A promise from God is only as good as your faith in it

Please understand that the promises of God, whether for healing, salvation, etc., are not automatic. If they were, then everybody would be automatically healed and everybody would be automatically born-again.

A promise of God is only as good as your faith in it. This is described by James.

James 1:5 NIV
5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;

Notice the promise in verse five: ask God … and it will be given. Sound familiar? - Mat 7:7 Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you…”

But James puts a very clear disclaimer on the promise. It is that you have to believe, and not doubt. In other words, you have to operate in faith. James says that if you are not operating in faith (believing and not doubting) then you shouldn’t expect to receive ANYTHING from God. That ANYTHING means not just the wisdom that is promised here, but ANYTHING from ANY promise of God.

Therefore, any promise of God must be operated upon with faith – which means absolutely believing the answer to be so, even if you don’t see it. That’s the lifestyle Paul was speaking about in 2 Cor 5:7 “We walk by faith, not by sight.”

This same principle of faith is explained by Jesus in Mark 11.
Mark 11:23 NIV
23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Basically, Jesus is saying that if you pray for something, you are going to have to believe you have received it (past tense), even before you receive it. That means believe it with your eyes of faith before it materializes for your physical eyes to see. Again this is Paul’s philosophy on life: 2 Cor 5:7 “We walk by faith, not by sight.”