(By: Norm Rasmussen)

Have you ever been at the place in life where your faith in God is so low that you want to scream if one more person tells you, "Well - just keep trusting God. He'll help you."  

Sometimes it becomes important to admit to ourselves we don't have the faith for certain things that wouldn't move a fleck of dust. And sometimes we need to be more sensitive to where others are in their faith in God before we go whipping off a bunch of scriptures that do nothing more than bring more agitation than they do to help the person.   

Recently, I reached the point where I had to admit to God that I didn't have the faith to believe Him for some much needed healing, and would He do whatever it took to give me sufficient faith to believe Him for some healing - in many different areas.  

I believe He took me up on it. For the first time in a long time, I have renewed confidence in God that He is going to help me in many different areas where I am seeking healing from Him.  

And what was the catalyst that has changed things? Desperation. I was getting so frustrated with healing issues because hope seemed to be running very low. I've sought God for healing for a long time in some much needed areas, only to keep not getting any positive results.  

Then God thumped me on the head spiritually on February 19-20, 2012. He slapped me down on my back to where I could hardly get up, for several hours, and in my mental and physical pain, I asked Him to either kill me or heal me, because I just couldn't take the pain any longer.  

It was a bit sobering to hear Him say to me, "I don't want you here in heaven yet. You need an attitude change. Will you allow Me to give you one?"

When you're desperate enough, you'll consent to such things. I consented; I was ready. It's not a good place in life to be when you think heaven would want you, and find out from God you're wrong.

Thus some major surgery was performed in my brain and spirit that night. God had to break me down completely to get me to admit I was totally incapable of believing Him for healing and the ability to sleep through the pain at this point in my life.

Next - He told me to give my need for healing and sleep to Him, and let Him fight the battle on my behalf. He gently and peacefully informed me that I had forgotten how to do such a thing, and He wanted to teach me how to do it effectively for the first time in my life, after being a Christian for over 30 years.   

I'm in the process of learning it, but receiving a quickened, rhema word from God has sure renewed my faith in Him over this matter. God took me to the battle between David and Goliath, in 1 Samuel 17:47. David is speaking to the giant. It reads: "Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands."

God then moved me to do an Internet search using these words: The Battle Is The Lord's. My eye was drawn to this writing: YOUR BATTLE IS THE LORD’S (see 2 Chronicles 20:15)  

Having been praying and sorting so many things out, I came to some understanding that a person can be in the battle between good and evil for so long that they lose sight to the fact that they are not in this battle alone ... no matter what past and present circumstances seem to dictate.  

Many are weary in the battle of life. Many Christians have fought bravely on their front lines for a long time, and have grown weary. One can grow so weary that you don't have faith to believe God to move a fleck of dust off your nose. I had reached that place regarding health issues and sleep issues. 

Thank goodness my wife put out the distress call and some brothers and sisters in Christ said they would be praying for me. How precious! The weapon of prayer for others is such a priceless weapon!

My healing issues and sleep issues are no longer a burden I have to carry. Now I have a warrior helping me carry them. A very STRONG, POWERFUL warrior. His name is Jesus Christ.  

I've come to the solemn conclusion, dear one ... admitting to ourselves and God we don't have "the right stuff" is perfectly fine. We know HE has the right stuff, and all we have to do is do things His way, and we can depend upon Him imparting to us enough of the right stuff to bring forth some newness of life.

This won't work for everyone, but for those who are as desperate as I was, tuck this away in your memory bank: Faith comes by hearing a word from God. (Romans 10:17 reworded). Ask and trust God as best as you can to give you a direct word from Him for your situation. He has many ways to do that. For me, He quickened 1 Samuel 17:47, and then linked me to David Wilkerson's writing. He may not be done in that department yet, so I choose to remain very open to Him giving me more rhema words.

In my 30 plus years of walking with the Lord, I've never wavered from believing God can do anything we need for Him to do in our lives. It's just a matter of Him becoming motivated to answer our heart's cry.  

I've contended for a long time that healing is nothing more than answered prayer. Healing is not difficult at all for God to do. It simply can be difficult for US if we don't understand of applying The Prayer Of Faith correctly.

But to get Him motivated to help in my situation ... I had to admit I don't have the right stuff anymore. Maybe God was dealing with another dimension of spiritual pride in me I never knew existed? Only He knows. 

Maybe admitting to yourself and God that you don't have the "right stuff" to believe Him to answer your prayer - your heart's cry - will be your point of breakthrough as well. Consider it. It was a lonely place for me to visit, but if anyone understands lonely and feeling forsaken ... it was the Soldier who died in my place at Calvary. Captain Jesus.

While I was on my back, God revealed to me that when I entered Vietnam during that conflict, I entered essentially by myself. And when I left, I also left without asking Him to leave with me. When I entered back into the U.S., I entered again on my own. And for many, many years, I have gone about battling so many battles, all on my own limited abilities. Through this recent ordeal, I believe God has said that because evil is growing so intense on this planet, I'm going to have to let Him fight more battles for me I'm not capable of fighting on my own. Learning that will be a process, as everything else is in our relationship with God.

PLEASE HELP US HELP YOU SHARE THE BEST NEWS GOD HAS FOR EVERY PERSON BECAUSE...

JESUS DID IT! 

Remember:  All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity. (Matthew 6:19-20 is our assurance)