This is a short pep-talk that I am aiming directly at your faith! Without faith it is impossible to please God, so I like to see my own faith encouraged and I like to stir and challenge other people’s faith as well. What I am now sharing with you is a thought that came to my attention a few days ago, when I was praying through a challenge that confronted me. I share it with you as a faith booster.

What I had experienced was a situation that turned out to be tough. As I took time to pray about the issue I realised that the circumstances represented a threat to my current situation. A potential reversal was on the horizon. Now, that’s a fairly common experience. Our health may be compromised and the doctors may have a glum prognosis. We may suffer a financial loss that clips our wings and tightens our belt. We may face a disappointment, some opposition, arguments with loved ones, fearful thoughts about how things are going, and so on. I was facing one of those kinds of things.

As I prayed I felt a subtle surge of faith. I wasn’t about to go sweeping mountains off the map, but I was finding it easier to expect good things from God. God has promised us a raft of good things and the Bible is filled with promises. Having faith to take hold of them is usually our challenge. Anyway, I felt a surge of faith and I found myself stepping toward the problem, rather than feeling weighed down by it.

I began to pray boldly and I began to address the problem with defiance in my spirit. I proceeded to call on God’s help and then to tell the problem that it had no right to muscle in to my territory. I accused it of being a lie. I claimed that my situation was not dependent on my abilities or personal worth. (I often admit my limitations and declare that I am where I am because of God’s blessing, not my personal merits). I then challenged the problem with the “Six Day War Outcome”.

In the Six Day War in June 1967, Israel came under attack on all sides, by Egypt, Jordan and Syria. The situation looked desperate and the initial prognosis was quite negative for Israel. Yet less than one week later Israel had not only repelled the attackers but had advanced into new territory formerly controlled by its enemies. The Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, West Bank and Gaza Strip came under Israeli occupation. What was a sure defeat became a triumph.

That’s what I call the “Six Day War Outcome”. It’s a powerful faith booster. The enemy comes in like a flood and God enables you to not only repel the offensive but to push into enemy territory and take ground you never previously owned. Wow! If that happened every time you were attacked, how would you feel about the next onslaught? You’d be itching for the next invasion. You’d be taunting your enemies to attack you. If every time you were attacked you ended up richer, stronger, more secure, more influential and more blessed how would you feel about any future attack?

As I prayed through my relatively minor challenge the whole “Six Day War Outcome” came flooding into mind. I found myself emboldened in my derision of the enemy. I found myself defiant and brash. Of course, I was not dealing with any people. I don’t recommend that you treat people that way. I was praying, privately, about a situation that the enemy of my soul was dumping onto me to bring me down and to frustrate my effectiveness for God. And that’s how it usually is. We do not wrestle with people, we are told (see Ephesians 6:12), but against evil spirits assigned against us. There’s no holds barred when we come up against them.

So, I encourage you in the Lord, to consider the “Six Day War Outcome” and to see that God is ready to give you that kind of victory when you are confronted. And don’t worry about your inability to win such a fight. There are lovely Bible verses about God giving us the victory – so you don’t even need to fight. Ponder these:

“You will not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you…. fear not, nor be dismayed… for the Lord will be with you.” 2Chronicles 20:17

“Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1Corinthians 15:57