I have been told all my life to never pray for patience because God will surely give you a trial that will build patience. I have also told others who made comments about not having any patience, “My mothers always said to never pray for patience because if you do you will be given a patience building trial”. Well, I'm here today to prove this wrong!!
If you will notice the disciples and Christ followers from the bible never ask God or Jesus for patience or in fact never struggle with a lack of patience at all. Their prayers never included a plea for patience. The reason for this is in receiving the Holy Spirit. The early Christ Followers understood what happens when you give your life to the Son of God.
When a person prays to God for forgiveness, believes Jesus Christ is the Son of God, believes He was crucified as a final sacrifice for sin, and that He rose again after three days he or she receives salvation. Salvation is in short an eternity with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a result of this salvation The Holy Spirit or as Jesus referred to Him as The Helper comes and takes up residence in us. When the Holy Spirit lives in us we will begin to produce fruits. These fruits are proof we are children of God. In Mathew 7:16 Jesus states,“You will know them by their fruits”(NIV).
What are these fruits you ask? Well, Paul explained it this way in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruits of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, PATIENCE, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control; against such things, there is no law. These fruits are a product of the Holy Spirit that resides inside every believer. We just need to USE them.
If you are a Christ Follower you already have all the fruits or tools you need, you don't have to pray for any of them. You just need to use what is already there. The Helper will produce the fruits in your life if you are a Child of God. So we can boldly say, “I have plenty of Love, Peace, PATIENCE, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control if the Holy Spirit lives in me!!” An example of this is in Colossians 3:12 which states, “Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (NIV). How can we put on something that we do not have!!
So you see we don't need to pray for something that is already in us. We can pray that God would help us utilize the fruits of the Spirit in different situations, but not to give us them or increase them. WE ALREADY HAVE ALL WE NEED. And that's not all we have enough of as Children of God, but I will save that for another day...
I will leave you this week with a music video and a verse from 1 Timothy 1:16 that states,“But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect PATIENCE as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life”(ESV).
Please enjoy Holy Spirit" by Francesca Battistelli
Have a Great week using what you already have to help the unbeliever to see Christ Jesus better.
Your Sister in Christ,
Jacque Barnes
