| “If you work the word, the word will work for you”-T.D. Jakes. Faith is an attitude and a product of conviction. It is shown in our speech, body carriage and confessions. We want to cling to things that we can see, touch, and feel by our very nature. We want to hold the solidness and substance of things in our hands and feel the firm ground under our feet. We want things to be concrete; even our idioms reflect our desire for solidity in our lives. |
To hinder means “to delay or hold something back, especially something that is underway or about to start; it connotes a thwarting of progress, either deliberate or accidental.” So, a hindrance is anything that provides resistance, delay or obstruction to something or someone. Read more similar posts on our Bible teaching page of the site. In this article, we shall discuss enemies of faith in the Bible.
Enemies of Faith
Faith is trust. Faith is belief. Faith is confidence. Faith is Surrender. Faith is certainty and assurance. Faith dictates that we do not depend upon what our eyes see, but they are upon the promises of God, which we are sure of. We do not walk by sight but by faith.
When what our eyes see does not line up or match up with the Word of God always wins! When what our natural eyes see contradicts what God spoke into our lives, we choose by faith what God said.
Faith is like the confirmation slip in our hearts that the goods are on the way. We have that confirmation slip instantly from God. We sense it in our hearts. The manifestation of those goods, the answer received, comes later if we are patient and do not throw away our confidence (Hebrews 10:35-39; Hebrews 6:12).
Let us read the Bible passages below and point out the characteristics of faith.
Hebrews 11:6
2 Corinthians 5:
Romans 14:23
Romans 10:17
Ephesians 2:8
Faith is like a cheque. You must hold on to the cheque, go to the bank to present it, and confidently expect the money to appear in your account after a specific time. If you throw the cheque away, the funds will not be put in your account.
God is trustworthy and always has the resources to back his promises. Here are the Enemies of faith. In closing this lesson, we will consider some of the main enemies of faith and how they can be overcome.
Programmed mindset Kings 5:9-13
God has set ways of dealing with us and handling our issues. These complex ways can become patterns that we forget God does manifest in other ways.
Self-Sufficiency- “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5)
I cannot trust in my abilities to accomplish something and trust in God’s ability at the same time. I must decrease, and God must increase. But if I am constantly growing, then God must be decreasing! There’s just no way around it.
Ignorance Kings 7:1
You cannot believe a promise until you hear it or find it. Much unbelief arises out of the fact that people just don’t know what the Bible says. The cure for this is a study with a meditation on the Word and prayerfully listening to God.
Doubt/Unbelief-James 1:5
Doubt is an enemy of faith because it speaks with a voice that challenges the truth or the reliability of what we should believe. This is a deliberate choice not to believe in God. It is usually motivated by ignorance.
Fear-Matthew 14:25-32
This is probably the one that gets me the most. If I am fearful, that means I’m not completely trusting God. If I fear something more than God, I believe something else is bigger and more powerful than God Himself. Negative fear is a negative emotion based on the natural expectation of bad things to come. It is rooted in anxiety and a lack of trust in God’s performance.
Discouragement-Genesis 16:1-4, 15
Sometimes we feel discouraged or impatient because of physical or emotional weakness or tiredness. We must consider God’s faithfulness to us in the past, even through difficulties (Hebrews 10:32-34).
In action-“Faith apart from works is dead” (James 2:26). True faith produces works. If we always stand by without putting our feet to our faith, perhaps our faith isn’t as strong as we think.
Living faith always has corresponding actions. We talk about what we believe and act according to what we believe. Like Abraham, the heroes of the faith were considered men of faith because they worked on what God showed them. They acted on their faith. (Hebrews 11:17-38,James 2:21-23).
Ways of Developing Faith
To overcome enemies of the faith, you must cultivate a personal relationship with God through prayer and obedience. You must allow your old nature to be weakened as you say yes to God and no to these desires to seek praise and recognition.
Exposure-Genesis 15:1-6, Numbers 13
To activate your faith, everything starts with exposure. You cannot become what you do not see. Exposure awakens our instincts and stops us from ignoring what we know to be accurate within us.
We often behave based on our perception more than the reality of our actual circumstances. Our attitude and outlook on life greatly influence both our accuracy and actions.
Independence-Numbers 13:30, 31
Exposure to others does not mean the extermination of your authentic self. These committed to conformity and comfort zones may feel alarmed and seek to counsel you as you get out of your cage. They may criticize your passion and aim to sabotage your date with destiny.
Get the Right Attitude-2 Cor.5:7
It’s easy to get swept away by the negative emotions of the day. Whenever we turn on the television to watch the news, it’s a screen full of unfriendly faces delivering more grim reports. Though we can’t ignore reality, as people of faith, we can’t allow it to make us hopeless.
Open Confession-Numbers 14:6-9, Joshua 14:6-12
There are moments when it is time to reveal what’s truly on your heart-unabashed faith in God or convenient Christianity. This is when we prove that what we say that we trust in God and surrender our lives to Him is what we believe. Jesus said all things are possible to those who believe.
Get Back to the Basics-Habakkuk3:17-19
Whenever you feel your life moving in a direction that seems out of line with God’s picture, return to the basics of what you know: projecting the picture, confessing Scripture with more devotion, and sharing your promises with others. It is essential to remain planted by God’s life-giving word.
See the Bigger Picture 8:28
Take extra time and energy to see what others are going through and consider where you fall on the scale of those facing tough times. Viewing the world from another person’s perspective shows that there is more to life than yourself. It is not only healthy but nourishing to the soul.
Conclusion
1 Timothy 6:12 asks us to fight the good fight of faith. The only fight the believer is called upon to fight is the “good fight of faith.” And if there is a fight, there must be enemies or hindrances to faith. There would be no fight for it if there were no enemies to faith. In this lesson, we dealt with barriers to faith.
We believe that our faith will be developed and all the enemies of our faith will be no more in the name of Jesus Christ. This Bible verse will still be of benefit:
Mark 11:22-24
And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Remain blessed as you allow God to increase your faith.
