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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and praying about faith and reading about faith both in the Bible and some resources that I found.  This series is copied in its original format from a website called Strongfaith.org.  They offer some great insight concerning faith.   There are sound concepts and reasoning regarding faith that I want to share with you.

Now, before you begin I want to ask you to do a couple things.

  1. Pray for God’s guidance and wisdom while you read.  That He would reveal to you what you need right now.
  2. Take notes.  We often hear or read things that apply so well to our lives only to forget them again too soon.  Try to be in the practice of taking notes that way you build a reference for what the Lord is telling you.  This is a great practice while you read the Bible as well.

That’s it.  I pray the Lord will guide you into a closer walk with Him and that your faith will become as big as a mustard seed!  I also pray that the Lord will reveal to you how to use your faith.

Series #1 begins by laying some ground work about faith …

 

Faith of God

In the King James Version of the Bible it reads, “Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God”
[Mark 11:22]. The original Greek does not say “have faith IN God” but “have faith God” [echo pistis theos]. The Greek word pistis is translated as the English word faith. Jesus is not exhorting the disciples to have faith in God, but to have the same type of faith that God uses. Jesus is talking about the faith OF God.

Do you realize that God has faith or confidence in his own spoken word. God created the universe by his spoken word so, “that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen” [Hebrews 11:3]. The scriptures states that the worlds were framed by the Word of God [Hebrews 11:3]. The universe that we now see did not come from anything that was visible. A believer’s world should not be formed by “things that can be seen” but by the invisible things of God.

Do you have the God-like faith? Do you have the Faith of God? Do you possess the type of faith that God possesses? The God like faith will frame its environment by the Word of God [Psalms 33:6, 9, Genesis 1:3]. This faith is demonstrated by confessing what God says about the situation, event, or environment. A believer should frame, form, and create their world by the spoken Word of God.

Faith is not a suggestion, a good feeling, or a wish. In Romans 3:27, the Apostle Paul refers to faith as the “law of faith”. In science a physical law is something that is constant and universal, such as Newton’s law of universal gravitation. Physical laws of science are considered universal and invariable facts. Paul calls faith a law. Faith is a spiritual law that always works if you stay within the parameters of the Word of God.

Faith needs a mouth and a heart. Paul states in Romans 10:9-10, that you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead for saving faith. Note that Paul states to confess and believe. Many so called believers say they believe but they never confess the Word of God. Or if they open their mouths to speak it isn’t the Word of God. Confession is always the first step in the law of faith. Confessing demonstrates an understanding of God’s word.

In Mark 11, Jesus isn’t teaching the disciples to trust God in difficult circumstances. He is teaching them how to operate in the principles of faith.

He tells them in Mark 11:23, whosoever shall say,unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses [Mark 11:22-24].

In the passages above Jesus first talks about speaking then praying. There is a difference in speaking and praying. In prayer you ask or speak to God, then you “believe that you receive”. Prayer is about your relationship with God. Prayer is about receiving your New Covenant provisions that Jesus has provided. Speaking is about faith and the believer’s authority in Jesus Christ.

Jesus gives instruction and demonstration to believers on how to speak to a mountain [Matthew 17:20-21], a sycamine tree [Luke 17:6], a fig tree [Matthew 21:21], and a great storm [Mark 4:39, Luke 8:25, Matthew 8:26-27]. Many believers are praying to God when they need to speak. God doesn’t want you to ask Him to speak to things that you need to speak to. In fact, God will not do for you what you should be doing for yourself. When faith is produced in the heart, then the mouth will speak. Faith has something to say [ 2 Corinthians 4:13, Romans 10:10].

For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure’ [Isaiah 46:9-10].

Believers are to be imitators of God [Ephesians 5:1]. God declares the “end from the beginning” [Isaiah 46:10]. The faith that God uses will “call those things which be not as though they were” [Romans 4:17]. The God like faith will “brings into existence what didn’t exist before” [Romans 4:17]. Believers look on “the things which are not seen”, because everything that can be seen is subject to change [2 Corinthians 4:18]. Do you obey the command that Jesus gave in Mark 11:22, to have the faith of God?

You will need faith to obtain a good report from God [Hebrews 11:2]. The bible says that the ten spies brought up an “evil report” about the promise land [Numbers 13:32]. The ten gave an evil report by saying, we can’t do what God has instructed us to do [Numbers 13:30, Numbers 14:9-10]. The question is what report are you going to believe, the evil or the good report [Isaiah 53:1, Romans 10:16]? Are we going to believe what God says about the situation or we going to believe what we can see with our eyes?

Source:  http://stronginfaith.org/article.php?page=28

 

 

I find this very interesting.  It’s true, we are basically taught to ask God to intervene when we should be stating the need through the faith of God and asking in Jesus’ Name.

So practice speaking in faith instead of asking God to do something for us.  I know it is His power that will work either way but the concept here is that God wants to work through us.  So be available to be used and be open to what the Lord is telling you.

If you pray and it doesn’t happen, realize that you are working on and building up your faith.  Be sure that you are in the frame of mind to be used.  You get there by prayer and fasting.  Yes, fasting.  It is part of what brings us closer to God … by denying ourselves.  (Click here to see information on Fasting, if you need some guidelines).  You also need to be consistent in reading the Word of God, the Bible.  He speaks to us in His Word.

If you’re looking for greater faith, walk through this with me and let’s see what we’ll find together with Jesus as our Guide.

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