Faith is an awesome thing – it’s a gift from God and one of the reasons God gives us faith and then takes us through trials to grow our faith is so that we can conquer the things of this world. That’s what the Bible teaches us. Problem is that when we’re in the middle of the conquering bit – well, that can get a bit scary.

There are times in our lives when we have to overcome obstacles. Not every obstacle is for overcoming let me say, sometimes we're meant to be there, at least for a while and sometimes we're meant to be there for a long while.

I don't know if you recall the Apostle Paul’s prayer to God about the thorn in his flesh that was hindering him, but three times he asked God to take it away and God’s answer was "no", because that thorn in Paul's flesh was there to keep him humble. Even adversity sometimes, especially adversity, plays an important part in God’s plan for our lives but sometimes its God’s plan for us to overcome obstacles in our lives, to be conquerors of things out there that are holding us back.

Sometimes we need to be more than conquerors over our circumstances in order to achieve the things that God has called us to achieve and when that's the case, when we have to conquer an obstacle that's way beyond our power and our wisdom and our strength then we need to have faith in the One who does have the power and the wisdom and the strength to make those things happen.

We need that sort of power that conquers the world and that's the sort of power that we're going to chat about today on the program, world conquering faith.

But before we get rolling I just want to explain that the reason I began with this word of caution, that not all obstacles are meant to be crashed through and torn down, is because more often than not it's not the obstacles out there that need conquering, it's the obstacles within us that need conquering.

Take the idea of strongholds. We tend to think of a stronghold as being, I don't know, some dark spiritual force or place out there somewhere that we need to overcome but the only time that that word is used in the New Testament it's actually talking about the proud thoughts inside the hearts of believers. Have a listen, 2 Corinthians chapter 10 beginning at verse 3:

Indeed we live as human beings but we do not wage war according to human standards for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

I want to argue that often it's the strongholds in our hearts that are the hardest obstacles to overcome, seriously. A stronghold is something that, well we hold on to so strong that try as we might we can't let go of it and lay hold of the good things, the blessings that God has planned for us.

So our strongholds set themselves up against our knowledge of God, that's why Paul calls us to take every thought captive to obey Christ. But whatever the obstacles there are times when we need the sort of faith that's going to conquer them. So let’s go back to Hebrews chapter 11 and see what God has to say today about world conquering faith. Hebrews 11 beginning at verse 29:

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days.

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient because she had received the spies of Israel in peace. And what more can I say for time would fail me to tell of Gideon, of Barak, of Samson, of Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Hey, isn't that the most amazing passage? I mean I get courage in my heart just reading that passage. So what's God saying to us today through His Word? When the nation of Israel fled from their centuries of slavery in Egypt and after they had wandered for forty years in the wilderness God finally led them into the land that He'd promised them through Abraham many centuries before.

Now you'd think wouldn't you, if this was the land that God had chosen and the land that God had provided and the land that God had promised and ordained for them, wouldn't you think that they'd just, I don't know, kind of waltz inside and settle down and take it over? But that wasn't Gods plan. The land was occupied by many nations and kings and tribes and the Israelites had to take the Promised Land battle by battle by battle and that's often Gods way.

That's why so often life as a Christian seems to be battle after battle. That's why sometimes we think to ourselves, "Why is following Jesus so hard? Why doesn't it all just fall into place? Come on, what about the promises of God?"

Well the promises are there just like the Promised Land was there for Israel but they have to be taken battle by battle by battle. And those battles my friend require faith and faith pleases God. And so those battles are our opportunity to grow in our faith as we rely on God’s promises to take us through and when we do that that's pleasing to God.

So Israel took Jericho by faith. And Rahab, the prostitute who'd harboured the Israeli spies before the battle, she was saved by faith. And then the writer goes on in this list of many situations and circumstances in the history of Israel, battle after battle after battle after battle that had been won as Israel and Gods people stepped into the breach and put their faith in God.

My friend that's what the Christian life is meant to look like, that's what we're meant to do and after each battle, after each trial, after each beating, after each victory you know what happens? Our faith grows stronger.

We don't just become mighty men and women of faith by sitting in our lounge rooms watching television, we become mighty men and women of faith by using our faith, by exercising our faith so that it grows stronger and stronger with each battle. And one day we wake up and we're able to face even bigger battles for Jesus because now we have the faith we need to do it.

Let me finish off by sharing a letter with you I received a while back from Elsie, an elderly woman who used to support Christianityworks by sending in some stamps every few months. Listen to the world conquering faith of this frail old woman.

Although I'm only a very aged pensioner (Those are her words) I have been kept by Gods grace through many years. In the last eighteen months I have had both flood waters and burning tree embers over my verandah but God has protected me through it all. Only last night the bush fires threatened my home again and I went to bed knowing that only our Creator could keep me safe.

Berni I am sending you these stamps in the name of our miracle working God who fed thousands with five small loaves and two fish, burst open prison doors, calmed tempests, split rocks and provided water, conquered death and defeated satan and who is coming again to take us to His eternal home in glory. May these stamps help others to enter His peace.

And so they did. We used them in our very next mailing to our supporters and in response to that I received a letter from another woman who lived just three kilometres from Elsie who had been at the point of committing suicide when she received our letter, yet God used that letter to save her life. She wrote thank you for saving my life.

I believe with all my heart that that miracle was born out of Elsie's world conquering faith. I rang Elsie, told her all about it and she wept with joy. What an awesome God we serve that this self described aged pensioner can be filled with world conquering faith and as you receive God’s Word today may you be filled with a passion to travel through the battles, through the fires, through the floods of your walk with Jesus so that day after day you'll grow in you the sort of faith that conquers this world.