January 9th

Have Faith in God

Mark 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

The Power of Words

There is great power in the speaking of faith-filled words. This is a truth taught by the Master Himself on at least three different occasions during His 3-year ministry.

If You Had Faith

He taught it once in the early part of His ministry when his disciples asked Him to increase their faith. His answer had to do with speaking faith.

Luke 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

If you had faith . . . you would say . . . and it would obey.

This is essentially the same message He taught them in Mark 11:22, which took place at the end of His earthly ministry, as He was going back and forth to Jerusalem, just prior the Passover in which He was crucified.

Because of Your Unbelief

He taught the same message at another time when the disciples, who had been ministering to the multitude, were unable to cast out the devil from a young boy whose father had brought him to the disciples. When Jesus came on the scene and healed the boy, they asked Him why they could not cast out the evil spirit.

Matthew 17:19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

It was because of your unbelief. Because if you had faith, you would speak to the mountain, and it would be removed. We attach many reasons to why we don’t have success in prayer, and in our faith, but more often than not it is because of lack of faith, or unbelief, or because we fail to use the faith we have, by failing to speak it.

Out of the Abundance of the Heart

We cannot separate what we believe from what we say, because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. If we speak something that we don’t truly believe in our heart, there is an inner feeling that we are lying, and there is no confidence in it.

How to Get Faith

The only way to have faith in our heart is to put it there through meditation in the word of God, because faith come by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. There is no other way to get faith, other than perhaps hearing the testimony of others who have received from the LORD, but even that is by way of hearing. A testimony can stir faith in a person momentarily, but lasting faith comes from pondering the word of God.

Take time to hear the word of God today. Find the Scripture verses that pertain to the situation you’re facing, whether it be a need for healing, for provision, for restored relationships in your life, or anything else. Find the promises of God, and meditate in them. Ponder them and hide them in your heart. It is from the heart that faith arises. Let faith arise in your heart, and speak to the situation, with confidence that it will move.