When we first started our study of The Parable of the Sower, we learned that there are four mentioned soils…wayward, shallow, thorny, and good. These soils represent the receptiveness of our heart or mind at the time we hear a message from God’s Word.
They can also represent the stages we will go through to become “good soil” that stays the course and protects the seeds of God’s Word growing to maturity inside our heart.
These stages can represent our spiritual journey as a whole, or it can represent the brief journeys of life that move us along our way “from faith to faith and glory to glory!” (Romans 1:17, 2 Cor. 3:18)
The GOAL of the current heart stage we are looking at (the shallow heart), is to get us to a place where we can “STAND PRAYING,” confident in belief that what we are asking for in prayer has been granted by the Father and will come to pass in its appointed time,
Understanding God’s definition of “appointed time” is crucial! When God gives us a revelation or promise, it is like a Polaroid image. The promise “speaks the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10). God is able to see the full manifestation of the promise, but it hasn’t come into full focus yet in our heart. We only see a brief glimpse, and are able to respond with joy so that God’s Word can get planted.
When we plant a natural seed in the dirt, the hard outer shell of the seed begins to die or disintegrate so that it can crack open and allow the embryo seedling within to begin to grow.
Spiritually speaking, once our promises get planted in our spiritual garden, we begin the process of developing that promise’s image within us. This level of believing requires deep roots. The shallow heart phase is where we labor to become fully persuaded of God’s will, where we can see ourselves walking in the promise or revelation He has birthed within us.
The amount of time it takes for us to get built up to where we can stand firm in prayer in complete assurance over these promises will be different for each of us.
“Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to successfully resist and stand your ground in the evil day of danger, AND HAVING DONE EVERYTHING THAT THE CRISIS DEMANDS TO STAND FIRM in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious, STAND therefore…” Ephesians 6:13-14a
God teaches us to put on His armor, the first of which is the Belt of Truth. The Truth is the Word of God. It is the foundation for all the other pieces of armor. Jesus is the Word and the Truth (John 1:1, John 14:6). He assures us that His words of truth are able to build us up to give us our inheritance. (Acts 20:32)
The Bible mentions the phrase “stand praying” in Matthew 11 following this instruction concerning prayer: “And Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you STAND PRAYING, forgive…’” Mark 11:23-25
The word “stand” here in the Greek means “to stand firm, persevere, or persist.”
God shows us in this passage that we are to be in faith or confident trust for the things we pray for. Our Father does not want us seeing ourselves as beggars! He says “to do everything each crisis demands to stand,” meaning we take time to become confident of the Father’s will in our circumstances.
1 John 5:14-15 Amplified says it this way, “This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us. And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.”
What does it mean to stand in faith? The Greek meaning of faith or “pistis” according to Strongs Concordance is “divine persuasion” which “enables the believer to know God’s preferred will.” “It is God’s warranty that guarantees the fulfillment of the revelation He births within the receptive believer.”
Complete confidence is the goal, but there are plenty of times when the circumstances looming in front of us seem way bigger than what we can initially trust God to deal with.
How are we to pray when facing a challenge but we haven’t yet heard from God or become assured of His perspective on the matter?
It is during these times that we can always “STAND PRAYING,” confidently asking the Father for HELP in prayer!
He promises, “I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down nor relax My hold on you! Assuredly not! (Hebrews 13:5)
God desires to show us how to pray when faced with situations. Below are some prayers we can pray during times of uncertainty concerning God’s will:
“Father, I thank You for wisdom to guide me through any decision or circumstance. You promise to give it in abundance and without fault finding. Therefore, I boldly ask You for wisdom in knowing how to pray and what verses to stand on for this situation!” James 1:5-6
“Father, I ask you to remove any blinders keeping me from believing and receiving the Gospel, which is Your power for salvation in every area of my life.”
2 Corinthians 4:4
“Holy Spirit, I ask you to reveal everything that has been freely given to me. Show me my inheritance in this situation!” 1 Corinthians 2:12
“Father, I pray for the fulfillment of every plan and purpose written in Your book for me. I diligently seek You to bring to pass all the things You have spoken over Me.” Psalm 139:16, Hebrews 11:6, Psalm 57:2
“Father, I thank you that Your mercies are new to me every morning, so I boldly ask for Your mercy in prayer! I believe…help my unbelief! Work in me both to will and to do Your good pleasure.” Lamentations 3:22-23, Mark 9:24, Philippians 2:13
“Jesus, thank You for being the author and perfecter of my faith. Thank you Father for strengthening and settling me and making me what I ought to be!” Hebrews 12:2, 1 Peter 5:10
“Father, I plead the blood of Jesus over my uncertainties and unbelief. It is the blood of Jesus that makes me acceptable in Your sight and gives me access to You right now for mercy and help in prayer!” Ephesians 1:6, Hebrews 4:16
“Holy Spirit, I ask You to pray through me concerning this situation. I yield my mouth to You!“
It takes time to put down deep roots of faith. It OK to be content with where we are while on the way to where we want to be! This song by Brandon Lake will encourage you on your journey!