Words have life, and the life is in the meaning. Prayer has depth, and the depth is in the words.
To trust Jesus is an interesting concept. While writing my non fiction book, The Unexplained, Miraculous Happenings & Healing, the Lord guided me by telling me to look up the meaning of trust in my tattered dictionary to add to one of my experiences about trusting in my book. A good meaning became grand.
When Jesus tells us we must not doubt at all, he means this:
TRUST – noun
1. Confidence in the loyalty, reliability, strength, etc. of a person or thing
2. The position of being responsible for someone or something (the way Christ is responsible to love us and we Him)
3. Reliance on the truth of something without examination (not in doubt)
This context flows with trusting our God to help and protect. If we’re not confident in the Lord who controls all for the good, who can we trust? Believe in the trustability, rely on it. Be sure of it. Think of this as having told a child what they are worrying about is actually going to be fine. When our children doubt us and disbelieve, we have our hands full. We know the way out of a problem, and we need our child to cooperate. This is what God wants from us, to cooperate and not doubt His ability and wisdom.
TRUST – verb
1. Have or place confidence
2. (by will) allow to have or be responsible for 3. Have confidence or hope that a thing is occurring or will occur.
This portion of verb usage also flows with trusting God. Trust and expect in prayer.
Another word is acknowledgement. There’s more to this word than meets the eye, too. In Proverbs 3:6 we read, Acknowledge me in all your ways and I will set you path straight. Here’s what I recovered from the deep well of meaning:
ACKNOWLEDGE – verb (acknowledges, acknowledged, acknowledging)
1.recognize; accept; admit the truth
2. confirm the receipt of
3. acknowledge or express gratitude for services
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT – noun
1. acceptance of the truth for the existence of something
2. the action of acknowledging
3. a letter confirming receipt of something (could translate into a prayer of gratitude)
This is interesting as a word to apply to our faith. So when Jesus told us to acknowledge Him in all our ways, He meant to notice Him and respond. To recognize, accept and admit the truth about any situation—having an open mind to believe the truths in the Word, and in doing that—we are more open to understanding further. For instance, when God closes a door, it’s for our safety, but it could also be a surprise, because God’s ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than ours. So in the act of acknowledging Him in all our ways, these are steps we take in our daily life with guidance.
Keep looking to God/Jesus. Look away from the problem and keep eyes on the problem solver. To acknowledge is also to thank. When we pray and receive, it benefits us to show appreciation. It’s actually a sacrifice God looks for. It means more to God than a goat, lamb or bull burning on an altar. Jesus sacrificed His very life for us. We don’t do the bulls, goats and lambs anymore, we do ‘thank you’ and we follow Jesus’ lead. This acknowledges what He did for us, setting our path straight, or simply clearing our way of obstacles so we can fulfill our purpose in life.
The third and final word I love to dissect is belief. It’s as important as trust and acknowledgement for our faith.
BELIEF – noun
1a a firm opinion b an acceptance c person’s religious conviction
2. usually followed by trust or confidence
BELIEVE – verb
1. accept as truth or conveying the truth
2. think, suppose
3a have faith in the existence of b have confidence in
4. have (especially) religious faith.
To trust and acknowledge, we need a solid foundation of belief in God. We have the choice within our free will to believe God is real. I think every believer has their unique story of being saved, and I’ve never heard a bad account. I learned quite early in life that talking to God lead me to believe, because He gained my trust by helping me while I endured an abusive childhood. On some level in my young mind I trusted He stayed with me. I gained confidence in Him. I found when I talked to Him, he acknowledged my prayer, in turn I was able to acknowledge He is real, He cares, and He is always available. Belief is powerful, even for the simplest thing. If it were not, would we who can walk, believe we wouldn’t fall if we lift our foot to take a step?
There are a few reasons I’m glad I’m, as we say, saved. First, I have privileges with my creator, the main one being heaven is my home. When the times comes, I’ll either go in spirit back home, or the rapture will take me up. I know ‘rapture’ does not appear in the Bible, but neither does the word Bible. In English translation the Greek and latin words translate out of words meaning ‘caught up’ or ‘snatched up to safety. In this world and its dangers, I look forward to being snatched up to safety.
Also, the phrase ‘being saved’ means I’ve acknowledged God’s existence, His power, His hand on my life. I find it easier to navigate life, its disappointments, its trials, and its pleasures, in a more full way, because I’m never on my own through anything. I believe Jesus has my back, because I accepted Him, and I, like many, work on trusting daily as the world spins with COVID-19 looming in open spaces and shadows. I believe no matter what happens, God knows about it. He’s got our backs.
Trust, acknowledgement, and belief. Three words worth digging out of the well for our faith.
Thanks for reading. God Bless you.
ohsohumanspirit 