We continue today with day three in our series on the basics of faith. We explore what faith truly is, what it is not, and how to activate it in practical ways in daily life.
I want to get granular with this vital subject. Faith is confidence in God. Faith is trust and confidence in God. Most Christians would say they believe in God and trust Him. Yet biblical faith goes much deeper than simply believing that God exists or that He is out there somewhere.
As it is written in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Faith Is Confidence in God Based on His Word
We have faith in God because of God’s Word. Smith Wigglesworth used to say he could only know God by His Word. He could not know Him by his feelings. In charismatic and Spirit-filled Christianity we rightly love to experience God, to feel His touch, and to have encounters with Him. These things are valid and biblical. Yet we must not judge our walk with God primarily by our feelings or experiences.
There is something glorious about knowing your relationship with God is signed, sealed, and delivered. Your relationship with God does not depend on you. It does not go up and down based on how you feel. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus. You are who God says you are. You have what God says you have. You can do what God says you can do. This stands true regardless of what you feel, smell, taste, touch, or experience in your emotions.
Bible Faith Believes It Is Done
Mark 11 gives us classic teaching on biblical faith. True Bible faith means to believe that something is done based purely on the evidence of the Word of God alone.
As it is written in Mark 11:24, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
Jesus said when you pray, at the moment you pray, believe you have received them. Notice the past tense: received. Not will receive one day. Not going to get it sometime in the future. To believe that God will heal you is hope. Faith believes you have received based exclusively on God’s Word.
God’s job is the “you will have them.” Our job is to believe we have received. Faith believes you are healed even when the pain is still present in your body. This is not positive thinking or denying reality. If pain remains in the moment, we acknowledge it exists. Yet we do not believe it is permanent. We stand on what God has spoken.
As it is written in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
We are clean because of the Word He has spoken to us. Faith does not pretend something is not there. Faith stands on the eternal truth of God’s Word even when temporary circumstances still speak differently.
Faith Comes by Hearing and Hearing
Paul builds a careful case in the book of Romans.
As it is written in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Faith comes by hearing. Faith does not come by having heard once. It does not come by storing facts in your head. Many people say they already know a truth, yet that head knowledge is often the problem rather than the solution. Faith is what you believe in your heart.
I have learned that we all need to put ourselves in front of the hearing of the Word of God on a consistent, daily basis. Every time I take an offering in church, I open the Bible and teach on giving for five or ten minutes. I am not trying to get people to give that day. I am planting seeds so that faith will come over time.
I remember sitting with a group of pastors who complained that their people did not give financially. I asked them whose fault they thought that was. The answer is simple. If we keep sowing the Word of God, faith will come.
You cannot make faith come in your own strength. What you can do is choose to keep hearing the Word of God. Choose what you listen to while driving. Choose what you play on your phone or watch on YouTube. Faith comes when you keep hearing.
Putting It Into Practice
What do you want to see God do in your life in this season? Take the specific promises of God concerning that healing, that breakthrough, that restored marriage, or that mended heart. Put His Word consistently in front of you.
At first you may hear a voice saying it is not working or you do not feel anything. That is expected. You are not supposed to feel something immediately. Your job is to keep hearing. God’s job is to produce the results.
This is how faith grows and becomes active in our lives. We move from surface agreement to heart confidence in God based purely on His Word.
Selah.
Scriptures for Study:
Romans 10:17, Mark 11:24, Hebrews 11:1, Romans 12:3, 2 Corinthians 5:7, John 17:17, Romans 4:17, Romans 4:20-21, Hebrews 11:6, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:2, Romans 14:23, Mark 9:23, Romans 10:8-10, James 1:6-8, Matthew 17:20, Galatians 3:2, Galatians 5:6, 1 John 5:4, Hebrews 10:38, Habakkuk 2:4, Galatians 2:20, Colossians 2:6, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Corinthians 4:13, 2 Corinthians 4:18
10 Questions for Reflection:
- Where in my life am I judging my relationship with God by feelings rather than by His Word?
- What specific area do I need to believe I have received based purely on God’s Word today?
- How consistent am I in placing myself before the hearing of the Word of God?
- In what ways have I confused head knowledge with heart faith?
- What promises from Scripture am I putting before myself daily for my current situation?
- How can I shift from hoping God will do something to believing I have received it?
- Where do I need to stand on the truth of God’s Word when circumstances still look unchanged?
- What voices am I allowing to speak louder than the Word of God in my heart?
- How can I plant seeds of the Word more intentionally in the areas where I need breakthrough?
- What would my daily life look like if I truly believed I have received according to Mark 11:24?
