Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).
There are two different kinds of faith that operate in a believer’s life. My wife and I recently had encounters with both. They are mentioned in Hebrews 11:1, which is the best and most concise biblical definition of faith.
The first kind of faith involves believing God for specific things. That is the assurance of things hoped for. We ask God for specific provisions or actions as we are invited to do so in the Scriptures (see Philippians 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:7). For instance, the salvation of a friend or family member, or God’s provision for a specific financial need. That was the kind of faith we felt directed to employ when we began praying for His miraculous provision for the purchase of Eagles Wings in Kenya by May 1st. That did not happen, but we were, somewhat to our own surprise, not dismayed. Instead, we felt the Holy Spirit reassuringly directing us to another kind of faith.
That second faith is resting faith. It’s looking to God to accomplish things His way without telling us how He is going to do it. That is implied in the second half of Hebrews 11:1—the conviction of things not seen. It’s a faith that says, “I don’t know how or when He is going to do it, but I know He will because He is faithful, and His ways and thoughts are higher than mine.”
It sounds like fatalism, but it isn’t. We take steps to prepare so we can act on God’s making a way for us—much like the people of Israel had to prepare to cross the Jordan River while God was working upstream and out of sight to stem the water flow.
While we exercise resting faith we persist in prayer, reaffirming our trust that He is at work doing what is humanly improbable or impossible and that in HIs time that work will unfold for us to see.
Both kinds of faith are rooted in daily intimacy with God, through which we learn to receive and follow the directions of the Holy Spirit. Based on Romans 8:26, we don’t know how we ought to pray, so we seek His direction for it: Should we pray for a specific act or provision, or should we pray in surrender to His higher ways and means as an expression of trust that He will do things His way?
There are two encouraging stories in Scripture that describe resting faith. The first is that of King Hezekiah in Isaiah in 2 Kings 18 & 19. His response to the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib of Assyria was to take the threatening letter he had received, spread it out before the Lord, and pray for deliverance.
No idea how – just that we have an impossible situation here, and we’re going to leave it in the hands of God, for Whom nothing is impossible to save us. The result was that a single angel killed 185,000 Assyrians in their camp that night, causing the rest to flee. Wow. I’m pretty sure Hezekiah hadn’t imagined that. God’s explanation was simple: “Because you have prayed concerning this” (Isaiah 37:21). His amazing story is a shining example of the truth that God has ordained to win mighty victories through the prayers of His people.
The second story is similar: the prayer of the believers in Acts 4 after Peter and John had been warned to stop preaching the gospel. No potluck to celebrate their release, and no prayer for protection. Instead, the lifted their voices as one unto the Lord and cried, “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29-30)
They had no specific expectation of how God was going to answer or what He was going to do, but the ground shook and they were filled afresh with the Holy Spirit.
Believing God for specific things without the guidance of the Holy Spirit to do so can lead to boxing Him in by our expectations. Likewise, resting faith without the reassurance of the Holy Spirit that God is at work upstream and we have to wait for His plans to unfold can lead to fatalism. Hence the caveat that either form of faith must be rooted in an intimate, ongoing relationship with God whereby we listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance in how we should bring our requests to Him.
Either form of faith sets our eyes on God and fills us with joy as we await His acts of grace on our behalf. We anticipate the touches of His love and favor in the answers to our prayers. As we seek His face and HIs presence, our assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things unseen grow. Believing Him for specific things does not cause panic or stress when we are led to do so by the Holy Spirit and we keep leaning on Who God is. Neither does resting faith – knowing that He cannot, and will not fail. It rests in this ageless truth expressed by Corrie Ten Boom: “There is no panic in heaven. God has no problems, only plans.”
If you are wrestling with unanswered prayer for specific things, ask the Holy Spirit today to guide you into resting faith that relies on God’s plans being perfect, and His ways and thoughts being higher than ours.