What is faith?

Do you need something in life? Did you know that your need doesn’t move God. That God does not react just because we need something. God is moved by one thing – Faith.

Heb 11:6 NIV
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

The biblical definition of faith is found here:

Heb 11:1-2 NIV
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Biblical faith is believing something to be true, even though you don’t have any physical proof. You have the evidence of it with your faith, even though you can’t see it with your physical eyes. Biblical faith is believing the promises of God to be true in your life, even though they may not physically appear to be. Biblical faith in healing is believing that you are healed, even though you still see the physical sickness. Biblical faith is being convinced that you have received the answer to your prayer, even though your physical senses would say otherwise.

What God says about your situation is much more powerful and real than what your physical senses say (what you see, hear, taste, touch or smell.) The Bible describes our God as a God that operates by faith:

Rom 4:17 NIV
…even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Faith comes from receiving and understanding information. When you receive information by hearing, reading, or whatever method, and you understand it, your faith in what you just learned grows.

Your faith to pass a math exam comes from receiving math instruction either from a professor, a book, an online class, etc. If you have received no instruction on the subject of trigonometry, but had to take an exam on it tomorrow, you would not have much faith that you would do well on it. On the other hand, if you have received, and understood, teaching on the subject, you will have faith that you will do well on the exam. Note also, if you studied trigonometry eight years ago and haven’t maintained a practice of it, you haven’t kept it fresh in your mind, most likely you will not have faith in your ability for the exam because you will have forgotten most of what you previously had learned. To maintain your faith, you have to maintain the knowledge. That means the practice of the knowledge has to become part of your lifestyle.

Faith in the promises of God (the word of God) comes from receiving information about them, and understanding it! I stress understanding it because you can receive all kinds of information, but if you don’t understand it, your faith will not grow. There are people who have memorized a lot of versus in the Bible, and can quote them quickly, but if they don’t truly understand them, their faith will not have grown and they will end up quoting them out of context.

Rom 10:17 KJV
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

For your faith to be developed in the area of mathematics, you need to obtain instruction on mathematics, and understand it. For your faith to be developed in the area of parenting, you need to receive instruction on parenting, and understand it. For your faith to be developed in the area of healing, you need to hear about the healing promises of God. You need to understand them, meditate on them and speak them. For your faith to be developed in the area of spiritual authority, you need to hear about the promises of spiritual authority, understand them, meditate on them and speak them. For your faith to be developed in the area of finances, you need to hear about the promises of financial prosperity, understand them, meditate on them and speak them. As you do this your faith grows in whatever area you are studying and meditating on, but only if you understand it!

There are people who spend their lives studying the scriptures and are convinced they understand them. But a deception, or misunderstanding, of the scripture will derail your faith in the promises of God. If you have studied the promises of God all your life, but say that God, in His sovereignty, chooses to renege on them sometimes, then you don’t have the proper image of God in your heart. You believe that God is not a God of His word, that He will go back on what He has promised. Therefore your faith in the promises of God has been derailed by a misunderstanding of what the Bible teaches on the character and will of God. You must understand God’s will and His promises, or it is impossible to build your faith in them.

Faith in the promises of God is not something you just turn on one day. Your faith is developed over a period of time. This could be one reason for delayed healing. The doctor may have said that you have two weeks to live. But if it’s going to take you three months to get your faith developed, you are not going to make it. Faith in the promises of God is a lifestyle. You need to be living it all the time, not just when trouble hits.

Faith is like exercise, the more you practice it and the more consistent you are, the more successful you will be. Stop the exercise and it will fade away. Faith (believing God’s word over your senses) is a lifestyle, not something you try to turn on and off when needed. If you want to be in physical shape for a race next year, start exercising now. If you want to be victorious over the devil’s attacks when they come, start developing your faith now. Don’t wait until the devil takes a chunk out of you before you start trying to develop your faith – you might not have enough time.

Faith does not come just from studying God’s word. A lot of people study and study but have little to no faith in the promises of God, whatsoever. Faith comes from studying God’s word, AND… PROPERLY… UNDERSTANDING… IT!

You can hear the word of God. But if the devil can get you to not understand it, or to misinterpret it – then he has stolen it from you and no faith will grow.

Matt 13:19 NIV
19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.