God’s Word says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17 NKJV). If our faith grows by hearing the Word
of God, then how does our grace grow?
Grace grows by entering the presence of God to obtain the added measure of His grace that is needed.
God places a high priority on prayer, for it is in our personal times of prayer that we come before His throne. Hebrews 4:16 sends a clear message
to the Church that God wants us in His presence daily. And as we answer God’s call to renew our emphasis on prayer, we will then reap the results
by growing in His grace.
A throne is a place of authority. We have been given the right and privilege to come to the highest place of authority in the universe. As we confidently
approach Him, we can be filled with His confidence and inner ability to stand firm on His promise. His authority will rise within us to do His
will. We will not stand in our own strength or authority, but in His.
To walk in the fullness of the abundant life God has planned for us, we must understand the relationship between grace and faith in our lives. As mentioned
earlier, faith changes things. However, we know from experience that difficult circumstances sometimes arise in life for which we don’t really
have the faith to turn the situation around.
We are also well aware that there are aspects of the path on which God has placed us that seem impossible for us to follow. If God has truly directed
us, certainly He knows that we are capable of succeeding. But the question
is not if we have the natural ability for the task, but if we have the grace.
God does not call us to do only what we are capable of doing in our own strength. In fact, He is in the business of calling people to do what they
cannot do! So if we are presently doing for God only what we are able to do using our own natural abilities, it is possible that we are not fulfilling
our divine call.
Anything that is done for God apart from His grace is dead works. Second Timothy 2:5 makes this known: “A man who enters an athletic contest wins no
prize unless he keeps the rules laid down” (Phillips).
It’s not our talent or intelligence that will cause us to win in life. Instead, it is God’s ability. Jesus makes this same point abundantly clear:
“The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing” (John 6:63 NLT).
