Faith is a central topic in the Bible, and is mentioned more than 300 times only in the New Testament. Some of Jesus’ strongest statements are related to faith. Hebrews 11:6 says: “But without faith it is impossible to please…..God”. Well, we want to please Him, don’t we? So, let us look at faith!
Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. If you hope for something, it is because you don’t have it yet, but you hope that it will become yours! This verse shows us that faithis laying hold of the unrealities of hope, and bringing them into the realm of reality (“What Faith is”, pg. 2*).
An important difference between faith and hope is this: Hope puts something off into the future. “I’ll get it sometime”. Faith is always present tense – “NOW faith is…..” – and says: “It’s mine – I have it now!” (“What Faith is”, pg. 37*).
Believing comes before receiving. We can see this 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.”
A common mistake we often do when we come to God with a need, is to just pray rightaway. But if we don’t have faith to receive the answer, we just wasted our time praying. If we’re not sure if it’s God’s will for us to have what we pray for, it’s impossible for us to come before God in faith and receive the answer. That’s why our first step should be to sit down with the word of God whenever we have a need!
Meditating on the promises of God in His word will reveal God’s will to us, and faith begins where the will of God is known. Romans 10:17 – “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. In order for us to receive answers to our prayers, we need to meditate on the promises of God, until our seed of hope grows, matures and becomes faith. But, we have to start with hope first! If we don’t hope for the answer, our faith will not have anything to give substance to. So these two go together; hope first, and then faith!
Stay in the Word until you know that you know that it’s God’s will for you to have the thing you’re hoping for. These two verses will really help you: “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” (1. John 5:14-15).
Then, when you already know the will of God about the issue, you can pray with faith, believing that you receive when you pray, and thank Him that you already have the answer!
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*Source: What Faith Is by Kenneth E. Hagin. Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications. Copyright 1989 RHEMA Bible Church AKA Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. Please visit www.faithlibrary.org for additional materials.
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