ARE YOU USING FAITH?
13th Mar 2024
Jesus told the story of the persistent widow in Luke 18 to illustrate the need to always pray and not give up. In verse 8, He poses the question, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Make it personal, are you exercising faith, believing what God said about a particular situation, or simply rehearsing these situations and bringing them to the Father’s notice, without any expectation that He might do anything to resolve them?
There is a difference. Faith receives God’s specific promise, believes it, and waits to see the end result. Hard to explain, but very evident if it is there or not there.
Often when Jesus was teaching, He rebuked the religious leaders for their unbelief, He told them they had eyes to see but didn’t see, and ears to hear and didn’t hear. They were blind and deaf to the spiritual truths He was teaching. In relation to “faith” He could well say the same to the body of Christ today!
Faith comes by revelation, by reading and hearing the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) The Holy Spirit takes a specific promise or statement, opens your spiritual senses, you know that God has said it, you believe it, faith operates and you wait with expectation to see the answer. How we need to be asking for more revelation as we read and study God’s living Word.
We need to be honest, do we use faith or do we confess unbelief? Are we crying out for God’s help to root out unbelief and for our faith to grow?
Charles and I often ask the question of each other - What are you believing for? We then specifically speak out our faith position and the scripture or revelation we are standing on, and come into a place of agreement. We then speak out our faith in God and our expectation of His promised answer. Faith develops and grows as it is used.
Sadly, as the reading of God’s written word has diminished, so has the knowledge of what He has promised, and so faith has got less and less rather than grown.
I ask myself, what am I believing for in this situation? Am I exercising faith or just moaning to the Almighty, or telling Him the facts and calling it believing prayer?
Faith comes as we hear what God has said in His Word. The Holy Spirit enlightens and reveals specific promises to us and we believe and apply them. I read the Word, asking for insight and faith to increase. I want to see God in action in the circumstances that present themselves to me, I want faith to grow and to be an instrument God can use to effect change.
Many years ago, God called us to serve Him in a way that meant we had to trust Him for our income. ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ was a reality, as well as part of The Lord’s Prayer. We saw His provision and our faith grew and developed. I still want my faith to grow, to see healing, to see God in action, to see unbelief and passivity exposed, confessed, removed, and see and exercise the “Faith the will move mountains.”
by Joyce Sibthorpe