Who doesn’t need more faith and more power? I think we all do. At any given time, we can face challenges that require us to take a deep breath and face it head-on, or shrink back in fear. Preferably, God wants us to grow in faith and walk in the power and authority He has given us in Christ.
And this is why I think 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 has rolled around in my spirit for several years now. When I pray, it comes out. When I think about the future, it pops up in my spirit. I am continually reminded that God wants the “work of faith with power” to override any and everything in me that would be counter-productive.
Paul said it this way: “Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The New Living Translation says, “…May God give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do” (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12). I like that. The work of faith with power on the inside of us should prompt us to step out and believe God. When our flesh would otherwise hesitate, the work of faith with power within us will nudge us to step out anyway.
This is why I pray it often. I don’t want to draw back. I don’t want to operate in any level of fear or hesitancy. I want to be bold. I want to “swing out over hell and spit in the devil’s eye!” (haha that’s one of my favorite quotes from Pastor Mark Hankins.) But how true! Sometimes we just need an unswerving, unintimidated, undeniable push to have crazy faith in a faithful God!
The work of faith with power.
When the Holy Spirit took up residence in your heart, this is what you received. So activate it! Thank God often for the work of faith with power within you. Tap into that which is on the inside. The Bible says there is an exceeding great power available to us who believe (Ephesians 1:19) and it’s according to the working of God’s mighty power “which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come!” (Ephesians 1:20-21).
Tap into it! The same power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells richly within you! It’s the work of FAITH WITH POWER. And it’s yours. Meditate on it. Pull from it. And watch God do an extraordinary work in and through you!
