00:00If you don't believe in God, you should pray that God believes in you.
00:11What a line! You know, it sounds upside down at first, like a sentence that shouldn't even work.
00:18And yet, the more you sit with it,
00:21If you don't believe in God, you should pray that God believes in you.
00:28The more it reveals a truth that slips past the usual walls we build around our souls.
00:38Because here's the miracle.
00:41Long before you ever believed in God, God believed in you.
00:47Long before you ever made a step toward Him, He had already taken a thousand toward you.
00:56And when someone says, I don't know if I can believe,
01:03Heaven still whispers, I haven't changed my mind about you.
01:11Let me talk to you like a friend on a quiet evening.
01:15Because this isn't a theology lesson today.
01:18This is a heart-to-heart.
01:22You know, there are people walking around today feeling like belief requires perfection.
01:28If I don't have it all figured out, I can't approach God.
01:33Or, if I'm not sure about Him, surely, He's not sure about me either.
01:39But the truth is so much more tender, so much more beautiful, so much more wildly in your favor than that.
01:51You don't need perfect faith to be seen.
01:55You don't need airtight theology to be loved by God.
02:00You don't need flawless confidence to be carried.
02:07There is a God who believes in the person you're becoming, even when you can't quite see the outline of it yet.
02:16He believes in the version of you untouched by fear, unshaken by doubt,
02:24unbroken by the battles you've survived.
02:28He believes in the blueprint He designed before you ever took your first breath.
02:36And this belief?
02:38His belief in you?
02:40Well, it is not fragile or conditional.
02:45And it's not dependent on which chapter of your story you're currently reading.
02:52So when someone says,
02:54I don't believe in God,
02:56I don't hear arrogance.
02:59Personally,
03:01I hear exhaustion.
03:03I hear someone who's been hurt.
03:07Someone who trusted once
03:09and got crushed.
03:12Someone who prayed once
03:14and only remembers silence.
03:17Someone who
03:18saw hypocrisy
03:20instead of holiness.
03:21someone who's been carrying questions
03:25with no one patient enough
03:27to sit with them.
03:29And instead of judging,
03:32instead of lecturing,
03:34I want to say,
03:36it's okay.
03:39Because faith doesn't begin with you convincing God
03:42if you're worthy of His attention.
03:44It begins with you discovering
03:48that He's already convinced.
03:52Imagine standing on the edge of your doubts,
03:56looking out at all the uncertainties in your life
03:59and whispering,
04:00if you are real,
04:03believe in me.
04:05Even that tiny whisper is heard.
04:09Even when
04:10a single breath of honesty reaches Him.
04:14Because
04:15honesty
04:17beats perfection
04:18every time.
04:20And
04:21God
04:22has never required
04:24perfect people.
04:26Only
04:26willing ones.
04:29Now,
04:29let me tell you something
04:31that could change your whole walk.
04:34God's belief in you
04:35is older
04:36than your disbelief
04:39in Him.
04:41His commitment to you
04:42is greater than your questions about Him.
04:45His love for you
04:47is deeper than the pain
04:49that made you hesitate.
04:51And His reach?
04:53Well,
04:54His reach is longer
04:56than your doubts.
04:58Picture this.
05:00A child learning how to walk
05:02will stumble hundreds of times
05:04before they ever get it right.
05:07But
05:07no good parent
05:08stands there
05:09waiting for the child to perform.
05:12No good parent says,
05:14when you're finally steady,
05:16I'll come to
05:17be close to you.
05:20No,
05:21a parent kneels.
05:23A parent encourages.
05:26A parent holds out their hands,
05:29believing in steps that
05:30haven't been taken yet.
05:33And God,
05:34well,
05:35God
05:36is
05:37giving you a far greater love.
05:40and He's doing the same thing.
05:44His hands are already out.
05:46His arms are already open.
05:49And His belief in you
05:51has never once paused.
05:57Maybe you feel like you've run too far.
06:00Maybe you think you've messed up too big.
06:04Maybe you think God
06:06would never want to believe
06:07in someone like you.
06:09But I want to speak straight
06:11to your heart,
06:12my friend.
06:13If you're still breathing,
06:15you're still chosen.
06:18If you're still waking up
06:20in the morning,
06:21you're still part of His plan.
06:25If there's still a pulse
06:27in your chest,
06:29heaven has not withdrawn
06:30its vote of confidence.
06:33So,
06:34what does it look like
06:36to pray that God
06:37believes in you?
06:39Well,
06:40it's less about
06:41trying to convince Him
06:43and more about
06:44letting your heart
06:45open enough
06:46to feel what's
06:47been true
06:48all along.
06:50It sounds like,
06:52God,
06:53if you're there,
06:56meet me
06:57where I am.
06:58it may sound like,
07:01I can't see you clearly,
07:05but I want to.
07:07It may sound like,
07:09help me understand
07:11what I'm meant to be.
07:14And,
07:15let me tell you,
07:16He answers those prayers
07:18with a tenderness
07:20that will completely
07:22undo you.
07:25Faith doesn't always
07:26start with certainty.
07:28Sometimes it starts
07:30with curiosity.
07:32Sometimes
07:32with desperation.
07:35Sometimes
07:36with a broken
07:37whisper in the dark.
07:39And sometimes
07:39it starts
07:40with that strange
07:41little sentence,
07:43if you don't
07:45believe in God,
07:47pray that
07:48He
07:48believes in you.
07:51Because when you
07:52say that,
07:53something inside
07:55you softens.
07:56something inside
07:58you realizes
07:59belief isn't
08:00a test
08:00you pass.
08:02It's a
08:02relationship
08:03you
08:04step into.
08:07Now,
08:08if you're
08:08listening to this
08:09with doubts,
08:11you're not
08:11disqualified.
08:13If you've been
08:14burned by religion,
08:16God still
08:17believes in you.
08:19And if you've
08:20made mistakes,
08:22God
08:23still
08:24believes in you.
08:26If you're
08:26wrestling with
08:27questions,
08:29God
08:30still
08:30believes
08:31in you.
08:32If you feel
08:33unworthy,
08:35God,
08:36He still
08:37believes in you.
08:38And if you can
08:39barely whisper
08:40a prayer,
08:42God
08:43still
08:44believes
08:45in you.
08:46And
08:48here's
08:48the beauty.
08:49Once you
08:50realize His
08:51belief in you
08:52has been
08:52constant,
08:53quiet,
08:54and
08:54unshakable,
08:56something
08:57begins to
08:58shift.
08:59You start
09:00to believe
09:00that maybe,
09:02just maybe,
09:04you're worthy
09:05of His
09:05love.
09:06A love
09:07that He's
09:08been offering
09:09you all
09:10along.
09:11You start
09:12to believe
09:12that maybe
09:13He didn't
09:13bring you
09:14this far
09:14to abandon
09:15you.
09:17You start
09:18to believe
09:18that maybe
09:19the story
09:20isn't over.
09:22That maybe
09:23your heart
09:24still has
09:25chapters left
09:26that are
09:27going to
09:27surprise you.
09:29That maybe
09:30God is
09:30far kinder,
09:32far gentler,
09:34and far
09:35more patient
09:36than you
09:37ever imagined.
09:39And that's
09:41when faith
09:42begins.
09:43Not when
09:44you have
09:44all the
09:44answers,
09:45but when
09:46you finally
09:47feel the
09:48warmth of
09:49His
09:49belief
09:50in you.
09:51So today,
09:53wherever you
09:54are,
09:55whatever you're
09:56carrying,
09:57whatever doubts
09:58you're wrestling
09:59with,
10:00I want to
10:01invite you
10:02into a
10:03simple prayer.
10:04It's not a
10:06perfect one,
10:06and it's
10:07not particularly
10:09polished,
10:10but it's
10:11going to be
10:11a real one.
10:12I want to
10:13invite you
10:14to pray
10:14with me.
10:16A prayer
10:16that says,
10:17God,
10:18if you
10:19believe in
10:19me,
10:20help me
10:21see what
10:23you see.
10:25That's
10:25where
10:26transformation
10:26begins.
10:28That's when
10:29light breaks
10:30through,
10:31and that's
10:32when hope
10:33walks in
10:34and sits
10:35down beside
10:36you.
10:36that's
10:38when you
10:38begin to
10:39discover that
10:40the one
10:41you weren't
10:42sure you
10:43believed in
10:44has never
10:45once stopped
10:47believing
10:48in you.
10:50And that
10:51simple truth,
10:53delicate,
10:54powerful,
10:55and healing,
10:56can carry
10:57you farther
10:58than you
10:58ever dreamed.
10:59So,
11:05whenever you're
11:05ready to
11:06take the
11:06next step,
11:08even if
11:09it's tiny,
11:11heaven is
11:12already
11:12cheering,
11:14and the
11:14God who
11:15believes in
11:16you is
11:16already right
11:18here with
11:19you,
11:20closer than
11:21breath,
11:22ready to
11:23walk the
11:24journey
11:25with you.
11:28Truth,
11:29God bless
11:31you,
11:32my friends.
11:35Bye-bye.
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