Jesus, without faith it is impossible to please God, because when I come to Him I must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Heb 11:6). If I come to God not knowing whether He exists, I will get rejected by Him. Am I supposed to just hope He exists and fake it? Help me see that He would immediately reject that effort. So, how am I supposed to find out whether He really exists? Reveal to me that the truth of the matter is, this is never a problem with You. You make sure everyone knows God exists. They may not know that You are His Son; but, they know God exists.

Jesus, teach me that 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 (Rom 1:20). Help me not argue with people over this; show me how to just send them back out for another look at Your creation. Without You revealing God’s existence to us all, none of us would stand a chance of believing in Him and coming to Him.

There was a point in my life where I looked at a mountain, the sky, the stars, or some part of God’s creation and God spoke His existence into my heart. All of a sudden I knew He was there; I knew He exits. Once that happened, God’s invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--was clearly seen by me, they were clearly understood from what has been made. From that point on, if I reject Him, I am without excuse.

Jesus, just knowing that God exists didn’t bring me to Him. Even though I knew He exists I still needed to know more about Him; I needed to know that He rewards me for earnestly seeking Him. It wasn’t until You made it possible that I started to believe things about Him. My faith in the rewards of my heavenly Father didn’t start until I made You the Lord and Savior of my life. Salvation is when I received my shield of faith. I usually left it in the closet; but I had it available at salvation and justification. Let me see how I learn that God rewards me when I earnestly seek Him; and, teach me how to get that material into my shield of faith.

Jesus, teach me that all things have been committed to You by Your Father. and that no one knows You except the Father, and no one knows the Father except You and those to whom You choose to reveal Him (Mat 11:27). I ask You now to reveal the Father to me in a clearer and greater way. You are my only way into getting to know God and starting to experience Him and have faith in His rewards.

Jesus, You are the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through You (John 14:6). Teach me that the shield of faith is picked up at the point where I start looking to God for my help; that is when I become a person who comes to Him and believes that He rewards me when I earnestly seek Him. But, I won’t come to Him if I don’t trust Him; and, I won’t trust Him if I don’t know Him. And, I won’t know Him if I don’t have a WAY to get to know Him; AND, You are that way.

Jesus, without a close relationship with You I would never know whether or not my Father rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Help me learn this lesson through Philip when he said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Then You answered him and said, “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 (John 14:8-10). Teach me this truth so I will know where to look in order to get to know my heavenly Father.

Jesus, 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 me by You, His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, and through Whom He made the universe. You are the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After You had provided purification for sins, You sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (Heb 1:1-3).

Help me spend time reading the Gospels; they show me Your life and character. As I see You, my God in human form, help me start to get acquainted with You and my heavenly Father at the same time. Your life here on this earth proves to me that God “rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” You are helping me see the character of my heavenly Father as I see You in action.

Jesus, I have confessed with my mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believed in my heart that God raised You from the dead, and I have been saved (Rom 10:9). This was my beginning moment of believing that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. You died for me and were raised for me. That makes me feel loved and helps me to start trusting my heavenly Father. Help me feel the impact of this truth that God demonstrates His own love for me in this: While I was still a sinner, Christ died for me (Rom 5:8). This helps me see that You have an unselfish character. And, since You have an unselfish character, I know my heavenly Father has an unselfish character.

Jesus, teach me that I must ask and it will be given to me; I must seek and I will find; I must knock and the door will be opened to me. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Teach me the answer to this question: 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? Let me see that 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 (Mat 7:7-8)! Let me understand this so that it powerfully effects my shield of faith.

Jesus, when I ask, help me believe and not doubt, because if I doubt I am like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. I should not think I will receive anything from You, my Lord (James 1:6-7). Since Satan doesn’t just tempt me with sins of lust, greed, pride, and covetousness, he also sends flaming arrows of doubt. His favorite attack is against God and my relationship with Him. When I start earnestly seeking God for things I need, I can get unpredictable results. Sometimes I get what I ask for; sometimes I don’t. Other times I get things that are the opposite of what I asked for. Help me know that this inconsistency does not exhibit the character of God. These random results are NOT saying that sometimes He is good, other times He is indifferent, and other times He is sinister. Show me that my results are based on issues in my life.

Jesus, without faith it is impossible to please God, because when I come to Him I must believe that...He rewards me earnestly seeking Him (Heb 11:6). If I don’t, I won’t get the answers to my prayers.

Jesus, teach me that the results of my prayers, circumstances in life, and quality of Christian living don’t produce evidence of who God is or isn’t. If I don’t start, continue, and finish with faith THAT God rewards me when I earnestly seek Him, my lack of faith displeases Him; and, that causes Him to reject my request.

Jesus, if I decide who God is, based on how He answers my prayers, then I will drop my shield of faith. Teach me that there is NEVER anything wrong with God; the problem ALWAYS resides in me. I CANNOT measure God based on His “performance record.” Jesus Christ, You are the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb 13:8). You loved me yesterday; You love me just as much today; and You will continue loving me forever. Since You don’t change, then I know God doesn’t change.

Jesus, show me that the reason things aren’t working out for me from time to time is because I am a beginner in spiritual things. The only way I learned to ride a bicycle was to be willing to fall off and try again. The only way I learned anything in life was to have failures but not give up. Teach me that those experiences in life were designed to help me understand the way the spirit world works. Since, nothing changed in God, help me be willing to study and learn how to get the successes I need.