Good morning people who act on their faith

The apostle Paul was writing to Philemon from prison. He was in a place of confinement, and there was no tangible end to his suffering in sight.

Maybe you find yourself in a similar place today – a place where the difficulty appears to have no end in sight.

I pray you find encouragement and faith from what Paul wrote to Philemon from this place of extreme difficulty. 

Philemon 1:22 (NIV) And one more thing: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.

The word ‘hope’ Paul uses in this verse is the same Greek word used in Hebrews 11:1 where it says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This word literally means ‘to expect, to wait with joy and full confidence’. It is not a vain hope but a confident expectation.

Paul ask Philemon to prepare a room for him because he expected to be released in answer to prayer.

“What do we expect to happen in answer to prayer?”

Paul did not just expect to be released in answer to prayer, but he also acted on his faith – he asked Philemon to prepare a room for when he got out of prison. But it is so important to note that he asked him while he was still in prison.

Faith requires action before there is any evidence of change. Faith does something as if impossibility does not exist. Faith acts, not based on the evidence of what we see, but in response to hearing God’s Word.

“What would God ask you to do as an act of faith today?”