God Meets Our Needs Part 3: Believing in Him Opens the Door

Even though listening to the Lord and obeying Him are vital for us to receive God’s provision, we cannot do so effectively unless we believe in Him. As Hebrews 11:6 states, “it is impossible to please God without faith.” However, our faith must have roots if it is truly going to make a difference. Deliberately meditating on what God has promised and what He has done for us helps those roots grow strong.

As we believe in Him, Jesus supernaturally fulfills our needs. However, we can only believe in someone as we get to know them and trust them. One way we can get to know and believe God more, then, is to hear what He has to say. Romans 10:17 states that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (KJV). Much of what God says in His Word revolves around His promises and the good things He has previously done: and many of these promises speak to God’s provision! In fact, in John 6:35, Jesus refers to Himself as the “Bread of Life.” This calls back to Exodus 16, when the Lord gave His people bread from heaven to satisfy their physical hunger. In the same way, Jesus represents this bread as the lasting fulfillment of our spiritual hunger. He affirms, “‘Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty’” (John 6:35). Furthermore, He promises that as we listen to Him, we “will eat what is good” (Isa. 55:2) and that “‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matt. 4:4). As a result, our faith is strengthened as we feed our minds on the truth of God’s Word and promises.

As our faith increases, our hearts are postured to receive our Father’s provision. This is exactly what happened for the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5. She had heard about Jesus and “thought to herself, ‘If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed’ (vv. 27-28). And that’s exactly what happened! Once the woman touched Jesus’ robe, she received immediate healing (v. 29). All it took on her part was belief.

It is so easy for us to overcomplicate things and think, Isn’t there something more I must do to receive from the Lord than simply believe?! No. There really isn’t. Our pride and ego try to convince us that we have to work our way to God to make Him pleased in us for being so “righteous.” But think about it. How simple was it for you to receive salvation? All you did was believe that Jesus took the penalty for your sins on the cross, died, and rose to life three days later. When you believed, a divine exchange took place. The Father considered your belief in Jesus to have the exact same effect as if you had actually died and taken the penalty for your sins. But now, because you trusted in Jesus, you are free to choose Him instead of sin. You have been raised to new life (See Col. 2:12-14; Rom. 6:3-8)! And all you did was believe.

Jesus continues to affirm that all it takes is believing when He responds to the people’s question about how they can do God’s works (John 6:28). He says, “‘This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent’” (v. 29). It is no mistake that just a few verses after this, Jesus declares that He is the Bread of Life (v. 35). Jesus Himself is our Provision and satisfies our hunger and thirst. All we have to do is come to Him! (For more on this awesome revelation, please see John 6:22-59.)

There is so much more I could say, but it all comes down to this: God wants to meet our needs, and will, as long as we come to Him with open hearts and open minds to receive His provision.

In my next blog post, I will talk a little bit more about the power of believing and about how we can increase our faith by meditating on what God has done for us. Stay tuned!

*Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references are from the New Living Translation.

Works Cited

King James Version. BibleGateway, Accessed 17 Feb. 2024.

New Living Translation. BibleGateway, Accessed 17 Feb. 2024.