Don't Underestimate the Power of Your Faith in God

Have you ever wondered why some people get answers to their prayers so frequently while others continue to struggle in life?  Some live in victories and others in perpetual defeat?  One simple difference can be found in their attitude toward God.  Do they come to God in faith or fear/worry?  Worry never gets what it worries about while faith always gets what it believes for!  Throughout human history, God has always honored those who exhibit unswerving faith and trust in Him.  This we see recorded in Hebrews 11 where the writer, with personal experience and the examples of others, states that “without faith it is impossible to please God and those who come to him must believe that He is and that He rewards those who seek Him diligently” (11:6).  

The first part of the foundation of our faith has to do with the person and the being of God – “that he is”.  He is Yahweh, the God who says “I am that I am”.  He is the God who says “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end”.   God was known to the children of Israel as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  But when Moses asked his name, He said, “I am that I am”, I am “Yahweh” and “I will be with you”.  For the first time God revealed his nature and being to Moses; an ever present God.  When Moses went to Egypt, he had this real sense of God’s presence with him – “that God is”.  Long after Egypt, and in wilderness God told Moses to lead the people by himself.  Moses once again begs and says “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (Ex. 33:15).  Thus, the writer of Hebrews knows the necessity of one’s faith in God’s nature, his person and his presence. 

The second part of the foundation of our faith is the character of God “that he rewards those who seek him diligently”.  God is a good God who delights in answering our prayers, “How much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:11).  When we come to God, we must have this unswerving faith in the goodness of God.  Jesus said “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mk. 9:23), “Ask anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:14).  David said, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will fulfill the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4).  God loves to answer the prayer of faith! 

Rev. William Haslam, in his autobiography Yet Not I, talks about a couple he met in 1862.  Husband was known as Happy Peter.  They both had terrible case of rheumatism that made them invalid toward the latter part of their life.  As they needed someone to take care of them, there came a time when they were about to be separated in different social institutions.  Happy Peter and wife asked the Lord to stop such separation.  They were deeply in love with each other and devoutly faithful to God.  In an amazing twist of tale, a well off and benevolent lady heard of their plight.  She decided to rent a room for them and provide for the upkeep so long as they would live.  Happy Peter and wife lived in that room and when many years had gone by, Rev. Haslam came to town as their new Parson.  He was greatly encouraged by witnessing their unswerving faith in the goodness of God; even in their suffering and pain, they always found reasons to praise God and wore the countenance of unending happiness; thus Happy Peter!

One day while Rev. Haslam was reading the paper, he was startled by the news of sudden death of that precious lady who took care of Happy Peter and wife.  Greatly worried about their fate, he gently broke the news to them.  They listened with eerie silence and after a pause, Peter’s wife said “Thank God for all the kindness that dear good lady did to us; and thank God, He is not dead”.  Yes, their human benefactress was dead but the God who moved her heart to take care of them was still alive.  What a faith!  Amazingly, Happy Peter and his wife lived their days on earth without a care as God moved others’ hearts in their behalf.  God honors his children’s trust in him.

From my personal life, the pictures below are examples of God’s faithfulness in answering our prayers for our ministry in Nepal.  My wife and I were married in January 10, 1993 while serving in a church in Kathmandu pioneered by an American missionary sister who had come to Nepal nearly two decades earlier.  Few months into that pastorate, I had serious disagreement with this dear lady who had already developed such a dictatorial method of ministry in which Nepalese were not worthy of any respect and eventually in the summer of that year, we moved out of that church.  We moved out of her ministry leaving her furious for not being able to punish us; we found, prior to us, she had other victims too.  By the fall of that same year, my wife and I and 8 other victims started to gather for prayer in our living room and eventually decided to turn that prayer meeting into weekly church fellowship. 

But alas!  Such news of us starting a church made her more indignant.  She being the “Boss” of largest denomination in Nepal, demanded her faithful pawns in the committee to do everything possible to destroy us while she went on to demonize us in the eyes of all foreign missionaries in and outside of Nepal.  I was physically attacked by one of her missionary friends known as Michael (forgot his last name), and verbally insulted from the pulpits by another couple who were then leading Operation Mobilization (OM) in Nepal. 

The Nepalese brothers who made their living under her mantle came with full fury to silence us and our ministry forever in the guise of their denominational authority.  Our crime was; we refused to be mistreated and abused by this precious anointed American missionary sister!  But they refused to listen to us and demanded absolute surrender to ladyship.  They demanded us to apologize for questioning her treatment of Nepalese and her ways of handling finances that came in the name of ministry.  No Nepalese could or can ask her how she handles the money that comes for the ministry.  She is the final authority!  Of course that is how all “missionaries” handle the money in every developing nation. The natives have no rights to question the expat missionary! 

We refused to surrender to such an abusive leadership, but they wouldn't leave us alone. They found better ways of destroying us without firing a bullet.  My wife and I were teaching in different bible schools so that we could sustain ourselves and also support the new church plant.  Our precious missionary lady and her obedient pawns began a campaign to stop us from getting any teaching jobs in any of the bible schools in Kathmandu.  Married just about a year before, having a newborn son, pioneering a church in one of the most heathen cities of the world without anyone supporting us, and with no technical education except theology; teaching in a bible school was our only means of surviving.  

She knew we had no other means of survival in Kathmandu; just before we had moved out of her property, she had visited us with one of her pawns and demanded to know if we were receiving foreign donations.  Her pawn was more abusive to us on that day as this was his opportunity to show her how faithful he was to his ladyship. My wife and I told them that God did not call us to hunt for foreign donations as they were doing, He called us to serve him.  So, she knew we had no other source of making a living except teaching, and this precious anointed Pentecostal missionary sister in Christ along with her tongues speaking Nepalese followers called upon the heads of these bible schools (we were teaching in two places at that time) and demanded them to fire us.  But the heads of these two bible schools refused to bow-down.  They took the bullet for us and refused to fire, and for that we will be forever grateful to them!  This was the first sign that God was not finished with us. 

Then, she and her company started to pronounce curses on us from their pulpits.  They commanded their leaders and believers to shun us; never to speak or greet us even when they meet us on the way and till today, some of the faithful followers have been keeping this promise.  When they see us, they do not know which way to turn their heads!

But we never doubted the presence of God with us and by 1996, our little fellowship had taken the shape of a church. We were miraculously protected, provided, and preserved against all odds in the face of such a merciless physical and spiritual attack.  The picture above was taken in 1999; Pastor Ganesh I are standing in the piece of property that we were able to purchase for the church.  It was an amazing work of God how this property was provided.  It will take another chapter to recall the whole story.  The picture below is of our current church in that property.  Time permitting, I shall indulge in letting my readers to go through the miraculous workings of God in meeting our needs, keeping us in Kathmandu and sustaining us in spite of a powerful opposition from a powerful missionary along with her powerful denomination in Nepal. 

The thing is; never doubt the power of God’s grace to a person who dares to believe in his presence and character.  Mark 9:23 has been my guiding verse over the years and every time I remember our experience in Kathmandu from 1993-1996, I cringe within myself and ask, “How could we survive?” such a merciless attack from so many anointing brothers and sisters in Christ! Like Joseph’s brothers, these brothers and sisters of mine in Christ were determined to destroy us but today, the Lord has been our banner and our provider!