When Faith Is Shattered
()
About this ebook
But what happens when all of the things you have heard and embraced through the Word of God to increase your faith, seems to come crumbling down around you? What happens when your prayers are not answered in the manner you desired? How do you deal with the pain caused by the death of a loved one after you have trusted God wholeheartedly to heal them? Has God forsaken you during the time you need him most? How do you deal with your anger towards God? How do you believe again when you feel that God has failed you? In When Faith is Shattered you will find how to deal with even the most difficult times of your life; when you feel that the Lord has forsaken you and there is no place else to turn.
Dr. Gloria J. Lewis
Dr. Gloria J. Lewis is the Presiding Prelate of True Holiness Temple, Inc. with churches located in the United States, Africa, and Europe. She is a Professor of Bible and Communication and Founder and Director of THT Schools of Ministerial Concepts and Theological Studies. Dr. Lewis and her husband, Robert, currently reside in Bear, Delaware. They were blessed with four children (one deceased), ten grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
Related to When Faith Is Shattered
Related ebooks
Fruitful Sermons: Impartation of Grace to Challenge Your Challenges Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFaith: Biblical Truths that Give You Wings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFaith Defined: Keys For Unlocking Supernatural Faith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLessons from the Bible: Volume 1: Genesis-Malachi Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiving Volume One: Praying in the YES of God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Secret of a Victorious and Prosperous Life of Grace and Faith: Masterpiece of Abundant Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat is Required of You to Be Born Again? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unction It Takes to Function: The God Kind of Faith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Power of Thanksgiving: How to Live a Life of Gratitude and Praise: Christian Values, #40 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRivers of Living Water: 127 Day Journey to Soul Refreshment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBreaking Camp Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHeir of Power Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod's General Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Pursuit of Truth and Doctrinal Unity: Kingdom of God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Importance of Spiritual Discernment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Call To Prayer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Changed Life: A Journey Toward Biblical Stewardship Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShort Bible Study: Philippians 4:6: Short Bible Study, #10 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBenefits in God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings...And Shall Call his Name Jesus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLearning to Soar Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDynamics of Bible Holiness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSupernatural Breakthrough: The Power of Intercession Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIt Is Time To Manifest!: This Is Your Time To Be Revealed To The World! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Single And The Right Way To Mingle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRunning The Race As A Winner, The First Three Months Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEvangelism Made Easy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMeeting Ananias Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Thanksgiving Sermon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod Is Able to Give You Much More! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Religion & Spirituality For You
THE EMERALD TABLETS OF THOTH THE ATLANTEAN Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Buddha's Guide to Gratitude: The Life-changing Power of Everyday Mindfulness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Love Dare Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dangerous Prayers: Because Following Jesus Was Never Meant to Be Safe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Writing to Wake the Soul: Opening the Sacred Conversation Within Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5NRSV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Complete Papyrus of Ani Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was, and Who God Has Always Been Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Se Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Every Day I Pray: Prayers for Awakening to the Grace of Inner Communion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer: Summary and Analysis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gospel of Mary Magdalene Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Course In Miracles: (Original Edition) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Were Born for This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Weight of Glory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Be Here Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Abolition of Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for When Faith Is Shattered
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
When Faith Is Shattered - Dr. Gloria J. Lewis
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Introduction
What Faith is Not
What Faith Is
What Faith Can Do
Moving Into the
Realm of Power
Authoritative Prayer
ANDRE
Shattered Faith
Dealing With Anger
Five Steps to Certainty
MOTHER
Faith in Action
When Faith is Shattered
DONALD
The Baby Boy
Called to Ministry
Called to Prayer
Called to Eternal Life
WHAT IS THE ANSWER?
UNDERSTANDING
GOD’S WILL
Ascertaining the Will
of God
Putting it All Together
The Healing Touch
Understanding and Accepting Death
Quotations about Death
Dealing With Grief
TURNING PAIN INTO MINISTRY
Suppress Depression
A PRAYER FOR THE SPIRIT OF HEAVINESS (DEPRESSION)
Winning the Battle
The Blood
The Holy Spirit
The Word
SPEAK THE WORD
The Name Jesus
Prayer
Praise
Let the Healing Begin
This book is lovingly dedicated to the ones who were left behind to deal with the devastation, hurt, anger, sense of loss, and the difficulty of putting their lives back together again after the heartrending circumstances surrounding the deaths of our family members:
My children, Robert, Jr., Brian, and Kimberly; my siblings, Harold, Shirley, Curtis, and Orlando; my grandson, Lamar; and my sister-in-law, Janice.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my husband, Robert, my rock, my love, my staunchest supporter. Thank you for all that you do to make my load lighter and for braving the storms with me. I love you to life.
To my grandchildren in the home with me, Aleah, Andrea, Amber, Robbie, and Anerryah, Mom Mom loves you very much and appreciate you for listening to me read some passages aloud and for giving me feedback.
Thanks to my dear friend, Loretta Henry, for being there to provide strength and encouragement through the good and bad times.
I would like to give special thanks to my church family at True Holiness Temple, Inc. for their support, prayers, and encouragement from the preparation stage of this book to its completion. I love you for being there when I most needed you.
Introduction
The longest night of my life was spent in the waiting room outside the operating room in a Philadelphia hospital. My son was undergoing surgery for gunshot wounds. Prayer was being offered without ceasing. I remembered the words of Jesus in Matthew 21:22, And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive.
As I waited and prayed, those words comforted me.
Just a few weeks previous I had begun teaching a Faith Seminar at the Jameson School of Ministry where I was Professor of Bible and Communication. The Lord graciously blessed in each session. His anointing power filled the classroom each night and ministered to us through the Word of God. He taught us what faith is not; what faith is; what faith can do; the promises according to Scripture to those who exercise faith; the obstacles to faith; and how to move past the point of blessing into the realm of power where we can receive an abundance of blessings through faith. These lessons proved to be invaluable to me during the time of crisis in my life.
I learned that prayers are worthless unless they are accompanied by faith. Faith ignores all of our senses when it comes to believing what God says. It is necessary to believe before we see, hear, taste or smell. When we believe first, it brings the miraculous into our reach.
What happens when all of the things we have embraced through the Word of God to increase our faith seems to come crumbling down around us? How do we deal with the pain caused by the death of a loved one? Has God forsaken us during the time we need him most? How do I deal with my anger towards God? How do I believe again when I feel that God has failed me? In the following pages we will find how to deal with even the most difficult times of our lives; when we feel that the Lord has forsaken us and we have no place else to turn.
What Faith is Not
Faith is not dependence upon the senses. Those things that can be seen, heard, or touched, present no real need for the exercising of faith in order to receive them. However, when one cannot see a way out or hear a comforting word, nor touch the thing desired, faith then becomes necessary. The natural man is bound by his physical senses. They keep him looking at the problems and circumstances that surround him instead of focusing on the Word of God. The continual hearing of the Word of God increases faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Jesus said, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation.
John 5:24) Those things that seem impossible are made possible through faith. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God has translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
(Hebrews 11:3-6)
Our faith must reach further than our senses can take us. We must also realize that whatever God has spoken will be manifested in our lives. Sometimes things may appear immediately and other times you must go through a period of waiting. In our wait, our expectation must be great. The Psalmist said, My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
(Psalm 62:5) We become spiritual heirs and receive earthly heritage through the righteousness of faith. For the promise that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. And being fully persuaded, that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.
(Romans 4:13, 17-21)
Faith is not doubt or fear. Doubt indicates a lack of confidence and shows uncertainty of belief. It will cause one to waver. James 1:6-7 states… For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
It is just as certain that a man who doubts will not get an answer as it is that the man who exercises faith will get an answer. Momentary doubts cloud the skies of believers. Even though God had spoken, Gideon doubted his victory over Midian. Judges 6:17, And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.
Even after the Lord had shown him multiple signs, he still found it hard to believe that he would be the victor. Martha, looking at the circumstances surrounding Lazarus, doubted the power of Jesus to resurrect him. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
(John 11:39) Thomas doubted the resurrection of Jesus Christ. John 20:25, The other disciples therefore said unto him, we have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
The early Christians, after praying for Peter, doubted that God had delivered him. Acts 12:14-15, And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, it is his ghost.
In each case, God proved himself to be mighty. He allowed Gideon to be assured of his victory by hearing it from the enemy. Judges 7:13-15, And when Gideon was come, behold there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came into a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, this is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise, for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.
Jesus proved to Martha that he had power over death and the grave. John 11:40-44, "Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the