great faith
Teaching

Great Faith

When I was young, there was a neighbor who I really looked up to. In fact, I loved bragging about him to my friends. This man was larger than life to me. You might find this strange, but what got me interested in him was what was in his garage. The first time he invited me in, my mouth must have dropped open. It was packed with great wonders for a young boy to look at. Electrical devices, things that moved, old engines, amazing gadgets and more… it was awesome! He would invite me in periodically to talk with me about his treasures. Often he and I would sit on tall stools and I would listen to him as he taught me about life.

I believe God used that relationship fifty years ago to be a jump off point in my growth with Him. My neighbor is long gone, but I have a new friend who is bigger than life itself; God. And boy, do I love to show Him off! Instead of meeting God in His garage, I meet Him on my knees. Instead of God having a cool garage, He shares with me the wonders of Heaven. Truly, there is nothing I would rather do than show off God and His household.

The relationship I have with God and His Son Jesus didn’t just happen. It had to grow by me chasing after them with all my heart and soul. Holy Spirit came later, but He is as important as the other Two. I had to put some effort into chasing after them. It turns out if we are to be successful at anything in life, it takes work. Sometimes a great investment. The more I sought to learn and know the Godhead, the closer they have come.

Isaiah 55:6 (NKJV)
6 Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.

Not only did I have to dig in and study the Bible, I had to learn how to pray correctly. From my youth I have been wired for prayer. It came easy for me. But I also found that most of my prayers didn’t bring much of a response from Heaven. The truth is I was a sinner doing things that grieved God and as a result, Heaven became brass from my petitions. Added to that, often my prayers were amiss. They didn’t line up with the will of God for my life or those I was praying for. They were often self-centered prayers instead of God centered. Much has changed over the years in how I pray and today my prayers are often answered the same day.

I want to share a few truths with you which I have learned over the years which should help propel you ahead with your walk with God. It took me forty years to figure out what I know today and my hope for you is that you learn what I am about to teach you so you won’t have to trip along as I did. If you will practice what I am about to teach you, your life is going to be filled with joy.

Most people today face great mountains or giants in their lives. Is that you?

I have good news. God is bigger than all the mountains and giants combined… In fact, He created all of them.

I walk in a healing and deliverance ministry and pastor a small church in Washington state. I serve both the body in my church but also minister to people all around the world. I have watched many common problems with people turn to success when they began to see God from a right perspective. God is not your father or mother, He is I AM. And you need to know this… He loves you more than you can ever imagine. His love for you transcends all of the pain and suffering you are going through or ever will. God is full of promises for you. Your job is to grab onto them.

Know that God has begun a good work in you, even today. And He promises to complete it. All you have to do is yield to Him.

I count it pure joy to watch as God moves in the lives of people just like you through this ministry. There is nothing in this world which excites me more than to hear later on that a life has been changed for the better. You could very well be that next story. For you to become a man or woman used of God is the greatest experience you will ever have in this life. So the question really becomes, “Are you willing to give your life to Christ Jesus and serve His household?” If so, let me show you some truths about God.

In order for you to walk in great faith and perform great miracles, you have to be sold out with God. This means no matter what, you’re in. No fear… No worry… just a pure faith that God can do anything because He is God. He knows everything about you anyway. He is well aware of what you face on a daily basis.

I want you to realize there are promises for you in the Bible but you are going to have to chase after them with all you have. They don’t come with a life indifferent to God. They come to those who believe them and continue to lift them up to the Throne. God isn’t going to let you down or forsake you. We do that all by ourselves.

Just as a baby grows and matures, so does the person who turns their life to Christ.

Do you know you can actually speak for God?

The beginning of my walk with God began with prayer. I prayed and asked Jesus into my heart. I knew that empty place needed to be filled and I also knew there was only one thing that would satisfy me; Him. Right after, I was water baptized so my sin would be washed out of me as I went under. The next step was to begin walking out my salvation with fear and trembling. Fear of God is missing in our lives. The church teaches to have a reverent fear of God. That is fine, but I have a real fear of God that He can do anything He wants, because He is God.

I still walk in that fear today. The reason I do is so I don’t sin before Him. I would rather fear God than play with Satan. The beginning of your walk with God needs to be prayer based. While some people find it hard to get going in prayer, my suggestion is you set up a chair in your room and imagine Jesus sitting in it. Then, just talk with Him. Let Him know what is going on in your life. Ask Him how He’s doing. He really is real and will show Himself to the person who really cares about Him. Talk to Him and be real. I have read many testimonies of Jesus eventually showing up in front of people who decided He was that important to them.

Because of your circumstances in life, you may want to ask Him for things like money. The reason that never seems to work is because God has already promised to take care of your needs. It’s a promise. But the devil wants you to believe you have to do everything in your own strength. God will take of your needs if you will just trust Him. Go about your day and believe for miracles to happen for you. But know this, if you are doubting for your needs to be taken care of even for a moment, they won’t come. God only responds to faith in Him.

As well, if you are sinning before God, don’t expect Him to bless you. All of this is a choice we each have to make. We either serve Him or the devil. Walking in His ways is an imperative to a great life. Many today are sexually active with others. Do not think God condones this. In fact, it is a death knell tolling in the distance of those who partake in it. You really can control your urges and chase after God instead of relying on someone else to fulfill your desires. If you are going to lie and cheat others, the results will be the same for you.

The Kingdom of God is of sowing and reaping

I often get asked, “Does God want me to be rich?” The question is absolutely “Yes!” First in Him and later in having great provision that is immeasurable. But God only blesses those who walk in obedience and righteousness before Him. That is His promise to you. Give up the sin and turn to Him and watch what He does in your life. There will never be a time where we sin and God says He is fine with it. Never.

If you ask God to save your next door neighbor or your best friend, you would be praying His will. But God may ask you to go over and talk to your neighbor or friend. He may have already answered your prayer by tilling the heart of the person to receive the truth of who He is. Will you go? Or are you going to expect God to send someone else? When you follow the will of the Father in your prayer life, you will do amazing things with God. But you will have to decide on what’s more important in your life… you or Him.

Let’s say you continue to ask God to provide for your needs. That’s an interesting prayer because it’s already a promise of God for you. When we ask God to provide for us, we are really saying, “I don’t believe your promise to me, so I thought I would ask anyway.” Do you see how that is kind of silly on our part? God has said He will take care of us. All we have to do is believe for it and walk rightly with Him. We put our faith in Him instead of our own abilities.

We often pray according to our lack of understanding in our situations

We serve a God who is the God of the impossible. When was the last time you prayed for the impossible? Would God be excited about that type of prayer? Of course. Those prayers show God you realize how amazing He is. When we take the low road in prayer, we are saying, “I don’t really believe You will do that!”

Are you double-minded with God?

Jesus told His disciples a number of times that they were filled with unbelief. What is amazing is that they were His disciples who walked with Him through one miracle after another. They knew Jesus was the Savior and Gods Son. Yet they still walked in doubt. Is that you? It’s time to begin a new chapter and believe God. He will accomplish major works through you and around you if you will just believe. But you cannot doubt one tiny bit!

Do you remember the story of His disciples being in a boat on a stormy sea? They thought the ship was going to go down. Jesus was down below sleeping. The God of all Creation in the form of Man wasn’t concerned about dying whatsoever. Neither should we. Jesus was waken up and all He did was speak to the storm. Do you know that you can do the same thing? Each of us face storms of different types. And all we have to do is speak to it. “In the Name of Jesus, storm!, go…” That’s it. By using that Name, all of Heaven will respond for you.

You can tell the storm to move on…

Here’s the deal… Jesus wants you to realize you can speak for Him. In every issue of your life, the issues of others, you can give voice and overrule every act of evil and wickedness around. But you have to know the rules of engagement. The first one is the Name of Jesus. The second is your faith in using it.

I want to give you a little secret about faith. When you speak into a situation, know that Holy Spirit is hovering over the void that needs to change. And He is waiting on you to speak with authority and move that mountain out of the way. It may be imminent harm wanting to come to you, or your finances. The question is will you believe?

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is John 14:14. It says, Ask me for anything in My Name, and I will do it!”

That is a promise for you personally. Ask in His Name and He will do it. The only requirement is that you do not doubt for what you have asked of. Otherwise you are considered double-minded by God and He tells us that we will not receive our petition if so. (James 1)

Maybe today you are fighting sickness or disease in your life. Maybe someone you love is broken and miserable. The devil can keep telling you that it’s just the way it is, or you can believe that God sent His Son to bring freedom from the devils plans. It’s time to fight back spiritually.

Will you dare to believe and allow your faith to grow as God moves through your requests? He will. It’s time for us to move past the basic fundamentals of Christianity. People are looking for answers in their lives. Maybe you are the very person God wants to use to answer them. It’s time to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Just know you better count the cost before you dive in. I have personally counted the cost and it has brought me close to death a number of times. Do I care? No. I wouldn’t change a thing. It is a privilege to serve Christ Jesus.

We are facing tremendous unrest in this country. Are you going to go out and purchase a gun or will you stand in front of the person who wants to bring you harm and do what Jesus has taught you to do? Speak for Him.

You and I aren’t wrestling with flesh and blood, but the sin that resides in the person who wants to harm you. That sin is alive and it is controlling people as if they are puppets. It matters little to me what you might you believe about this. This is the truth.

If you are about to be harmed, try saying, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper!” Then says something like, “Jesus look what the devil is trying to do? Get out of here now in Jesus Name?”

You see, you won’t be talking to the person who wants to bring you harm, but that which is in them causing them to lash out.

If you are one of Gods anointed, you can say, “Bring no harm against one of Gods anointed. Go
, in the Name of Jesus.”

One of my heroes is Samuel found in the Bible. He didn’t care who was in front of him, even kings. In fact, he cut a king in half because of the man’s sin. Daniel walked the same way. So did Elijah and Elisha. They walked with God and became awesome men of God.

That title isn’t reserved just for them. You can walk in your life the same way!

It’s time to wake up Christian…

I want to close with this:

I’ve been teaching my church to get on their knees in prayer every day. Most of the people are doing it now and some of them have already encountered Jesus face to face. Do not think this teaching is some religious thing. It isn’t. It is respecting a King who is over all of Creation. Jesus spoke to me and made it clear that He counts this act of humility as an important part of our walk with Him.

If you want your prayers answered quickly, get serious and get on your knees daily. We need to humble ourselves and stop thinking we have all the answers but never do anything with them.

End your times in prayer with, “Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours”

Smith Wigglesworth, a tremendous man of God, said something over and over again which I have held close to my heart. He said, “Dare to believe!” That is my word for you now. Dare to believe. Step out of your comfort zone and dare to believe for anything you ask for. Just make sure it is in the perfect will of your Father.

With love and respect for who you are,

Pastor Jeff Mauer

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Senior Pastor of Faith Tabernacle Church