I Choose to Believe!!?

Call To Prayer

Title: I Choose to Believe

Date: 15.11.2022

By: Daniel Peter

And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Luke 16:31 NKJV

Recently I interviewed someone who shared her testimony of God’s intervention when she was sick and almost dying. I asked her, what inspired the faith in her to believe God in at that moment. She responded by saying: “it’s a choice”. That is, she chose to believe in God at that moment. Her statement was very profound, as it reveals that the responsibility of faith is on us.

Believe as a choice was also what the conversation between Abraham and the rich man in Luke chapter 16 revealed when he requested that Lazarus be sent back to witness to his brothers about the existence of hell. Abraham responded by saying “… If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead (Luke 16:31 NKJV). When Abraham said “Moses and the Prophets”, he was referring to the scriptures. In essence, Abraham was saying “if people do not believe the word, they won’t believe even when a miracle is performed”.

The above was proven true when, in a sense, God answered the prayer of the rich man through the resurrection of another Lazarus from the dead (John 11). Despite the obviousness of this miracle, it wasn’t enough to convince the leaders of the Jews to believe in Jesus Christ. Rather, the Bible witnessed that “… from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. (John 11:53 KJV)“. They decided not to believe.

The reason people choose not to believe is because their heart isn’t honest; they have a motive that is different from doing the will of God. For the Jews, they cared more about their place and their nation over doing the Lord’s will (John 11:48). Only in an honest and good heart does the word thrive (Luke 8:15). The cure for a heart that has become hardened (that chooses not to believe) is for the person to continually hear the word. The word is like a purifying agent, as we listen to it, it washes us clean of false motives. And like a harmer, it breaks every hardness in our heart(Jeremiah 23:29). For the word to play this role in us, we must submit ourselves to hear the word.

Another thing we need to do to overcome unbelief is prayer. The man whose child needed healing but lacked the faith for it shouted ” I believe; help my unbelief (Mark 9:5). God did respond to that prayer. We can ask Him for the grace to build our faith and He should purify our hearts.

Prayer Points:

Let’s thank God for His word. Let’s asked Him for the grace to build our faith and that He should purify our hearts of every false motive.