Declarations of Faith
Andrew Brunson quickly learned as he spent time in prison that he had no power to fight the system.
But he said this, on page 159: “I realized I could not do much to fight for my freedom, but I could fight for my faith. If I did not survive spiritually, I knew I’d lose everything.”
And so he said he made a decision and announced to God, almost in defiance: “Whatever You do or do not do, I will follow You.”
Declarations of Faith
He says, “This became the basis of my declaration, and I added to it:
If You do not speak to me, I will follow You.
If You do not let me sense Your presence, I will follow You.
If You do not show me Your kindness, I will follow You.
If You allow me to be deceived, I will follow You.
If You leave me in prison, I will follow You.
I will not give up. I may be terrified. I may be weak, but I am going to hold on.
I will look to Jesus, not away from Him.
I will run to Jesus or crawl to Jesus if necessary.”
He began to repeat these declarations to himself over and over again, and this gave him great strength and hope.
Victory in Surrender
In fact, later on, after a very bad day, Andrew was lying in his cell, weeping at what was going on and at the injustice he was facing. He said: “I kept saying, ‘Where are You, God? Why have You let them bring me here? Why have You not intervened? Why are You so silent and so far away?’”
Then he says, “I opened my mouth, weeping aloud, and the words I heard were, ‘Stand me. I love You, Jesus.’ And again, ‘I love You, Jesus. I love You, Jesus.’”
He says, “Immediately I realized, here is my victory. In the lowest point, the cry of my heart was one of love to Jesus. I still had fear and pain, but I just discovered how deep my devotion was.”
Declare Your Faith
And so, friends, what phrases of devotion are coming off your lips today? What declarations of faith are you speaking?
If you keep repeating how bad things are in your mind—if you keep declaring defeat in your life—it will affect how you see the world and your circumstances.
But if, even in your darkest prisons and your darkest nights, you can say, “No matter what happens, I will follow You, Jesus. I love You, Jesus.”
Oh man, then nothing’s going to break your spirit! This is what happened in Andrew’s life as you read his story. He was down, out, and broken—and yet he hung on. It was declarations of faith like this that helped him along the way.
And so, may you today and every day declare your faith boldly to God and find His strength as you do.
