Juliana2

Our 8-year-old daughter reminded me of a valuable truth last week.  It was a day in which our region faced the threat of severe storms, and she was nervous about the forecast.  We had to stop by my eye doctor’s office that afternoon, and as we waited in the waiting area, she picked up a Gideon Bible.  She asked, “Daddy, what’s a scripture that talks about prayer?”

The first scriptures that came to my mind were Matthew 7:7-11, so she looked them up and read them out loud. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (NKJV).

When she finished reading, I asked, “So, what do you think that means?” She answered, “It means if I pray for the storms to break up and go around us, they will.”  I was blessed by her simple yet strong faith.  That night, I thought about her prayer as I watched the weather radar show severe storms moving to the north and south of us but missing our home.

What really blessed me was that our daughter reached out for scriptures that pertained to her need at the time. What a great lesson that is for all of us! When we face a certain need or challenge, we shouldn’t just blindly hope things will work out. We should search for scriptures that address that topic and then set our faith in agreement with God’s word.

That’s what my wife’s parents had to do when she was diagnosed with a very serious type of cancer as a four-year-old.  Her parents knew she needed a miracle, so they searched the Bible for scriptures that proclaimed God’s power to heal. They found verses such as Isaiah 53:5: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (NKJV).

They quoted that scripture and others over and over to build their faith, and they prayed that their daughter would be made whole.  Their prayers were answered, and last month, we were happy to celebrate my wife’s 40th birthday.  Her life is a continued testimony of the goodness of God and the power of His word!

Jesus Himself turned to the truth of scriptures when He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness after a 40-day fast. Three times, Satan tried to mislead Jesus into wrong action, but each time, Jesus answered by quoting a pertinent scripture. This was His way to resist Satan, and it should be our strategy as well!

Instead of just proclaiming our own beliefs, we should search the Bible to find what God believes about situations. Declaring the truth of God’s word is far more powerful than sharing our personal opinions.  When we face a real challenge, we need something better than wishful thinking; we need truth!  So, find what the Bible says about your situation, and build your faith on the word of God.