not produce the
miraculous. God still has a part
to play in the process. If we do
not submit to this fact, we may
become disheartened or resentful if our circumstances do not
change as we believed.
As Christians we are endowed
with authority through the completed works of Jesus. We are