#1640 0226 12A

            It should be unnecessary to put the word real with faith, but there is so much that passes for faith today that it is necessary to classify it as real faith when speaking of believing trust on the power of God.  Words cannot express the value of real faith in God for real issues of everyday life.

            Technology enables us to harness all types of power—electricity, steam, water, solar, fossil fuels, wind, and much more.  Anyone who discovers a new or alternate source of energy is held in high esteem.  The use of electricity revolutionized industry, but real faith in the power of God will revolutionize our life.  Language cannot describe or numbers calculate how much greater God’s power is than any other power on earth.

            God is omnipotent which means that there is literally no limit to His power—it can do anything the human heart could need or desire.  Every type of power that humans have learned to harness has limitations, but divine power has no limitations.  Even though electricity has been used to do incredible things, or to operate a multitude of devices, it cannot cleanse our heart, and it cannot forgive our sins.

            Also, every type of energy that humans harness has a price—it costs something.  Utility and fuel bills increase on a regular basis, but God’s power is free.  A source of power that can do anything we need or desire to make us contented and satisfied, but not cost anything, is well worth knowing about.  Real faith is the connecting link between our needs and God’s power.  Faith is the line over which divine power flows.

            That path or way is similar to other types of power—an electrical wire, a gas line, a fiber optic, or a metal pipe—something is needed over which the energy flows.  The Bible gives plain directions on how to harness the power of God, and if those instructions are followed as stated, divine power will be harnessed, just as it would if directions were followed in operating an electrical device.

            The only way to connect to God’s power is to follow directions in His Word.  Real faith brings real results—the same results received in Bible times.  If anyone today is not seeing a manifestation of God’s power in their life, it is because they are not exercising real faith in Him.  Very few professing Christians today have any real faith.  They show a form of Christianity, but they deny the divine power of God by their choices to trust in something else.

            Many think that the days of miracles are over, or that God does not do things for those who need His help.  The majority of people think that the only way out of the troubles and problems of this life, is find a way out by themselves or by some human plan.  They believe God will take them to Heaven, but He will not do anything for them on earth.

            What would we think of an appliance or a motor vehicle that would not do anything for us, and would not operate for us while we were living, but after we passed away it would begin to work.  It is easy to see that Satan is the originator of that kind of religious teaching.

            The average church doctrine is that we can get nothing from God in this life, but we can after we pass into the next.  That is spurious teaching, because the Bible says that the days of miracles are not over.  Malachi 3:6 ”For I am the LORD, I change not.”  Numbers 23:19 ”God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”  Hebrews 7:21; 13:8 ”Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

            Luke 18:1 “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up;” then He related the story about the persistence of the widow in asking a judge to grant her request.  Any prayer placed before God, must be kept before Him and not taken back.  We should not give up or be discouraged, but should hold steadfast until the victory is won or the prayer is answered.  In purchasing something from a company—if the item ordered is not received, we trace the transaction and persist with the request until it is located.

            If our prayer to God is not answered, we should ask Him for spiritual light to know why we did not receive our victory.  His Word tells us that He is as willing to hear and answer our prayers, as we are to listen to and answer our own children.  Matthew 7:11 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

            We are equal heir to God’s wealth, so our failure to receive a financial blessing, is because of our failure to take a scriptural attitude of real faith in God.  It means that we have not completely followed the directions of God’s Word.  It could be looking to some human source of supply, or not believing we will receive the blessing after we have prayed for one—both can hinder God from answering our prayers.

            We are to look to, to depend on, and to place the request-information before God and God alone. If we will do that, and make a final decision not to give the slightest hint to any human being that we have a need, God is obligated to abundantly supply Philippians 4:19 all your need “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

            Real faith asks God for healing and receives the victory; real faith asks for money and receives the finances; and real faith asks for peace and enjoys it because God’s power is with us and ready to work for us—placed there by the shed Blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.

            We must never think that faith has any merit in it.  Real faith only enables God to give us, or to put in our possession, that which already belongs to us—through the Atonement Blood of Christ—a sacrifice made in our behalf. 

            The disciples marveled that a fig tree had withered so quickly, to which Jesus answered Mark 11:22-24, "Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

            If we are not receiving answers to prayer, it indicates that we are not exercising real faith in God.  We may just think we are believing and trusting God, so whatever spiritual lack there may be, it is God alone who can reveal it, and then enable us to correct it.  Real faith brings real results—it is a promise from the One who paid the price.  John 16:23 “I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”

            There is only one type of person who can exercise real faith in God.  There are many who may wish to exercise faith in God, but may not be in a position to do so.  It is our heart attitude to God that has all to do with our ability to exercise real faith in God.

            If there is any rebellion in our heart, or if there is any instruction in the Bible that we are not willing to accept or follow, we will not be able to exercise any real faith, because the moment we rebel against any of God’s plans or Word—whether it be striking back; getting revenge on someone; refusing to give a donation; holding resentment in our heart, or keeping a treasure on earth, etc.—the devil is allowed to thwart and impede our faith.

            Doubts, fears, uncertainty, and unbelief can overwhelm a rebellious person, because Satan has tremendous power and a dominating influence over a rebellious heart.  As long as that rebellion remains, it is impossible to believe the Word of God, or to act in real faith.  Being rebellious toward God’s Word, shows a wavering in our heart—to which the apostle says James 1:7 “let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.”  If we need to know of any rebellious attitude in our heart James 1:5 “he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

            Real faith in God means a total surrender to His will.  Romans 12:1 ”I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”  We are then in a position to harness the entire power of God for anything needed or desired.

            Our surrender includes no virtue, value, or worth, but simply enables God to deliver us from Satan’s power.  No one can help another against their will.  A real Christian is someone who is really committed to trust God in faith, with no thought of compromising or going back on that commitment.

            We must believe that those things we are praying about will definitely be given; because Romans 8:17 ”If we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

            It is a promise from God, so nothing can hinder it except our own unwillingness to accept it in real faith.  1 Corinthians 3:21-23 “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.”

            When we go to God in prayer about anything, we do not go as a beggar.  There is a huge difference between an heir and a beggar.  When a believer goes to God for anything, it is like a person going to a bank to withdraw some money from their account.  We are asking for 1 Peter 1:4 “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”

            We are not going for something that belongs to God, and are not going for a handout like a beggar, but we are going as a depositor, who is an heir of God and equal heir with Jesus Christ His Son.  Not one thing and not one person could withhold anything for which Christ died to give us—”all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.”