THE SECRET OF FAITH

Our faith is powerless when we don’t understand and apply the dimensions of faith. Romans 10

tells us that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17, NKJV). This

means that there are things that need to happen before you can have faith. In order to hear, for

example, you need the ear of the spirit and without it, you will hear without understanding, and

this will not produce faith.

These are the stepping stones along the pathway to producing faith…

Encounter

A meeting or experience; to see a facet of something you didn’t previously know.

The first thing that must happen to produce faith is an encounter. For faith to be produced in

your life you need an experience with God. See full article: The Laws of Encounter.

Revelation

An enlightenment or shocking disclosure of the truth/fact.

Revelation is produced by encounter. When Moses met God at the burning bush (Exodus 3), he

didn’t know God yet. God presented, and clearly identified, Himself to Moses knowing that

Moses would neither believe in Him nor have a revelation of Him unless He revealed Himself. At

this first meeting, God asked Moses to remove his shoes. This was a prophetic act of Moses

disconnecting himself from his Egyptian background. Moses had to ‘take off’ his pre-existing

knowledge before God could talk to him.

Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground (Exodus 3:5,

NKJV)

You can’t really trust someone you don’t know, so Moses asked God for His name (Ex 3:13) to

which God replied: “I AM WHO I AM” (v14). I AM is a progressive name; a name that you can

add anything to. It was as if God was telling Moses, “I AM who you want me to be:” I AM your

Healer, your Saviour, your Defender, and your Provider. There was a revelation in the name of I

AM. Every miracle we experience is a setup for encounter and revelation. Without an encounter

with God, there can be no revelation or faith.

Every miracle we experience is a setup for encounter and revelation.

Persuasion

To be convinced beyond measure.

When you are persuaded of something, no one can move you, confuse you, or convince you

otherwise.

Romans 8:38-39, New King James Version 38For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul came to a place absolute persuasion. He was so convinced of the reality of God that no one could tell him otherwise. Can we reach a point where no circumstance we face (poverty, unemployment, hardship, trauma) would ever cause us to doubt God? When we are not persuaded, we question; we ask why. But we need to come to a place where we define God by who He is, not by our experiences. It’s not about what we are going through, it is about the consistency of God in His faithfulness towards us. In this place, we stop measuring God according to our experiences, and instead start measuring Him according to who He says He is.

Are you persuaded?

We need to come to a place where we define God by who He is, not by our experiences.

Faith

To be persuaded of the things that are not.

You can easily be persuaded of things ‘that are’, but it is only faith when you are convinced of the reality of things that you don’t see. Faith means to be sure of a word God gives you. If ten years pass by and you start to wonder if you heard from God, where is your ear inclined? Many of us are only persuaded/convinced that we have heard correctly until contrary evidence presents itself. Then we use this contrary evidence to question the things that we heard in the secret place. If something does not happen, it does not mean that you didn’t hear it. True faith is understanding that certain conditions need to be met for certain things to happen. True faith is believing that even though the conditions were not met, you still heard right.

Hebrews 10:23, King James Version Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;)

Faith is to not talk two languages or to be in two minds. Many sway between certainty and uncertainty; persuasion and doubt. You are double-minded when today you know, and tomorrow you don’t. The Bible tells us that double-minded men will receive nothing from God (James 1). The church needs to learn consistency in proclamation and confession.

Acts of Obedience

To do something even though your natural senses defy that action (i.e. when you don’t feel or see the outcome in the natural)

This is the secret behind faith, because without action your faith is dead (James 2:14-26). To act in obedience requires the eyes of the Spirit (to see in faith), the ears of the Spirit (to hear in faith), and following through with what the Spirit tells you to do (obedience). Acting in faith is not about acting according to your senses: it is actually about defying them. You demonstrate your

faith by acting on the Word and, by doing so, miracles are fabricated. When you act on the Word, it will produce results.

It is your responsibility to build yourself up in your faith! An encounter produces revelation, which in turn produces persuasion. Persuasion is what leads to faith which prompts acts of obedience, and obedience produces results.

Jude 1:17-25, New International Version 17 But, [beloved], remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold 18 … “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 …who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 20But you, [beloved], by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 22 Be merciful to those who doubt… 24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.