Empowering Faith

[Some background info before I start: I went to school from 3rd grade to 8th grade at a Christian school in New Jersey.  Even today, I still remember some of the memory verses and lessons that my teachers instilled in me during my time there that help me know that God is real.]

In 3rd grade, my teacher would lead us in a time of prayer every morning before she taught.  She would encourage us to share prayer requests with the class and then write them on a thin strip of paper.  For every answered prayer, we would take that 'prayer request paper', close it into a circle, and join it with other 'circles' to form a chain of answered prayer.  Even as a little 3rd grader, I was pretty skeptical of how long this chain would end up.  By the end of the year, this chain was able to line the walls of our classroom twice.  This chain represented prayers for success in the classroom, healing from illnesses, and even freedom from addictions.  

I'm reminded of that time when I'm going through today's AMI devo because I remember feeling so empowered by knowing how much God loves people.  And I think that's why God blesses us: to empower us for His purposes.  Here, 'empower' means to increase faith in God, remove doubt, or both.  

When we count our blessings and celebrate them, we feel good.  We are thankful for what we have.  With that said, I like to think that God designed us purposefully to have that capacity to celebrate and feel such emotions.  When I take those emotions and pair it with my relationship with Jesus, the result is empowering faith in my God and His future blessings since all good things come from Him.  

Romans 8:28 NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.