Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen .(Hebrews 11:1).
The foundation of our Christian walk is our faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is believing that we have what we do not see.
Faith is knowing that God can and God will despite of what it looks like on the outside.
Having latch-like faith is having faith to embrace what God has for you. For some it is easy to embrace and receive what God is doing in the life of another. However, for some it is a bit more challenging to embrace what God wants to do in your life. Why is that?
For some it may be a matter of worth. Am I worthy of this? Am I deserving of God’s plan for my life? Truthfully, there is something about all of humanity that makes us unworthy and undeserving. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Our righteousness is like filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6).
What makes us worthy and deserving is the blood of Jesus Christ! If you are a child of God when God sees you, He sees the blood of his Son and it is the blood that cleanses and makes you right before God. God loves us so much that He gave His only Son to die for us (John 3:16), so that ends the argument of worthiness.
Some find it difficult to have latch-like faith because of unbelief. Unbelief blocks breakthroughs and blessings. Unbelief is like a strain of cancer that robs one of the abundant life that Christ has come to give. This is the year to put into practice what the Word of God says. The Word of God says, “Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). The thing blocking the blessing and breakthrough is unbelief.
What do you believe?
This is the year of latch-like faith! This is the year that we embrace, grab hold of, receive and hold on to the promises of God with a renewed passion, zeal and perspective. We have had too many, "But God" moments in the previous years to believe anything other than God is able. He is no respector of persons.
Babies are designed to latch on. They are born with an innate ability and reflexes to eat. Likewise, we are designed to latch on as well. God created us in His image and after his likeness. He has placed an innate desire in the hearts of His children to desire what He desires for us. As we walk with God, grow and mature in the Word and in our perspective, there is something in us that wants what He wants for us. We are designed to latch on to the promises of God. We latch on by getting into agreement with God and His Word. We latch on by being transformed by the renewing of our mind.
Having latch-like faith requires three things:
1. You must be hungry
Before you can latch on to anything you must be hungry! When a baby is hungry, she gives signs that she ready to eat. She sucks on her fingers; she cries and become fretful.
The baby begins to search for their mother’s breast. As she gets closer and begins to smell the milk, she begins to open wide her mouth in anticipation of being fed. If feeding is prolonged, the baby then begins to fight for it! God wants us hungry enough to fight “it” in 2020!
The events of 2019 have made many hungry. We have tried a variety of things to no avail. We have put in the job applications and sent out the resumes, only to receive rejection notices. Relationships drained. In many ways 2019 was exhausting. Yet, some things happened that made us tired of being tired. We were tired, and this kind of fatigue led many to become determined. This kind of tired made some desperate. Now we are hungry for a change. We are hungry for something different. We are hungry for the things of God. There have been some things that happened in 2019 that made us say, “It has to be more to life than this!”
There were things that took place in 2019 that caused many to decide to do differently. In order to do differently you have to be hungry for a change.
1. Latch on properly
It’s important for the baby to latch on properly to the areola of the breast to get the most out of the feeding. If not latched on properly feedings can be painful. Some of us experienced pain in 2019 because we were latched on to things that made us complacent. We experienced pain trying to eat from tables where we no longer belonged. We experienced pain because we were trying to eat from our areas of co-dependency instead of eating from the hand of God.
Some of are having difficulty latching on by faith because we are anxious. One of the reasons why babies can’t quite latch on when trying to feed is because when they are hungry and can sense that the milk is near, they become anxious and can’t quite grab hold. Provision is there, but anxiousness prevents us from seeing it. God wants us to latch on to what he has for us, but we are busy fretting and crying for provision and the provision is right in front of us, if only we would latch on.
God tells us not to be anxious about anything, but in all things by prayer and supplication make our requests known to God.
Have you prayed about it?
Have you asked God about it?
Make your requests known to God. God already knows, but He wants you to say it so that you can see what you are asking for. He wants you to say it so that you can begin to latch on.
3. You must be in the right position
In order to latch on properly you must be in the right position. If the baby is not in the right position to latch on, she will become weary during feeding. Sometimes the mother must calm the baby, guide her to the breast and adjust how she’s positioned so that they child can eat.
Ask yourself, “Am I growing weary in my faith because I am out of position?”
Like a mother adjusting how she holds the baby, God holds, cradles and guides us, but most times we are out of position, and do not make the adjustments on our end to receive and be satisfied.
Have you made necessary adjustments in your life to be where God needs you to be?
Have you let go of people, places and things that made you complacent or stunted your growth?
Have you healed?
Some of us have trouble latching because we are still fretting over something that God has said no to.
To have latch-like faith we must be hungry, latch on properly and be in the right position to receive and embrace what God has for us. God wants us to embrace and receive His promises and blessings just as much as we can sense that it’s there. Let this new year be the year that you latch on so that you can eat and be satisfied.