When You Don’t Have Faith For Yourself, Hold On To This Powerful Truth

Why is it that I have no problem in praying for others!?   

When asked, I can pray and believe for them that God will do great and mighty things, but when it comes to having faith for my own job situation, finances, health, etc. My “faith bulb” goes dim? 

Have you ever experienced that?  I am guessing that it is more common than we might think. 

Recently, a dear listener wrote to us and said, “I love listening to the station and hearing uplifting stories. However, I do have a confession to make. I am having some health issues and an uncertain diagnosis. Yesterday there was a story about the power of prayer and a total cure. I firmly believe in the power of prayer, and I have witnessed it, but I felt skeptical yesterday and realized maybe I don’t trust God’s plan for people enough.  I would appreciate prayers for my illness as well as prayers that I become more accepting and trusting in God’s plan for me. 

I appreciate her honesty, because the truth is that I have the very same problem!  I have faith for you, but not for me.  What is even more startling is that the “auto correct” on my computer wants me to change my last sentence to, I have faith IN you, but not IN me.  

I wonder if part of the problem is that I self-sabotage by thinking God answers prayers based on my performance and good deeds? 

If that is true, then it makes sense that I have both faith FOR you and IN you, because I know that I don’t measure to my own standards, let alone God’s.  In other words, that still small voice inside my head whispers, “Certainly, He would help [insert the name of your friend], but He knows me too well” and then the disappointment sets in. 

I neither consider myself an expert in prayer or faith, but what I do know is that we serve a loving, merciful God that knows me inside out, past, present, and future and loves me enough to send His Son Jesus to die on a cross and on top of all that, He hears our prayers, petitions, and concerns. 

So, as we journey onward, I know that both faith and prayer are mysteries, and they are neither formulas for success nor guarantees to be answered the way we wish.   

God is sovereign and His ways are higher than my ways, and isn’t that enough? 

In the meantime, please join me in praying for our dear listening friend who has a health concern and is facing an uncertain diagnosis, and while you’re at it, please pray for me, because I have faith in you; a little for myself, but mostly faith in God’s amazing love. 

Let me know what you think and what you do when your “faith bulb” goes dim.  I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Dick Whitworth
Director of Operations, STAR