Today I want to talk about how to define faith. Sometimes Christians say that they are people of faith. What they typically mean is that they believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. That's a great place to start but it's really only a start. Now when I talk with the Lord about words, I want a working definition of the word because I realized that there are many words that Christians use and say with no true understanding of what the word actually means. I think "faith" can be one of those.
I have heard people say, and I have been one of them, that they have faith but what do they really mean?
Hear is the definition of faith the Lord gave me. Faith is believing that God will do what He said He would do. God does this every time we let him. Now many times people pray for something but they pray in hope not in faith. Those are two different things and prayers in hope, not faith, won't work. In fact in Mark 6:58 and Matthew 13:58 it says that Jesus could do no mighty works because of their unbelief (lack of faith).
So let me show you the difference. If I go ask a friend of mine to borrow his car, when I ask (or pray) I am doing it in hope. I don't know what he will say but I sure hope he let's me borrow his car.
So think about this situation. I want to borrow a friend's car so I call him on Saturday and ask him if I can use the car on Sunday. He says, "Sure. Come get the keys from me on Sunday morning and you can borrow the car." So when Sunday morning comes, I go to him and ask for the keys. But when I ask, because he is a man of his word, I know he will give me the keys to the car because he told me that I could borrow it on Saturday.
Do you see the difference between faith and hope?
Well you might ask what this has to do with God and the Bible. It's exactly the same thing. I have heard many people ask for prayer about something without knowing what God's Word says about their prayer request. They are asking in hope, not faith, because they don't know what God said He would do. But on the other hand, when someone goes to God and knows what He already said in His word about a situation, then they can ask in Faith fully expecting God to do what He said He would.
So for example if you need a financial miracle, you can go before the Lord and say, "Lord You said in Philippians 4:19 that You would supply all my needs according to Your riches in Christ Jesus. Now you know I need the electric bill paid and I am asking You now to pay the electric bill." When you do, if you believe that He will, then thank Him for paying it.
In the case of me borrowing a car from my friend, when I called on Saturday, I would tell him thank you when I got off the phone before I ever saw the keys. We should do the same with God because it's good to be thankful but also because we believe He will do what He said!
That's another Opinion of the Minion
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