Understanding God's Power

The concept of God's power is a central theme throughout the Bible, reflecting His omnipotence, sovereignty, and authority over all creation. God's power is not only a testament to His ability to create and sustain the universe but also a source of comfort and strength for believers. This entry explores the multifaceted nature of God's power as revealed in Scripture, highlighting key aspects and implications for the life of faith.

Creation and Sustenance

God's power is first and foremost demonstrated in the act of creation. Genesis 1:1 states, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." This foundational verse underscores God's ability to bring the universe into existence ex nihilo, or out of nothing. The psalmist echoes this sentiment in Psalm 33:6, "By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth." God's creative power is not limited to the initial act of creation but extends to His ongoing sustenance of the world. Hebrews 1:3 affirms that Christ, "sustains all things by His powerful word."

Miraculous Works

Throughout the biblical narrative, God's power is manifested in miraculous works that defy natural explanation. The parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22), the provision of manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4-5), and the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43-44) are just a few examples of divine intervention. These miracles serve as signs of God's authority and as demonstrations of His ability to intervene in human history for the fulfillment of His purposes.

Salvation and Redemption

God's power is also intricately linked to the themes of salvation and redemption. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the ultimate display of God's power over sin and death, as Paul further explains in Ephesians 1:19-20, describing "the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. He exerted this power in Christ when He raised Him from the dead."

Sovereignty and Authority

God's power is synonymous with His sovereignty and authority over all creation. Daniel 4:35 declares, "All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: 'What have You done?'" This sovereignty is not arbitrary but is exercised with wisdom and justice, as seen in Psalm 89:14, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; loving devotion and faithfulness go before You."

Empowerment of Believers

The power of God is not only an external force but also an empowering presence within believers. Acts 1:8 promises, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." This empowerment enables Christians to live out their faith, resist sin, and fulfill the Great Commission. Ephesians 3:20-21 further encourages believers by stating, "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us."

Conclusion

Understanding God's power is essential for comprehending His nature and His work in the world. It is a source of awe, reverence, and hope for believers, providing assurance of His ability to accomplish His will and fulfill His promises. Through creation, miracles, salvation, sovereignty, and empowerment, God's power is a central and defining attribute of His divine character.

Topical Bible: Understanding God's Power

 

[LydiaJoy]

It is when we know that God has the power to help intervene in a situation, but we don’t receive the help and assistance that we pray for, that can be really discouraging. It becomes really hard when we know it would be so easy for God to rearrange a circumstance or help in some way, we know He has the power and ability to do so, yet He does not and it doesn’t make any sense to us why, that can be very hard to deal with. It is in these times that I remind myself that we know that we will have trials and suffering in this world, but that it will not last forever. Also, that there are some things that we will never fully understand the reasons for this side of heaven. I wonder how others deal with these types of circumstances.

 

[Hol]

I wonder how others deal with these types of circumstances.

Those are tough trials

Sometimes I ask the Lord to show me what I need to learn so the trial gets over as soon as possible.

I heard a good insight on Christian radio recently. Take your list of worries, those ‘what if…’ thoughts. Replace the ‘what if’ with EVEN if.

 

[1LoverofGod]

It is when we know that God has the power to help intervene in a situation, but we don’t receive the help and assistance that we pray for, that can be really discouraging. It becomes really hard when we know it would be so easy for God to rearrange a circumstance or help in some way, we know He has the power and ability to do so, yet He does not and it doesn’t make any sense to us why, that can be very hard to deal with. It is in these times that I remind myself that we know that we will have trials and suffering in this world, but that it will not last forever. Also, that there are some things that we will never fully understand the reasons for this side of heaven. I wonder how others deal with these types of circumstances.

Beloved sister, I Know how it can get discouraging when prayers are not answered as we ask from God. Years of unrelenting pain is testament to that very feeling.
But, let me tell you what I came to understand about this.
When it comes to prayer for what we need, the Hardest part is the waiting. There are numerous scriptures in God's Word that speaks on "waiting on The Lord", so this is something God does not overlook on how difficult waiting can be for His Beloved children, and is why "waiting" on Him is mentioned so often in His Word.
For me, it took getting deep in His Word to help me to understand some things about why God seems to be slow in answering our prayers.
The most outstanding thing to encourage me is coming to Know God's Unchanging Character. Knowing the Attributes of God helped me to see that God Does Care, with the one Attribute that underlines everyone of them being Love. Because God IS Love, this Love makes everything else about Who He is even more Trustworthy.
Then I came to understand that prayer comes with Hope, and Hope comes with Faith.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"
Hebrews 11:1

"But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."
Romans 8:25

We wont always see what God is doing while we wait on Him, and His timing is not our timing, and often His timing wil feel so long for us because as we are currently in our flawed state as humans our lifespan is so short compared to our Eternal God, so time is very precious to us because we live by a time ticking clock that every day is shortened in our lives.

"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day"
2 Peter 3:8

I had to understand why when Jesus came the first time, He didnt heal everyone, when He had the Power to do so.
The main purpose for Jesus coming was to bring Salvation and He had to die a Sacrificial death to accomplish this purpose for His coming.
God foreknew that the world, in particular the Jews as a whole, would not receive Jesus as Savior, so it was not God's timing yet for everyone to be healed, which could not happen until Jesus blood was shed to cover our sins and redeem us to Himself, so God has set a time for Jesus to return to fulfill every Promise. Jesus has to rid the world of the source of every problem that sin brought into the world, satan himself, Then all of God's Promises Will be fulfilled, which includes answered prayers to all of our needs, like never having to worry about having to live by money which wont be necessary in God's Kingdom where God will supply for us freely, and not only will we be healed, but sickness wont exist and life will be everlasting because Jesus will put the last enemy death under His feet.

There are many reasons God holds off on answering our prayers. Most of the time it can be to deepen our relationship with Him, by learning to put our Trust in Him and draw us nearer to Him. He may want to use our trials to show us He is our Strength in how He gets us through each day, even when it feels like we cant get through them, but God shows His faithfulness to get us to the next day, as "God's Mercy is New every morning".
Sometimes in how God helps Us endure, it witnessed to others how God helps us and encourages Others too.
Lamentations 3:22-23
Our trials do more For us than we think.

"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
Romans 5:3-5

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
James 1:2-4

Often times that doesnt come to mind when we are focusing on how bad things are, and take our focus off of our God Who is attentive to our every need, and Has resolved our trials, before we see them resolved because God knows the end from the beginning, we dont.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
Romans 8:28

"Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’"
Isaiah 46:10

God grieves at our sufferings and burdens.
He doesnt delight in seeing us go through trials but it all comes to Hope in what Jesus has Done, and declared this when He uttered His last words on the cross, "It is finished".
We All would like our prayers answered now, or when our prayers have been ongoing for a long time, and go unanswered it may discourage us. God answers our prayers not according to our timing, nor by what we Think is good for us, but God knows what is good for us better than we do because we dont see what's ahead of what we ask for but God does, and sometimes what we are asking for might not result in what we hope for, but because God cares for us He wont answer certain prayers if it will result in something that harms us
A brother once told me how he had prayed for a long time to get hired at a place that paid real good and came with good benefits. He wanted to work there so bad and he and his wife prayed about getting hired there every day for a long time but prayers weren't being answered for him to get hired there and it was discouraging them because their finances were very tight and had kids to support. One day he got news that the very place he had been praying for to get hired at, filed bankruptcy and closed down permanently, leaving hundreds of workers unemployed. This brother said he never thought he would thank God for not answering a prayer, but God knew what was going to happen and kept this brother from a situation he thought was good, but God knew would result in harming him and his family. We cant see what God sees
This is a true story and just am example as to why some prayers go unanswered. We need to keep in mind its not always only about us, but others who may be impacted by our prayer requests.
God wont always answer what we hope for in our timing, and this is shown in how long the Church has prayed for Jesus to come back and fulfill our blessed Hope, praying and waiting for over 2000 years, but we dont give up, we Keep praying and holding on to our guaranteed Hope, because we know God is Faithful

"looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,"
Titus 2:13

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance"
2 Peter 3:9

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."
Hebrews 10:23

Many prayers that are from suffering in health and injustices may not be answered now, just as Jesus didnt fix everything when He came the first time, but He Did some miracles to demonstrate Who He was and the Hope that was Yet to Come, when every person accepting Jesus as the Only Way to The Father has been saved in the last days.
We are encouraged through the Hope that we wait on, that comes with our Salvation that has been sealed by The Holy Spirit as a Guarantee that our Hope will come to pass, Every prayer for our good is answered, and it will be realized for every believer when Jesus comes to take us to glory. John 14:2-3 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Waiting is hard, but the wait is so worth it, when nothing in this world has the Hope that we can only have in our Lord Jesus because our God of Love gave Him up because of His great Love for us. Keep praying. Hold on to your Hope. Let The God of Promise, Who is Faithful, Encourage you.
Stay in God's Word, because its in His Word where we find Hope, and remember that Jesus IS The Word of God, (John 1:1), and its our Hope in Jesus that is written from Genesis to Revelation.

"The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him."
Lamentations 3:25

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."
Romans 12:12

"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."
Romans 15:4

 

[mattfivefour]

Beloved sister, I Know how it can get discouraging when prayers are not answered as we ask from God. Years of unrelenting pain is testament to that very feeling.
But, let me tell you what I came to understand about this.
When it comes to prayer for what we need, the Hardest part is the waiting. There are numerous scriptures in God's Word that speaks on "waiting on The Lord", so this is something God does not overlook on how difficult waiting can be for His Beloved children, and is why "waiting" on Him is mentioned so often in His Word.
For me, it took getting deep in His Word to help me to understand some things about why God seems to be slow in answering our prayers.
The most outstanding thing to encourage me is coming to Know God's Unchanging Character. Knowing the Attributes of God helped me to see that God Does Care, with the one Attribute that underlines everyone of them being Love. Because God IS Love, this Love makes everything else about Who He is even more Trustworthy.
Then I came to understand that prayer comes with Hope, and Hope comes with Faith.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"
Hebrews 11:1

"But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."
Romans 8:25

We wont always see what God is doing while we wait on Him, and His timing is not our timing, and often His timing wil feel so long for us because as we are currently in our flawed state as humans our lifespan is so short compared to our Eternal God, so time is very precious to us because we live by a time ticking clock that every day is shortened in our lives.

"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day"
2 Peter 3:8

I had to understand why when Jesus came the first time, He didnt heal everyone, when He had the Power to do so.
The main purpose for Jesus coming was to bring Salvation and He had to die a Sacrificial death to accomplish this purpose for His coming.
God foreknew that the world, in particular the Jews as a whole, would not receive Jesus as Savior, so it was not God's timing yet for everyone to be healed, which could not happen until Jesus blood was shed to cover our sins and redeem us to Himself, so God has set a time for Jesus to return to fulfill every Promise. Jesus has to rid the world of the source of every problem that sin brought into the world, satan himself, Then all of God's Promises Will be fulfilled, which includes answered prayers to all of our needs, like never having to worry about having to live by money which wont be necessary in God's Kingdom where God will supply for us freely, and not only will we be healed, but sickness wont exist and life will be everlasting because Jesus will put the last enemy death under His feet.

There are many reasons God holds off on answering our prayers. Most of the time it can be to deepen our relationship with Him, by learning to put our Trust in Him and draw us nearer to Him. He may want to use our trials to show us He is our Strength in how He gets us through each day, even when it feels like we cant get through them, but God shows His faithfulness to get us to the next day, as "God's Mercy is New every morning".
Sometimes in how God helps Us endure, it witnessed to others how God helps us and encourages Others too.
Lamentations 3:22-23
Our trials do more For us than we think.

"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
Romans 5:3-5

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
James 1:2-4

Often times that doesnt come to mind when we are focusing on how bad things are, and take our focus off of our God Who is attentive to our every need, and Has resolved our trials, before we see them resolved because God knows the end from the beginning, we dont.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
Romans 8:28

"Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’"
Isaiah 46:10

God grieves at our sufferings and burdens.
He doesnt delight in seeing us go through trials but it all comes to Hope in what Jesus has Done, and declared this when He uttered His last words on the cross, "It is finished".
We All would like our prayers answered now, or when our prayers have been ongoing for a long time, and go unanswered it may discourage us. God answers our prayers not according to our timing, nor by what we Think is good for us, but God knows what is good for us better than we do because we dont see what's ahead of what we ask for but God does, and sometimes what we are asking for might not result in what we hope for, but because God cares for us He wont answer certain prayers if it will result in something that harms us
A brother once told me how he had prayed for a long time to get hired at a place that paid real good and came with good benefits. He wanted to work there so bad and he and his wife prayed about getting hired there every day for a long time but prayers weren't being answered for him to get hired there and it was discouraging them because their finances were very tight and had kids to support. One day he got news that the very place he had been praying for to get hired at, filed bankruptcy and closed down permanently, leaving hundreds of workers unemployed. This brother said he never thought he would thank God for not answering a prayer, but God knew what was going to happen and kept this brother from a situation he thought was good, but God knew would result in harming him and his family. We cant see what God sees
This is a true story and just am example as to why some prayers go unanswered. We need to keep in mind its not always only about us, but others who may be impacted by our prayer requests.
God wont always answer what we hope for in our timing, and this is shown in how long the Church has prayed for Jesus to come back and fulfill our blessed Hope, praying and waiting for over 2000 years, but we dont give up, we Keep praying and holding on to our guaranteed Hope, because we know God is Faithful

"looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,"
Titus 2:13

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance"
2 Peter 3:9

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."
Hebrews 10:23

Many prayers that are from suffering in health and injustices may not be answered now, just as Jesus didnt fix everything when He came the first time, but He Did some miracles to demonstrate Who He was and the Hope that was Yet to Come, when every person accepting Jesus as the Only Way to The Father has been saved in the last days.
We are encouraged through the Hope that we wait on, that comes with our Salvation that has been sealed by The Holy Spirit as a Guarantee that our Hope will come to pass, Every prayer for our good is answered, and it will be realized for every believer when Jesus comes to take us to glory. John 14:2-3 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Waiting is hard, but the wait is so worth it, when nothing in this world has the Hope that we can only have in our Lord Jesus because our God of Love gave Him up because of His great Love for us. Keep praying. Hold on to your Hope. Let The God of Promise, Who is Faithful, Encourage you.
Stay in God's Word, because its in His Word where we find Hope, and remember that Jesus IS The Word of God, (John 1:1), and its our Hope in Jesus that is written from Genesis to Revelation.

"The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him."
Lamentations 3:25

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."
Romans 12:12

"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."
Romans 15:4

Excellent teaching!

Myself, I deal with hard times by reminding myself that God is perfect and all that He does is perfect; that God created me for a purpose; that in His love He is shaping me to accomplish that purpose; and that this God --who by a word could change any situation in an instant-- is more interested in changing me. I also call to mind the truth that He has never l, ever let me down in the past. So I'm times of trouble I pray, "Lord, if it is alright, please reveal to me the purpose of this trial. Nevertheless, help me quiet myself in Your hand while You shape me. I ask this the only way I ever approach You, the one name You have given us-- Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for hearing me. Amen."

 

[1LoverofGod]

Excellent teaching!

Myself, I deal with hard times by reminding myself that God is perfect and all that He does is perfect; that God created me for a purpose; that in His love He is shaping me to accomplish that purpose; and that this God --who by a word could change any situation in an instant-- is more interested in changing me. I also call to mind the truth that He has never l, ever let me down in the past. So I'm times of trouble I pray, "Lord, if it is alright, please reveal to me the purpose of this trial. Nevertheless, help me quiet myself in Your hand while You shape me. I ask this the only way I ever approach You, the one name You have given us-- Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for hearing me. Amen."

Yes. We need to keep reminding ourselves of God's Faithfulness, and we can always look back on our history with God on how He always has been Faithful in getting us through every trial and burden we carry and Trust that He Will Do it Again.
We are blessed in that even when we get overwhelmed by our troubles, that we forget to remind ourselves, that The Holy Spirit Who dwells in us, Helps to remind us, and we can only See His Help when we keep our minds on the Spiritual and not on the flesh and things in this world, and by keeping our minds on God, He keeps us in His Perfect Peace. Isaiah 26:3
But even when we fail in keeping our minds on the things of God, He understands our fallen nature,

"For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.". Psalm 103:14

And He wont give up on being Faithful to His Word because

"If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself". 2 Timothy 2:13

We must be determined to keep hold of our faith because.....

"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.". Hebrews 11:6

"And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours". Mark 11:22-24

*God is Trustworthy to keep His Promises, beyond our understanding, and is why it takes Faith to believe that He Will keep His Word, Always working things out for the good for those who love Him....". Romans 8:28

“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"
Numbers 23:19

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6

We must ask ourselves,
What is there in this world that can guarantee anything that we truly benefit from, and to even last? Every human being is faced with death at some point in this life, which Only God remedied through His Son Jesus in Whom we have the Only Hope that cannot be found in anything else.

"And as it is appointed for men to die once..."
Hebrews 9:27

"Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass."
Job 14:5

"Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,". John 11:25

Glory to God for our Hope!
A Hope in everything God meant for us to have when He declared His Words in Creation.....

"And It Was Good"

 

[Spartan Sprinter]

I must admit i felt a strong spiritual attack reading these posts with the enemy trying his hardest to stir resentment but also at the same time as i read each post i got a feeling of peace and resolve

 

[1LoverofGod]

I must admit i felt a strong spiritual attack reading these posts with the enemy trying his hardest to stir resentment but also at the same time as i read each post i got a feeling of peace and resolve

And God understands!
God's Compassion never fails, He is Merciful, and gives us Grace when we find it hard to find grace ourselves. God's Goodness is unfathomable to our flawed minds, But He generously shows His Goodness to help us to believe, in faith. We learn from our exemplar Jesus Who was tempted in every way, yet did not sin, and He is our High Priest Who Advocates for us because He knows how hard it can be for us
Lamentations 3:22-23
Hebrews 4:14-16