Don't Worry, Only Believe — Gisela Yohannan

Paul's Prayer for the Thessalonians: Desire for Goodness

We were looking at the Apostle Paul's prayer for the Thessalonians. Now he didn't stop with praying that they are worthy of their calling. He went on to a few more things. He was praying for them. And we will look at the next one.

He was saying to this end also we pray for you always that our God may count you worthy of your calling and fulfill every desire for goodness in the work of faith with power. First of all, in this part of his prayer he prays now for the Thessalonians that God may fulfill every desire for goodness.

That is every their desire and God's desire. It was not that he would fulfill all their wish list. You know like I need five pairs of the latest boots from Macy's. I was amazed how many people here wear boots.

You must be expecting snow any minute. You know I used to wear boots when I was in Germany growing up and we had lots of snow. But there in Dallas people wear boots for fashion rather than for snow. So, and he doesn't pray for them to have a trip to Hawaii and to have a new car.

He's praying that God will fulfill their desire for goodness. Now the desire for goodness, what is it? The desire of a Christian should be identical with Christ's desire. You remember we were saying always like Christ, speak like Christ, act like Christ, be obedient like Christ.

Now we need to say you know Christ's desire was identical with his father's desire and our desire need to be identical with Christ's desire. So what is Christ's desire? Well he taught us to pray in Matthew 6 .10 and he was praying thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

That's one of Christ's desire and then another desire is go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation and there are other things. Our desire need to be identical with Christ's desire and Paul is praying that then God will fulfill our desire and then he prays some more and he says that God may fulfill the work of faith with power.

Faith That God Answers With Power

That means the work you do on Christ's behalf that he will fulfill your work of faith with power. That means that God can answer your faith with power. That you pray in such a way that God can answer your faith, that you believe in such a way that God can answer your faith with power.

You remember the story on Mount Carmel and Elijah? That's what Apostle Paul is praying for, that when you believe for something that's according to the will and the desire of Christ that God will answer with power, fire from heaven and then it will also mean that your faith in ministry, your witnessing, your intercession is effective and has results.

That your faith triumphs over suffering, over persecution and martyrdom. Second Thessalonians 1 .4, for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and affliction which you endure, that's what he's praying for, for their endurance and faith that God can answer with power when we pray.

Now many of you prayed for many things in your life and sometimes we get answers and sometimes nothing happens and we wonder what is it? Is something wrong with God or is something wrong with me? Something wrong with my faith?

I can tell you one thing, there is nothing wrong with God. It must be down here. Maybe we don't pray according to his desire but if we do, in many of our prayers for the lost world, for your lost neighbors, for your unsafe relatives, it surely is the desire of the Lord to answer.

And all of us wish that every one of our prayers God can answer with power, that something will happen. Now when we look in the New Testament, we have wonderful examples when God answers faith with power and the most, the best examples is when we study the Lord Jesus himself.

He walked as a man here on earth though he was God at the same time. But God put limitations to him. He walked in our flesh. He tasted our temptations. He tasted our suffering. But look at when Jesus prayed, God answered every one of his prayers with power.

His faith was answered with power. When he called Lazarus out of the tomb, the Lord was answering with power. When he healed blind Bartimaeus, God was answering Jesus' faith with power. When he fed the five thousand, he prayed for the bread, five sloves and two fishes, and God answered with power.

So we do well to learn from the very best how to have faith that God can answer with power. So in this session, we will look at a story from the Lord Jesus. But before we do that, we want to look a little bit at faith for just a few minutes.

Faith as the Foundation of Christian Life

Nothing in God's kingdom works apart from faith. Nothing. Our salvation only works if we put our trust in the Lord. Then we get saved. And without faith, it is impossible to please God, Hebrews 11 .6.

It starts with salvation, everything else. We need to have faith. Otherwise, God cannot answer with power. And everything you ask in prayer, believing you shall receive, Matthew 21, 20, 22. For the one who doubts, for let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord.

That's in James 1, 6 and 7. So nothing in God's kingdom works apart from faith. I got a car there in Dallas, and my car only runs on gas. If I don't fill in gas, it doesn't run. I cannot substitute my gas with water, or I pour coffee in the tank, or I pour Pepsi in the tank, or I take a bottle of liquid plumber and put it in the tank, my car will not run.

Dear sisters, please remember, nothing in God's kingdom works apart from faith. Now, we all encounter situations in our life where our immediate reaction is fear and worry and despair. Instead of believing God and believing in the promises and believing that he will do miracles, so often our immediate reaction is fear and worry and despair.

Why is that? Fear comes natural to us. That's why it is. We forget how great God is, and we only see our limitations and our helplessness. I remember when my daughter was born. That's some 30 years ago.

She was nine weeks old, and she got one day so sick, so I couldn't find what was wrong with her. I took her to the emergency, and they couldn't find anything wrong. They checked the ears and this and that, and so they said, we need to admit her to the hospital.

And then they start making all these tests, you know, and the little baby, you know, they took blood, and they hooked up IVs, and they took a spinal tap, and they did this and that and the other thing.

And you know what? I was a pastor's wife at the time, and in the middle of the night, I lost it. I was crying. The nurse had to go get the doctor to calm me down. What went wrong was my faith. I knew these Bible verses, but what went wrong was my faith.

Jairus Learns to Believe in the Face of Death

Maybe you'll figure it out after we go through this lesson. Now, God put an illustration in the New Testament that shows us how to have faith that God can answer with power. The story is about Jairus when his daughter got so sick and later dies.

We read the story in Mark 22, 24, and then 35 through 43. Now, when we look at the encounter Jesus had with Jairus, we find Jairus comes to Jesus and asks him to come to his house, and we find that Jesus actually in that story becomes the personal coach to train Jairus how to believe, how to overcome his fear, and how to receive God's promises.

And when we read this story, you need to remember God is coaching us. Jesus is coaching us through this story how to believe God in such a way that he can answer us. Now, Jairus, he could believe for a miracle as long as his child was still alive.

You know, he was very desperate, and he came to Jesus to call him to come to his house. And we read in Mark 5, 22 and 23, he fell at Jesus' feet, and he entreated him earnestly and said, come to my house.

And he believed. He said to the Lord, come and lay your hands on her that she may get well and live. In other words, he was saying, I know Jesus is the answer. He will do a miracle if he just comes in time.

If the child is alive, then I know God will do a miracle. But before Jesus ever could get there, the child died, and it's too late for a miracle. That's what Jairus thought. The messenger comes and says to Jairus, your daughter has died.

And then the messenger gives him an advice, and he says, why trouble the teacher anymore? He said, it's no use for Jesus to come anymore. It's too late. You know, we face the same things. When some things happen in your life, maybe in your family with your children, people say, you don't need to pray anymore.

That son of yours will never change. Or that husband of yours, he will never come back. Just go on with your life. Give up your hope. I had people telling me things like that when I believed for something that looked impossible.

They were saying to me, you can forget about it. You know, it's too late. It has gone too far. Now Jesus was listening to the conversation of Jairus and his messenger. And you know what Jesus did? He interrupted it.

He interrupted it. He broke into the conversation. Why did he do that? He wanted to rescue Jairus' faith. Jesus was seeing that Jairus' faith was failing. He started to believe the messenger, and he wanted to follow the messenger's advice.

And fear was taking over Jairus' heart. So to rescue Jairus' faith, Jesus was saying to him, Mark 5 .36, do not fear any longer. Only believe. Only believe. He was saying, Jairus, don't try to figure out how God can do something in this situation.

Only believe. Only believe. Why was it so important to Jesus that Jairus didn't give up his faith? Why was it so important? Jesus knew to receive anything from God, we have to have faith. The Bible says we can receive nothing unless there is faith in our heart.

Jesus knew as long as Jairus has faith, God can do the impossible, even in the face of death. And Jesus knew, no faith, everything is over, in spite of the exceedingly great promises that God had given in his word.

The same is true for our life. In spite of the promises God has, if we don't believe, God can do nothing. God cannot answer with power. So Jesus is trying to rescue Jairus' faith. And he is teaching Jairus the most important lesson on faith.

What is that? Only believe, Mark 5 .36. The most important lesson on faith is only believe. Do nothing else than to trust God. We have in India and the other Asian countries, we have Bridge of Hope schools.

There we take some of these children from the untouchables. We give them an education and we help them also to learn about the Lord. And we train them and provide their needs. We got about 60 ,000 of them.

And we hear so many stories of simple faith of these little kids when they go home and share what they learned at the Bridge of Hope school. One of these little girls, her grandpa was blind. And so one day, her teacher at the Bridge of Hope Center was telling the little kids the stories how Jesus healed the blind man.

This little girl comes all excited home and she announced to her parents. I told them the story and said, I'm going to pray for grandpa that Jesus will make him well, that he can see. And her parents tried to stop her, but she just only believed.

She heard the story, this is what Jesus can do. Okay, I can pray and my grandpa can see. And she prayed, only believe. And the grandpa received a miracle and received his sight. Why does God seek to reduce us to only believe?

Pure Faith Versus Fear and Worry

Because usually when we face problems, we react like Jairus. We believe and we are fearful at the same time. Or we believe and we are anxious at the same time. We believe and we worry. We believe and we weep and we mourn and grieve over the situation.

We believe and we listen to the negative advice of our well-meaning friends. We believe and we imagine the worst to happen. We believe and we try to figure things out. We believe and we try to tell God what he needs to do to rescue us.

God is looking for pure faith, not a mixture of faith and fear. Or faith and worry. Or faith and weeping and mourning. He looks for pure faith so he be able to respond to our prayers and our faith in power.

Like the Apostle Paul was praying for the Thessalonians. Jesus, many times when he healed someone, he was saying to them, Your faith has made you well. Like in Mark 5 .34 or Luke 17 .19. Jesus never once said, Your faith and worry has made you well.

Or your faith and your imagination has made you well. Or your faith in trying to figure out things has made you well. You know, these words that we read in this story are recorded for our instruction.

That's what the Bible says. It's recorded for our instruction how to learn to believe God. God put it there for you and me. If we only believe without mixing anything to it, it will protect our faith from getting destroyed.

You know, when the father came to Jesus, whose son had a demon, he was saying to Jesus, If you can do anything, you know. And Jesus said, All things are possible to him who believes. Mark 9 .23. And to Martha, when Lazarus was already dead for four days, he said, Did I not tell you if you believe you will see the glory of God?

John 11 .40. He didn't say to her, If you believe and you worry, then you will see the glory of God. Or if you believe and you listen to the negative talk of your neighbors, you will see the glory of God.

He didn't say that. He only said, If you believe. Jesus asked his people to only believe. Only believe. Only believe. Nothing else. The reason is, unless we leave all other things behind, our faith gets destroyed before we see the answer to our prayers.

Worry as the Enemy That Chokes Faith

Usually, when we have a difficult situation, when we hear God's promises, faith starts to build in our hearts. Romans 10 .17 says, So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. We usually, when some problems happen, we look in God's word and we find a promise.

And we start believing. But then, all of a sudden, like in Jairus' case, the word of God that is now in our heart encounters an enemy that chokes the little faith plant to death. And that is worry. You remember Jesus was talking about the good soil and the stony soil.

And then he talks about the seed that fell among the thorns. He said, These are the ones who have heard. And as they go on their way, they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to maturity.

Now, Jesus lists the number one enemy of faith. Worry. We worry when we are supposed to only believe. What happens when we worry? Worry turns into fear. And fear turns into unbelief. Now Jairus, he stopped Jesus.

Jesus stopped Jairus right at this point. You know? His faith was about to turn into unbelief. And Jesus said, Only believe. Jesus also explained to his disciples, You know, what good does it do to you if you are anxious and fearful?

It changes nothing on the situation. Luke 12, 25, he said,. And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single cubit to his lifespan? Which of you? Luke 12, 25. But when God sees faith in our heart, what happens?

Applying “Only Believe” to Every Circumstance

It activates heaven on our behalf. And our faith will be answered with power. Jesus said, And everything you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. Matthew 21, 22. Now, dear sisters, tell me what you should do if you are concerned about your future.

Only believe. If you have problems in your marriage, only believe. If your child has gone astray, only believe. If you feel rejected and alone, only believe. If you are sick, only believe. If there is no money to meet your needs, only believe.

Don't add worry. Don't add fear. Don't add anything else. Only believe. What about if you have failed and you feel God can't use you anymore? Only believe. If someone betrayed your trust, what should you do?

Only believe. If people criticize you, only believe. If no one appreciates you, only believe. If you face misunderstanding, only believe. If someone disappointed you and you lost the courage to trust anyone anymore, only believe.

I want this word, only believe, to resound to you in your mind even if you wake up at night and some difficulty comes to your mind. Just hear this only belief that Lord Jesus was asking Jairus to do. I think many of you know the song God will make a way where there is no way.

I heard a story about this song. A mother, her only daughter had left and that daughter went astray. She was living somewhere on the street, probably doing trucks and went into all kinds of things. In the end, the parents didn't even know where she was.

And the mother prayed and her heart was so broken. And one day she heard that song, God will make a way where there is no way. And she decided that she will only believe that God will change her. And one day this girl came home totally changed.

And that daughter became a great blessing to the whole family. How did it happen? How did the mother's faith was answered by God with power? Only believe. Only believe. I remember one day in my life that was years ago.

I had a really difficult situation. I had... I ran out of anything I knew what to do. And I was reading this story in Luke about Jairus. And I remember I was sitting at McDonald's and drinking some coffee.

And I didn't know what to do anymore. And right there I made a decision. I can't figure it out. I have done what I can. There is nothing left to do. Everybody has given up. And I decided and I took a napkin or a piece of paper and I wrote down, I make a decision, I will only believe.

Did God answer with power? He did in an amazing way. It was months later. But he answered more, way more than I ever imagined in every way. This lesson for me is so, so important because I experienced in my life, you know, as a mother, as a parent, as a pastor's wife, some of you are pastor's wives, we care for people and we love them.

We have relatives we love dearly. And we cannot do anything. We have done what we can. We have said what we can. We have advised what we can. Nothing is working. I want to ask you, make a decision for your situation, for the things that everybody has given up hope for.

Decide, I will only believe. And when you go home and you start praying for that situation again and you start worrying again, you stop yourself. And only believe. You tell the Lord, I can't figure it out, but you know it.

I will only believe. I will, you know, it talks about Abraham. He had faith, hope against hope, you know. There was nothing to hope anymore. But he didn't waver in his faith. Believing God is faithful to what he promised.

When you face a problem in your life, go and find a promise in God's Word for your situation. And then take that promise as yours. Say, this is written for me. And then make a decision to only believe and not let go until you see the fulfillment.

This is what Paul was praying for the Thessalonians. Faith that allows God to answer with power. Faith that is not mixed with anything else than trusting God. Only believe. Only believe. Well, sometimes we may say, but what if I only believe and things turned out different than I prayed?

Maybe God doesn't answer in the way we think. You can trust God. He knows what he's doing. He never made a single mistake. I remember we prayed for my mother that God would heal her and he took her home.

I know God doesn't make a single mistake. He's always good. He's always love. He will never change. Everything he does is rooted in his love. But dear sisters, God is so eager to answer your faith with power.

A Final Call to Trust God’s Promises

What do you need to do? Say it one more time. One more time. If you haven't written in your notebook, please write it down. Because maybe a week or two months from now, you may come up against a situation where you don't know what to do.

Then you pull your notebook out and read what you're supposed to do. Only believe. You can even put it on your mirror or on your laptop or on your iPhone. Only believe. This is what Apostle Paul is praying for the Thessalonians that God gives them a faith that only believes so he can answer with power.

This is what he is praying for us as well. We will end this session here. It's a little bit early, but I'm sure Melissa will have something for you to do. Shall we pray? Lord Jesus, we thank you that you told us in such a simple way what to do so our faith will be answered with power.

Lord, give us the grace that we lay down all the worries, all the fears, all the imagination we have, and only believe. And you said that you will be faithful to answer and to respond in power. We thank you so much.