Discipline of Faith by L.B. Cowman

"Everything is possible for him who believes." Mark 9:23

"The 'everything' mentioned here does not always come simply by asking, because God is always seeking to teach you the way of faith." p. 190 Streams in the Desert

This author tells us that training in faith has certain "courses". These courses are the trail of faith, the discipline of faith, the patience of faith and the courage of faith. Many times we will not realize we are going through these phases until the result appears--the victory of faith.

This devotional focuses on the discipline of faith. These are the times when we are fighting to be unswayed by contradictions. Either by contradictions in life or even in God's Word. And sometimes this discipline is in waiting for God's answer.

"God will often purposely delay in giving you His answe, and in fact the delay is just as much an asnwer to your prayer as is the fulfillment when it comes. He worked this way in the lives of all the great Bible characters. Abraham, Moses, and Elijah were not great in the beginning but made great through the discipline of their faith. Only through that disciline were they then equipped for the work to which God has called them." p. 191

Sometimes God's delay seems like a contradiction. For example, Joseph. He knew God's promises about how he would be before his brothers. Yet it was years after being sold and in prison before that happened. It was during that time that God was preparing him for the love and patience he needed for his brothers.

"No amount of persecution will try you as much as experiences like these--ones in which you are required to wait on God. Once He has spoken His promise to towkr, it is truly hard to wait as you see the days go by with no fulfillment. Yet it is this disipline of faith that will bring you into a knowledge of God that would otherwise be impossible." p. 192