Five Ways to Fan the Flames of Faith: Part Three
In previous posts, I shared the first two steps of the Five Ways to Fan the Flames of Faith. Today, I’m sharing step three in the acronym F.A.I.T.H.
“I” is for Internalize
Have you ever read a familiar Bible verse a million times and then one day a fresh revelation from it caught your attention? Years ago, a close friend gave me a wall plaque with a mountain scene and Psalm 46:1 printed on it.
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1 NIV
I hung it in a prominent place in our home so that it often reminded me to draw on God’s strength during times of difficulty.
We need to internalize the Word of God daily. It doesn’t matter whether we’re using a Bible reading plan or using a book marker to read our way through the Scriptures; the most important thing is to be in the Word regularly. Some days I only focus on one verse. Other days I read several chapters. The secret is to keep reading until we find encouragement to savor. We can internalize words of wisdom by meditating on Scripture verses.
King David loved God’s Word and hid it in his heart, so should we.
One of my favorite outcomes of memorizing Scripture verses is the comfort I draw from them in the middle of the night when I wake up and find it difficult to fall back to sleep. Reciting verses fills my heart and mind with goodness.
It fans the flames of faith and burns off fearful thoughts.
Just as Psalm 46:1 says, He is our refuge, our strength, when trouble threatens to disrupt our peace. Life’s problems will still happen, but when we tap into God’s Power, we are able to run into His tower of refuge instead of tumbling under the weight of worry.
I’m a thinker and tinker of thoughts. My analytical mind rarely sits still. I enjoy building with words as intensely as one of my sons built with blocks when he was little. He built tractors, trains, and towers. I build poems, blog posts, and stories that I hope to inspire others with. I hope readers will also turn to the true Tower of refuge and strength.
My son needed to put his creations together one block at a time. But the tower of God is available immediately.
When we’re experiencing a desert-of-the-soul moment, we don’t need to do a rain dance to resolve our drought. All we have to do is run to Abba-Father, and He welcomes us with open arms.
He’s forgiving of any false towers we may have built. His feet aren’t bothered by blocks lying around on the floor of our failed peace. He’s not a Deity of condemnation because He’s a tower of grace and salvation.
And here’s where I tell you the fresh revelation that sprung from the words in Psalm 46:1—ever-present. I hinted at this already.
God doesn’t need to be assembled or coaxed
into showering us with His presence
because He’s already
ever-present.
We would be wise to internalize this truth—He is our Tower of Refuge and Strength. Our God is not a statue we need to create or a direction we need to face. He is here—now. He is here—always. The Lord is ever-present. It’s we who have moved away when we fail—to pray—to believe—to read the Word that reminds us of who and where He is.
He is ever-present.
Internalizing the Word of God keeps false gods at bay
and shows us how to fan the flames of faith.
I’d like to close with a poem I wrote on the morning I noticed the glorious truth of our ever-present Father.
Ever-Present
Our ever-present God
Is full of strength and truth
Whom we may follow and trust
In everything we do
No rain-dance is required
When we experience drought
Because He’s always present
If we believe and do not doubt.
Ever-present Blessings ~ Wendy
Have you got a favorite Bible verse hanging up in your house? I’m nosy-to-know.
Here are the previous posts related to this topic: Part One ; Part Two
Here’s the link to my podcast page on HopeStreamRadio: Walking with Hope
Next time I’ll share step #4 of the Five Ways to Fan the Flames of Faith.
