[Transcript of “A 5 minute cuppa” published by Horley Baptist Church on YouTube[1], May 2021]
Hi everyone, welcome to ‘a five minute cuppa’. This is the place that you can come any time of day, just for five minutes, to relax, put your feet up, have a cuppa and listen to a few words to help you grow in your relationship with God.
Today we’re going to think about those situations in our lives that are difficult, those things that feel really big, that have been going on for a long time without any obvious change. This could be anything from a destructive habit to an important but poor relationship, to a physical or emotional long-term illness, to a negative work or family situation that seems to go round and round in cycles.
You may have prayed about these situations in the past without seeing a measurable difference. If you think honestly about how you feel now you might say you have lost faith for a different outcome. You may have accepted the status quo and given up praying or believing for change. The trouble with finding ourselves in this situation is that this can subtly get into our thinking in all areas of our life so that we become stunted, either not bringing difficult issues to God or praying for situations but not really believing he will act.
This may sound like a strong word to you, perhaps even offensive. It certainly hit me like a ton of bricks when I first came across it, but we become practical atheists. We say we believe in the power of God, but in practice our lives don’t reflect this at all so that we live our lives in a similar way to our friends and neighbours who profess no faith at all.
So how do we increase our faith so that we are able to bring God into the most challenging areas of our life and keep him there, constantly inviting him to be part of every aspect? These are some of the things that have really helped me in this area and I hope that something will resonate with you and be useful in your situation.
A first good step is to recognize the place you find yourself in and to be courageously honest. Planning time to speak to a trusted friend or small group of friends that will walk with you and pray with and for you is so important. We know Jesus says that our battles are not against flesh and blood but with those that influence in the spiritual realms so if you’ve been praying without thinking about this it’s probably time to look into the spiritual realms and ask what’s really going on in this situation.
What is lying behind the attitudes and actions of the people involved? Once you can see this more clearly then you can start to speak against and cut off the negative influences that have led to the situation you find yourself in. You can ask the Holy Spirit to bring the opposite positive influences into play. Then just wait and see what happens. Keep your spiritual ears and eyes open so that if the Holy Spirit prompts, you can play your part. Look out for small changes and the wisdom to know how to react to these.
Keep the process going. Walk and talk with a friend, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what’s going on now, pray against negative influences for the opposite to come in. Wait and respond with wisdom. You may need a lot of patience. It often takes a long time to get into a deep hole and the small positive steps that build bit by bit can take a long time too, to get out of it.
I have found that when I use this process, rather than losing faith, I begin to see God very much working in these situations again. I find too, that part of the journey is God showing me the attitudes and actions I have taken that have contributed to the situation and many of the small steps that are needed are mine to own and rectify. Far from these weighing me down though, I feel grateful that God would highlight them to me. I know he does this because he cares about me and so much wants me to be part of the change he is instigating. It still might not be easy but when the Holy Spirit is always invited on the journey, faith and hope increase and change becomes a real possibility.
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[1] YouTube link: Nothing Too Big!
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Contributed by Sandy Turner; © the Author
