Jesus, teach me what else You require besides me asking for Your help. Make it clear to me that in one way, everything You have for me is free; in another way, it takes a type of spiritual “money” to get Your help. Just like in the illustration about getting a huge rock removed for one hundred dollars, You have a price You want me to pay for Your help. The spiritual “money” You require of me is FAITH. Teach me that the main difference in this spiritual “money” is, I get it for free from You. I can’t earn it, deserve it, steal it, trade for it, or demand it.

Jesus, I have heard a lot of definitions for the word “faith.” Sometimes I think it is like blindly jumping off of a cliff and expecting God to catch me. Sometimes I assume that it requires mindless trust or factless hope. Give me God’s definition for faith and then help me get it into my life.

Jesus, in the tractor illustration, if I don’t trust my neighbor with the tractor, if I see them as a crook or someone who would take advantage of me, I won’t ask for their help. As long as I don’t trust them, that is going to be one of my main reasons for not asking for their help. Show me that this is the same in my relationship with You.

Jesus, if I don’t trust You, then I won’t be able to enter into a faith relationship with You. If I don’t believe You are willing to help me, I probably won’t ask You for help. If I don’t think You are trustworthy, I won’t have faith in You. If I don’t believe in Your honesty, integrity, generosity, and love, I will refuse to believe in You; and, if I don’t believe in You, I won’t ask for Your help.

Jesus, if I fear You might help me but do it in a way I won’t like, I won’t ask for Your help. If I fear it might cost me too much to get Your help, I will refuse to ask for Your help. Help me ask You for Your help; but, help me start by asking You to help me trust You. Let my first “ask” request be one where I ask You to help me see some very important things about You. Help me realize that I must have this relationship before I will trust You for helping me with other things.

In this study, Jesus, help me look at a lot of promises and provisions that You are offering me. Let the Bible tell me about all kinds of wonderful things You say You have done for me and are going to do for me. Help me put my faith in those words so I can simply be believing that You are telling me the truth. The challenge is me being able to trust You; let us do some things together so I will trust You more.

Jesus, teach me that one of the main issues that offends God is for me to think He is lying to me. If I say something to someone and they basically act like I told them a lie, it offends me. It attacks my integrity and undermines my honesty. Show me how hard it is to be friends with someone who acts like I am a dishonest person; then show me that, that is the way God feels.

Jesus, teach me Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Make it clear to me that God is totally perfect and doesn’t allow any dishonesty, lying, cheating, or stealing into His character. Make it real to me that He is totally pure and, therefore, deserves my faith, trust, and respect. I struggle with believing in anyone other than my opinions, my trust in myself, and my evaluation of each and every situation. I typically believe I am the only one who has my best interest in mind; I typically believe I love myself the most; and, I typically believe all decisions about me must be run through my reasoning first.