And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
Romans 4:19-21, NJKV
The Bible talks about strong faith and weak faith. Let’s dive into what the Holy Spirit wants to teach us today about how to develop the strong, powerful, and results-producing faith that God designed for us to operate in and live by. Here’s a quick summary of what we have covered so far in our Faith series:
- Faith that receives the promise must be empowered by the Word of God. You cannot have operative faith towards something that God didn’t provide through His Word. For example, you can’t try and use God-faith for success in robbing a bank because God never promised you success in robbery in His Word. God will reveal the Scripture behind your request as you seek Him and spend time with the Holy Spirit.
- Faith works by love. The Bible says that the God-kind of faith is made operative by love. Faith will not work outside of love; it is as simple as that. God is love. The kind of faith that produces results is a natural and beautiful byproduct of our intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father (who is love).
- Faith works by believing in your heart and speaking with your mouth. This is part of the law of faith; a law which God designed to work, no matter what. You may be able to quote all the Bible promises you like, but if you never believe in your heart and say it with your mouth, you will never receive. How does salvation work? If you can receive forgiveness of sins by faith, you can receive anything and everything else by faith. Romans 10:9-10 and Mark 11:23-24 give us God’s methods of receiving by faith.
- Meditating on the Bible brings brings faith. Notice the eternal truth of Romans 10:17, that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Faith comes only from the source of faith itself, God Himself through His rhema word. His spoken, powerful, living Word is the only thing that cuts through the fleshly and mental realms and injects the power of God and the faith of God directly into your spirit. Faith doesn’t come from a stirring message at church, no, it comes from your own personal time in the Word. We must take personal responsibility for the growth and exercise of our faith.
Strong Faith Case Study: Abraham
Abraham, considered the “father of our faith,” had strong faith which was marked by corresponding action.
And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
Romans 4:19-21, NKJV
Notice the added underlines above that highlight Abraham’s action steps that earned him God’s commentary that, “it [his faith] was accounted to him for righteousness.”
I want you to notice that faith is not the same as belief. If it were, James 2:19 would be a lie. Demons would be operating in God’s faith, which is not the case. Belief is part of faith, but not the whole thing. Faith requires belief in order to work, but belief by itself is not enough to secure any of God’s promises. Not even one of them. If this isn’t making sense, I suggest you check out our discussion in Fundamentals of Faith I.
Notice that God Himself, through His Word, declares that we (believers) are “of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.” (See Romans 4:16)
Strong Faith is Choosy About Its Thought Life
Today, let’s focus in on the fact that Abraham did not consider the natural facts that contradicted the Word of God. This English translation of this verse is lacking. The first time I read this, I thought the Bible said, “Abraham buried his head in the sand and did not consider or acknowledge his own body…” Some say that radical believers today adhere to this kind of thinking. Let’s see what God’s Word says in the original language.
The Greek word translated consider in Romans 4:19 is the word katanoeō, which is a compound word made up of two different words: kata, which carries they idea of a strong, powerful force that comes down (like a heavy weight), and noeō, which means to direct one’s mind to a thing.
When these two words are put together to form the word katanoeō, kata intensifies noeō, and the new word means to immerse oneself completely in something. Check out this definition from the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament:
This [immersing oneself in something] may be in the field of sensory perception, but critical examination is also denoted, and in literary Greek the idea is that of apprehension by pondering or studying. In the [New Testament] visual perception is usually the point…or the observation of facts or processes. Sensory contemplation may lead to intellectual apprehension…
God calls it not being weak in faith (or strong faith) when Abraham chose not to immerse himself – katanoeō – in the natural facts that contradicted God’s Word. Abraham had plenty of reasons in the natural realm to not take God at His seemingly-ludicrous Word, but he made a choice to not immerse himself (katanoeō) in the facts of the flesh, but to believe God. This is our example of strong, God-kind faith today.
Over the years I’ve met hundreds (and I mean it–hundreds) of people who believed God could heal their bodies, but never did receive anything from Him because they were more aware of (they were immersed in and gave more attention to) the natural facts of their particular sickness or affliction rather than what God said about healing. This is a sad truth, and this is the reason why so many good Christians never receive many of the promises that God has made available to them through the sacrifice of Jesus.
I know folks who will casually mention Bible promises about healing, but are ready to tell you everything medical science knows about their ailment. They know all the symptoms, treatments, signs and issues related to their sickness and are immersed in the natural facts surrounding their situation, but are relatively uninterested in God’s Word on the subject. They spend more time considering (katanoeō) the natural facts of the situation than they do immersing themselves in God’s Promises.
Now, if that pricks your heart, here is a great opportunity to ask the Holy Spirit for a quick check-up!
Holy Spirit, I ask You to reveal my own heart to me. Do I consider the symptoms of distress and deficiency in my body, finances, relationships, work, or my whole situation more than the Words of God? I ask in faith according to James 1: 5-6 and I believe I receive God’s perfect wisdom on my own spiritual condition right now, in the Name of Jesus. Thank you for leading and guiding me to more of your glory in my life!
Friend, don’t let the facts and figures of the situation you are currently facing determine your response, especially when God’s Word has something to say about the exact problem you are facing! Get into His Word. Find out what God says about your situation and determine in your heart to consider–no, immerse yourself completely in God’s Word, no matter what your senses tell you.
Focus Brings Magnification, Magnification Brings Manifestation
Oh, I like that heading – sounds catchy. Magnification Brings Manifestation. Sounds like a good book title or something.
Here’s what the Lord is pointing out today: when we focus our attention on something, it becomes enlarged in our life.
You can’t physically make God bigger, but when you choose to katanoeō God’s Word over your life, His reality becomes brighter in your life than the darkness surrounding you. Your focus really does determine your reality; this is a Scriptural principle (See Proverbs 23:7, Proverbs 4:20-22, Romans 8:6, and many other such Scriptures).
The powerful, faith-filled believer is not the one who watches the news eight hours a day and is filled with all the latest fear, doubt, and unbelief. Even though natural facts surround us, it is our responsibility to choose where we place our focus. What we focus on becomes bigger and bigger – magnification – and whatever you magnify in your life becomes reality.
Today’s key to strong Bible faith is to purposefully take our eyes off the natural circumstances around us that directly contradict God’s promise over our lives and completely immerse ourselves in our Heavenly reality.
We acknowledge the physical but embrace the spiritual. “Oh, hello, Cancer. Yes, I know they said you are ravaging my body. But I am a spirit. I have a soul, and I live in this body. I am a born-again child of God Almighty, and my spirit is one with Him. I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3) and that includes total and complete healing in my body. So, I curse you and command you to disappear in the Name of Jesus. Devil, you have no place in this temple of the Holy Spirit, and enforce Jesus’ victory in this body and I receive my healing RIGHT NOW!”
That’s how you do it. Take your Blood-bought authority, put the devil’s work in its proper place, and believe and speak in faith. From then on out, your job is to katanoeō yourself in God’s reality and not the devil’s.
I know this sounds over-simplified, but strong faith simply acts as if the Bible is true. I know many people who have been healed of major issues this way. Yes, even cancer. I just used physical healing as an example. We need to be choosy about our thought life when standing on the Word of God for our relationships, finances, businesses, and every other thing we are believing for.
Let’s be like Abraham, who did not immerse himself in what was opposing him, but was “fully persuaded” that God was faithful to His Word.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash