What Does Finding Favor With God Mean
What Does Finding Favor With God Mean – We must be willing to live the life He has outlined within the Scriptures
Finding favor with God involves receiving His grace, blessings, and approval, often described as His “smile” upon a believer. It is primarily accessed through faith in Jesus Christ, but cultivated through obedience, humility, a devoted heart, and a lifestyle that seeks to please Him.
This divine favor brings spiritual peace, guidance, and purpose rather than just material prosperity.
Understanding the Favor of the Lord
The favor of the Lord is not something we earn by striving harder or trying to be perfect; however, it is by obedience. It is the outpouring of His goodness toward those who walk with Him, trust Him, and seek to honor Him in the everyday moments of life. Favor is God leaning toward you with kindness. It is His presence going before you, His hand guiding you, and His peace settling over you even when circumstances have not yet changed.
When Scripture speaks of God’s favor, it often describes His nearness, His willingness to bless, protect, strengthen, and provide. Favor is not always loud or dramatic. Many times, it shows up quietly:
- In the strength you didn’t think you had
- In the wisdom that came just when you needed it
- In the door, God opened that no one else could
- In the calm that settled your heart when fear tried to rise
God’s favor is His way of saying, “I am with you. I see you. I am working on your behalf.”
Key ways to cultivate favor with God include:
- Faith and Surrender: Accepting Jesus and trusting in Him is the foundation for a relationship with God.
- Obedience and Holiness: Living according to His commandments and turning away from sin.
- Humility: Approaching God with a contrite heart, rather than relying on self-sufficiency.
- Seeking Him First: Prioritizing God through prayer and studying His word.
- Active Service: Being a blessing to others and investing in things that matter to God.
Characteristics of God’s Favor
- It is Grace-Based: Favor is a gift, but it is experienced deeply by those who actively walk with God.
- It Does Not Exempt from Difficulty: Many in the Bible with God’s favor still faced intense trials.
- It Brings Peace: It provides a quiet confidence and awareness of His presence.
Examples in Scripture
- Noah: Found favor by walking with God in a wicked generation. Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
- Mary: Found favor through her obedience to God’s purpose. Luke 1: 30 “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.”
- Joseph: Had God’s favor even while in prison. Genesis 39:21 “But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”
Who Receives God’s Favor?
Throughout the Bible, God’s favor rested on those who walked humbly with Him, as stated previously: Noah, Moses, Mary, Daniel, Gideon, and many others. They were not perfect people, but they were surrendered people. They sought God’s will above their own, and they trusted His character even when they didn’t understand His timing.
Today, His favor still rests on those who:
- Desire to please Him
- Choose obedience even when it’s hard
- Walk in the light, they have
- Keep their hearts soft toward His Word
- Seek Him with sincerity, not performance
Favor is not about being the strongest, the most talented, or the most noticed. It is about being yielded, willing for God to shape your steps and your story.
Why God’s Favor Matters
When God places His favor on your life, it changes how you walk through trials, decisions, and seasons of waiting. His favor brings:
- protection when the enemy presses in
- strength when your own runs out
- guidance when the path is unclear
- peace when everything around you feels unsettled
- opportunities that align with His purpose for you
Favor doesn’t mean life will be easy. It means you will never walk alone. It means God is actively involved in your journey, shaping outcomes you cannot yet see.
Desiring Favor In The Sight of God
Being obedient to the Word of God is the key to finding God’s favor. When getting busy in life with the vast schedules and life things that often prompt us to forget our steps to stay in God’s favor, we must remember:
Psalms 84:11: “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
Psalms 90:17: “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”
Proverbs 12:2: “A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.”
Proverbs 8:35: “For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.” 36: “But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.”
Summary
When seeking to be favorable to the Lord, we must remember and make sure that His Spirit is in us, as the scriptures state. “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Romans 8: 9.
When the Spirit of Christ is in us, and we are walking in all the light that we know with Him, we will find favor in His sight.
