Welcome to Day 19 of 21 Days to Strengthen Your Faith! Today, we are looking at a word of encouragement from the Lord Himself: “Do not be afraid; only believe.” If you’re walking through difficulty right now, this word is for you!

As a reminder:

In this series, we will examine one short Scripture passage each day.

Then, we will pray through it with a brief series of bullet-point prayers. Each day, our goal is to strengthen our faith by gaining greater revelation about the importance of faith in our lives, and how faith WORKS.

As you strengthen your faith each day, your confidence in God will grow–and you will also begin feeling more brave and willing to go on the great adventures God has for you!

Click here for the series table of contents, in which you can find all the articles in 21 Days to Strengthen Your Faith.

We have also recorded a short video devotional to go with each day’s Scripture verse. Please be sure to watch these videos for extra encouragement and inspiration in your faith journey!

Here is today’s short video word of encouragement:

Our key Scripture today is Mark 5:36, which says:

“As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, ‘Do not be afraid; only believe’” (Mark 5:36 NKJV).

Friend, have you gotten bad news lately?

I sure have. And that bad news, which has come in multiple arenas, has been in extremely important areas of my life and family. It has been really hard.

In difficult times like these, it’s easy to question God. Questions naturally come to mind, like:

• “Why, God?”
• “Why did You allow that?”
• “Why didn’t You do what You said You would do when I wanted You to do it?”

But we cannot afford to stay offended at God. When these hardest times come, even when we don’t understand, we still have to say:

“God, I trust You. I don’t understand, Abba. I don’t understand any of this. But I know You will do what You said You would do, even if it’s on a different timetable than my timetable … and even if You do Your work differently than I wanted you to do it. You are not a man, that You should lie.”

Related: Do You Ever Have to Forgive God?

But even in times like these, Jesus still says: “Do not be afraid; only believe.”

Even if today is your hardest day, Jesus says to you right now: “Do not be afraid; only believe.” And this means:

• If you got a bad diagnosis …
• Or if your child or spouse got news about a life-threatening medical condition …
• If you’re laid up in bed, sick as a dog, and worried about tomorrow (or next month or next year) …
• If your vehicle died and can’t be driven anymore, and you don’t have the means to replace it …
• Or if you don’t know where the money is going to come from to meet your needs today …
• If you haven’t been paid in a long time and can’t afford basic necessities …
• If your enemies find ways to continue attacking you for no reason, even when you’ve been out of their lives for years …
• And if the big breakthrough you’ve been praying for didn’t come when you asked God for it …
• And even if you prayed and fasted and sowed and tithed and spoke the Word and gave to the poor and did all the things but things are still meager and hard …

Even in these times, today Jesus says to you: “Do not be afraid; only believe.”

Do not be afraid; only believe.

It’s the most comforting word I’ve heard all day, and I can tell you it’s rhema (an on-time word from God’s Holy Spirit) for me today. Is it an on-time word for you too?

If so, then pray this with me:

• Tell the Father that you come before Him in Jesus’ name.
• Thank Him for being merciful to you, and for hearing your prayer.
• Praise Him for His steadfast love, which endures forever.
• Admit to Him that you are going through a really hard time right now, and that you don’t understand the specific things you don’t understand.
• Forgive Him, if needed, for not doing what you wanted Him to do when you wanted Him to do it. (God is perfect and never sins or makes mistakes, but we still have to forgive Him when we get offended at His ways–because the offense is real in our own minds if we are disgruntled with God, even if He never did anything wrong.)
• Ask His forgiveness for getting offended or angry at Him.
• Confess your trust in Him. Tell Him that you are choosing to trust Him, even though you don’t understand.
• Ask Him to help you to not be afraid, and to only believe Him.
• Pray that He will make you perfect in love today, for perfect love casts out fear.
• Ask Him to help you place your trust in Him in a whole new way, and to cling to Him all day.
• Take a moment to pray for His help in each of the specific, difficult situations that you are going through right now.
• Thank Him, and give Him all the praise!

Beloved, our God is faithful and true.

Even when He doesn’t work the way we want Him to, when we want Him to, He is still faithful. He is still perfect in all of His ways. He is still our good, adoring, kind, generous, perfect Heavenly Father, even though He allows us to go through tests and trials sometimes.

Do not be afraid; only believe.

I encourage you not to look at outward appearances today. Do not look at the bad news. Instead, gaze faithfully at the Father. Stare at the face of Jesus. Walk by faith, not by sight.

Look at Jesus’ face today and see His lovingkindness there. Know that His kindness and goodness are aimed completely at you. His thoughts about you are more than can be numbered. You are on His mind and in His heart today, engraved into the palm of His hand.

And you are safe there.

Do not be afraid; only believe. If times are difficult, even unspeakably hard, this is what the Lord wants you to remember.

Do not be afraid; only believe.

Does this word speak to your heart and strengthen your faith today? If so, leave a comment below!