Heb 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. If we come to God not knowing whether He exists, we get rejected by Him. Are we supposed to just hope He exists and fake it? No, He would immediately reject the effort. So, how are we supposed to find out whether He really exists? The truth of the matter is, this is never a problem. Everyone knows God exists. They may not know that Jesus is His Son; but, they know God exists.

Rom 1:20 (NIV) For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Without God revealing His existence to us all, we would not stand a chance of believing in Him and coming to Him. There is a point in everyone’s life where they look at a mountain, the sky, the stars, or some part of God’s creation and God speaks His existence into their heart. All of a sudden they know He is there; they know He exits. Once that happens, God’s invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen by you, they have been clearly understood from what has been made. From that point on, if we reject Him, we are without excuse.

But, knowing that He exists doesn’t bring us to Him. Even though we know He exists we still don’t know the slightest thing about Him; we don’t know if He rewards us for earnestly seeking Him. It wasn’t until Jesus made it possible that we started to believe things about Him. Our faith in the rewards of our heavenly Father didn’t start until we made Jesus the Lord and Savior of our life. Salvation is when we received our shield of faith. We usually left it in the closet; but we had it available at salvation and justification. So, let’s see how we learn that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him and how to get that material into our shield of faith.

Mat 11:27 (NIV) All things have been committed to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. Jesus, is our only way into getting to know God and starting to experience Him and have faith in His rewards.

John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. The shield of faith is picked up at the point where we start looking to God for our help; it is when we become a person who comes to Him and believes that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. But, we won’t come to Him if we don’t trust Him; and, we won’t trust Him if we don’t know Him. And, we won’t know Him if we don’t have a WAY to get to know Him.

Without a close relationship with Jesus we would never know whether or not our Father rewards those who earnestly seek Him. AND, here’s how it works: John 14:8-10 (NIV) Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? The words I say to you are not just My own. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, Who is doing His work.

Heb 1:1-3 (NIV) In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, and through Whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

It is so important to read the Gospels; they show us the life and character of Jesus. As we see our God in human form, we start to get acquainted with Jesus and our heavenly Father at the same time. Jesus’ life here on this earth proves to us that God “rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” We can see the character of our heavenly Father as we see Jesus in action.

Rom 10:9 (NIV) That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. This is our beginning moment of believing that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Jesus died for you and He was raised for you. That makes you feel loved and helps you to start trusting Him. Rom 5:8 (NIV) But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This helps you see that Jesus has an unselfish character. Since Jesus has an unselfish character, you know your heavenly Father has an unselfish character.

Mat 7:7-8 (NIV) Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!

James 1:6-7 (NIV) But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. Satan doesn’t just tempt us with sins of lust, greed, pride, and covetousness. He also sends flaming arrows of doubt. His favorite attack is against God and our relationship with Him. When we start earnestly seeking God for things we need, we can get unpredictable results. Sometimes we get what we ask for; sometimes we don’t. Other times we get things that are the opposite of what we asked for. Is all this inconsistency exhibiting the character of God? Are these random results saying that sometimes He is good, other times He is indifferent, and other times He is sinister? No.

Heb 11:6 (NIV) And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that...He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

The results of our prayers, circumstances in life, and quality of Christian living don’t produce evidence of who God is or isn’t. If we don’t start, continue, and finish with faith THAT God rewards those who earnestly seek Him, our lack of faith displeases Him; and, that causes Him to reject our request.

If we decide who God is, based on how He answers our prayers, then we will drop our shield of faith. There is NEVER anything wrong with God; the problem ALWAYS resides in us. We CANNOT measure God based on His “performance record.” Heb 13:8 (NIV) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. He loved you yesterday, He loves you just as much today, and He will continue loving you forever; Jesus doesn’t change; God doesn’t change.

The reason things aren’t working out for us from time to time is because we are beginners in spiritual things. The only way we learned to ride a bicycle was to be willing to fall off and try again. The only way we learned anything in life was to have failures but not give up. Those experiences in life were designed to help us understand the way the spirit world works. Nothing changed in God; we just have to be willing to study and learn how to get the successes we need.