Finding Faith Article – By Pastor John Snyder
House of the Lord Fellowship
March 2018
In the Bible there is the story of a woman named Lydia. It says in Acts 16:13-15 (NKJV), And on the Sabbath day we [Philip and his disciples] went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple [cloth, textiles] from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.
Paul and his disciples were searching in that city for people who were hungry for God. They were looking for someone who was willing to hear more about Jesus, and for someone who was a candidate for the salvation of God. Among the religious women gathered for prayer by the riverside, Lydia was listening intently to Paul and his disciples and the Gospel message they were sharing. Lydia was in pursuit of truth, healing, and for a closer, deeper relationship with God. She knew her religion and life were lacking the fire that she was seeking for in her heart. When she heard about Jesus, His death, and resurrection, she was stirred to the inner depths of her being. It was Jesus she had been searching for all along!
God touched Lydia. The presence and power of God visited her that day. God spoke to her by His Spirit though the disciples and believers. Lydia was never the same. She received into her heart and life Jesus as her Lord and Savior; and she got saved and became a member of the body of Christ. She was supernaturally transformed with a new heart and new life. Her transformation by the workings of God began to demonstrate fruitfulness immediately. She went from being a seeker and listener, to becoming a receiver, and then later a powerful servant of God with her home as a welcoming meeting place of prayer and gathering for other believers.
If you do not know God or you are not sure if you do, God wants to move mightily in your life and heart! Just open your heart to God and seek Him fervently so that He will manifest Himself to you and through you.
As it says in Jeremiah 29:13 – And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Romans 10:12 says – …for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
Ephesians 2:8 says – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God….
2 Peter 3:9 says – The Lord is not slack concerning His promise… [He is] not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Revelation 3:20 – Behold, I [Jesus] stand at the door [of your heart] and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
