After 25 years of ministry, I have seen all kinds of things. I have definitely seen my share of the good, the bad and the ugly. The hardest thing to witness is seeing well-intentioned people repeatedly fail at receiving God’s will in their lives.  God offers us peace, joy, strength, and so many promises in His Word; His will for us as believers in Christ are good and precious promises.

Although this is the truth according to the Word of God, many fail at obtaining those promises because in the midst of their battles and fiery trials they side with their circumstances – the way things appear - instead of siding with the Word of God, which is infallible and never changing. No matter what your personal struggle may look like, you must choose to side with the Word of God every time! If you side with Him, lean on His promises, and look for the leading of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will fight for you and give you that victory you desire in Him.

Romans 8:14 says that, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” We want to be known as the children of God, don’t we? But we cannot be led by the Spirit until we discover where God is speaking from. Let me explain. The Bible tells us that we’re three part beings (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We are spirit, soul and body. The real you is your spirit - your inner man. This is the place from where God speaks. See, the “voice” of your body is emotion and feelings; the “voice” of your mind is intellect and reason, but your spirit “voice” is your conscience, or what we often call our “heart.” Learn to listen to your inner man rather than depending upon those other voices. God does not speak out of your body or your mind but your spirit. Remember, wherever God leads, He provides for that leading and He blesses that direction in your life, so learn to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Whenever you are standing in faith and believing God for something in your life, that faith must come from your inner man - the heart - and not “of the head.” Jesus said, “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23). It is of utmost importance that we get the Word of God down in our heart; we must mediate on the scriptures until they register deep within that place from where the Spirit speaks. When we are living and operating in that place where “heart faith” rules, it is then that we see the world around us change.