Learning to Walk by Faith: Do You Really Trust the Lord?

Life is hard. If you haven’t figured that out yet – it is just a matter of time before you do! For unbelievers, this world is the best things will ever get. But as a believer who has given your life to Jesus Christ, this world is not your home and this is the worst things will ever get!

Everyone is born trusting. From the first days of your life, you trusted without even realizing it. You had no worries about what you would eat or what you would wear. You were not born with fears and anxieties. You were born with peace, love, and trust built into your nature – and then?

The hardships and pains of life change you over time, and erode your natural trust – even in the Lord. Jesus said, “…in this world you will have tribulation…” (John 16:33) So, when life gets hard and you really need to turn to the Lord, you don’t- because you have learned define “trust” in human terms, instead of in faith terms.

Learning to Trust the Lord is a Lifelong Journey

Learning to trust the Lord means unlearning what the world has taught you about trust. The trials and tribulations of life are the keys to your triumph! God won’t always do things the way you want Him to do them, but that doesn’t mean you can’t trust Him.

• Life has taught you to be cautiously optimistic.
• Life has taught you to plan for the best and prepare for the worst.
• Life has taught you to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
• Life has taught you that what goes around comes around.
• Life has taught you that bad things happen to good people.

As a result?

• You learn how to harden yourself
• You build walls and hide yourself
• You defend and attack
• You become hardened, suspicious and untrusting.

But, if you’re going to truly trust the Lord, your trust cannot be on your natural understanding, but your supernatural understanding. If your love for God isn’t directly tied to your trust in Him, why would you worship Him? Routine? Obligation? The Lord has so much more for you than to simply check worship off your list!

• The Lord wants to connect with your spirit, your heart, your mind.
• The Lord wants to show you His power.
• The Lord wants you to know Him more.
• The Lord wants you to invite Him closer, day by day, moment by moment.

The enemy knows that being close to the Lord, in His presence, through worship, will change you, strengthen you and empower you. That is why he works so hard to exhaust and overwhelm and discourage you!

…if you’re going to truly trust the Lord, your trust cannot be on your natural understanding, but your supernatural understanding.

~ Alicia Purdy ~

Your enemy wants to keep you trapped in fear of the future, when, in reality, only the Lord knows the things that will happen.

David wrote, “In the day when I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God whose word I praise, in God I have trusted; I will not fear. What can mere flesh do to me?” (Psalm 56:3-4)

If your faith is going to survive this storm, you’ll need to stay close to the Lord in prayer, in praise, and in the power of His Word. They will protect you, strengthen you, and guide you through the fires and the floods.

Do you really trust the Lord?

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear- and Builds Trust

Love is one of those things that people try to define a million different ways. The world’s statement of power is “Love is love”, but they contradict the Word of God, which says that GOD IS LOVE. (1 John 4:8)

• The world likes to talk about loving yourself first, but Jesus said, “This I command you: that you love one another.” (John 15:17)
• The world wants you to think that love is a feeling that comes and goes, but the Bible says that love “bears all things” and that love “never fails” – no matter what happens, no matter how hard or how bad. (1 Corinthians 13:7-8)
• The world wants to convince you that love is based on attraction, but God wants your love to be based on trust.

The world defines “trust” as, “the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone; dependence on something future or contingent: HOPE.”

The Bible defines trust as giving yourself and all that concerns you to the Lord, freely, without condition or qualification – “with all your heart” and then “leaning not on your own understanding.”  (Proverbs 3:5) And John wrote, “THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE.” (1 John 4:18)

You don’t have to be afraid to trust the Lord. In fact, you cannot completely love a God you completely don’t trust and you will not worship a God you don’t trust, not completely. And if you don’t trust that God answers your prayers, you won’t trust Him for anything else. So, do you trust the Lord?

Then praise and worship will be your faith in action, the “proof” that what you say you believe is really true.

Do you really trust the Lord?

Worship Reveals Your Trust in the Lord

The essence of your faith in the Lord is that you have nothing to base your beliefs on except for trust in Him, in things – like His promises in His Word – that you cannot perceive with your natural senses.

The enemy wants to drag you back down into the natural realm, where he has his domain and influence and authority. This is why you must discipline yourself to pull away from the flesh and walk by faith and not by sight by remaining in the presence of the Lord through the sacrifice of praise and worship.

• Isaiah wrote, “Lord, we show our trust in You by obeying Your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify Your name…” (Isaiah 26:8, NLT)
• David wrote, “Those who know Your name will put their trust in You…” (Psalm 9:10)

When you choose to set aside yourself and offer a thanksgiving sacrifice of praise to Him, when your bring yourself and your flesh low and bless His name, even as the storms rage around you, your faith is the proof that God’s Word is true (Hebrews 11:1).

When you praise the Lord in faith, you show yourself, your enemy, and the God you love that you TRUST THE LORD and that you are confident that He is who He said He is and that He will do what He said He will do. Hold steady, build up your faith in the Lord, choose to trust Him, and worship.

Do you really trust the Lord?

“We Will Trust in the Name of Our God”

The Word of God will provide light when the path is dark and you don’t know which way to go (Psalm 119:105). When you feel at a loss, or are stuck in a season of difficulty, or you’ve been given an impossible diagnosis or you’ve lost everything, or you need help knowing which way to go, you need to know His name so you can put your trust in Him.

When you want more of God, you must give Him more of yourself. In reality, there isn’t more of Him, He gave it all to you. Get to know Him more and let Him reveal Himself to you in each season of your life.

As you seek Him, He will reveal His name, and His character and His nature to you in a fresh way that will provide exactly what you need to press onward into victory. Then, you can partner in power with the names of God for your situation.

God is so vast and unknowable that the best way He could help our limited human minds “understand” Him is through His names. Here are just a few:

The Lamb of God. The Lion of Judah. El Shaddai. Jehovah Jireh. Yahweh. The Shepherd. The King. The Righteous Judge. The Light of the World. The Rock. Our Ever-Present Help. The Bread of Life. Living Water. The Spirit of Truth. The Son of God. The Prince of Peace. Wonderful. The Word. Counselor. Mighty God. King of Kings. Everlasting Father. Messiah. 

As He reveals Himself as you seek Him, your response in faith is to put your trust in Him, to thank Him, to praise and worship Him as though your need is already met.

The victory that overcomes the world is your faith, John wrote (1 John 5:4). Praise and worship God, according to the name He has revealed to you and your faith will prove Him worthy of your trust!

• You can TRUST that God loves you unconditionally. (Romans 8:28-29)
• You can TRUST that your sin is covered by Jesus’ blood and your salvation is assured. (John 3:16-17)
• You can TRUST that God wants to heal you. (Matthew 8:1-3)
• You can TRUST trust that God will provide. (Ephesians 4:19)
• You can TRUST that God will stand by every Word He has spoken. (Isaiah 55:11)
• You can TRUST that God has a plan for your life. (Jeremiah 29:11)
• You can TRUST that God will make all things beautiful in His time. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
• You can TRUST that God will complete the work He has started in you. (Philippians 1:6)
• You can TRUST that God will work all things – even what the enemy means for evil – for His good purposes as you walk according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
• You can TRUST that He will remember your tears (Psalm 56:8)
• You can TRUST that God is more powerful than Satan. (1 John 4:4)
• You can TRUST that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1-2)

If you struggle to trust the Lord, you won’t want to praise Him, when your praise and worship are part of the winning plan!

• “…those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” (Psalm 9:10)
• “I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.” (Psalm 13:5)
• “To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.” (Psalm 22:5)
• The Bible says, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I was helped; therefore my heart rejoices, and with my song I will thank Him.” (Psalm 28:7)

Thought for Today: Give More of You to the God Who is Worthy of Your Trust

The enemy would love nothing more than to keep you untrusting, in pain, and disconnected. Why? Because Satan understands the true power of worship more than you ever will, and he knows that if he wants to steal territory the Lord gave you, or if he wants to have victory over you, he must break you– or weaken your connection from the living, flowing, vibrant, powerful Spirit of God that is present in your praise. (Psalm 22:3)

If you truly trust the Lord, praise Him! If this is a struggle – that is ok! The expressions of praise can be a struggle at times as you walk through seasons of life. When that happens, dig deeply within and ask the Lord to reveal to you why.

Learn more about the 7 Hebrew Words for Praise and how each one helps create strength, intimacy, and fresh revelation as you understand more about God’s plan for praise in your life!

God doesn’t require perfection. God doesn’t require that you are without flaw in order to enter into His presence. GO IN BROKEN. Just GO IN. Jesus Christ paid the cost of your entry! There may be a trust issue deep inside that is affecting your desire to connect with the Lord in worship and if so, it’s time to walk in the freedom Christ paid for.

Do you really trust the Lord?

It is “natural” to struggle, and it is supernatural to see victory before the battle is over. You can trust the Lord “with your whole heart” but you must “lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) Yes, God knows your heart, but when it comes to your relationship with Him trust, like love, is an expression- and your PRAISE is how your prove your trust.

Grow in Your Trust in the Lord: “Learning to Walk in the Power of Gratitude Directed Toward God”