WHAT IS FAITH AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

In Hebrews 11:6 (Amp) it says…”But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].

Jesus said to the woman with the issue of blood in Matthew 9:22 (KJV)…“Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole.” He also said to the two blind men in Matthew 9:29 (KJV), “According to your faith be it unto you.”

It says in Matthew 13:58 (KJV) that “He did not many might works there because of their unbelief.” And in Mark 6: 5 & 6a (KJV) it says…”And He (being Jesus) could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief.” It didn’t say that He would not…it said He could not! Don’t you know that Jesus would have, if He could have! Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that we can’t receive anything from God without faith. So we need to find out what faith is and how to use!

What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 in the Amplified Bible says…”NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

I like to look at it like this…before we are saved (which by the way, our salvation is through faith, Eph. 2:9)…we have our five natural senses which are touch, sight, taste, hearing and smelling. This is how we live or function in this earthly realm. Now, when we get saved, God adds a sixth sense …a supernatural sense…called faith. This faith sense is how we are connected to God and receive from Him.

Before we go any further, let’s go back to Hebrews 11:1, where it says faith is the assurance (or substance in some translations) of things hoped for. Hope is the first step in exercising your faith. You see, hope doesn’t have substance. If you have what you hope for it would have substance. Faith gives substance to hope.

Proverbs 13:12 (NLT) says…”Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life and joy.” We must believe we will receive what we are hoping for. How can we or how do we believe? The 6th chapter of Hebrews answers that question. In the 19th verse it says…”This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast….” So, if there is something you are hoping for, look in God’s word and see if it is something He has promised. If it is a promise of His, it gives you the right to expect to receive the promise.

Now that we know we have to have something to hope for, how do we get faith to bring it to pass? Romans 10:17 (KJV) says…”So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. In Mark 6:6 (Amp) it says…” and He (Jesus) marveled because of their unbelief (their lack of faith in Him). And He went about among the surrounding villages and continued teaching” (which obviously meant He taught the word). Jesus, Himself, could not do anything for them without their faith in action and the way He overcame their unbelief was by teaching.. So faith is believing God’s word is true and the more you know of God’s word the greater you can believe.

Okay, how do we get faith to work? Remember back in Matthew 9:22 (KJV) where Jesus said… ”Daughter be of good comfort, your faith has made thee whole”? In Matthew 9:20b & 21 it says that she…”came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.” In Mark 11:23 & 24 (KJV) Jesus said …”For verily I say unto you. That 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.” Did you notice in verse 24 that Jesus, Himself, practiced what He preached!? He believed what He said would come to pass! In the first case, the woman said within herself and the second case, Jesus used the word saith three times. So I think that from these verses, we can say that faith speaks. Romans 10:10 (KJV) says…”For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Salvation covers healing, deliverance, and soundness as well as being reborn into the Kingdom of God.

Guys, we could go on and on because the Bible is full of God’s promises and each verse opens into another. You will just have to get into the Bible for yourself.

So, here’s how it works: When you have something you are hoping for, look in the Bible and see if it is a promise of His. When you pray, believe you receive the promise NOW. You see, hope is always future tense and faith is present tense. It’s just like the way you got saved. You didn’t have to wait to be saved, you were saved the moment you confessed Jesus as Lord. Speak the word of God out of your mouth claiming that you have it now. You receive it NOW in your spirit, then it manifests in this physical realm. Don’t worry about how long it takes to manifest. That’s not your job. Your job is to believe and receive. Let your faith get it for you. Just…“hold fast to your profession of faith” (Hebrews 10:23) and be patient letting… “patience have her perfect work“ (James 1:4 (KJV) and be like Abraham who…”being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead” (Romans 4:19 KJV) and …”staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief (Romans 4:20 KJV) “being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21 KJV).

Now when the devil comes along and tries to steal the promise from you, just tell him it’s too late! Tell him when you prayed, you believed and received it and it’s yours NOW. You already have it! Tell him you don’t go by what you see…you don’t go by what you hear and you don’t go by how or what you feel! Tell him you go by the word of God and the word of God says it’s yours. Amen! Give the devil a headache by making your heavenly father proud by looking for things to believe for and receive.