There is a nuance I would like to address now, as E.W. Kenyon so aptly points out: faith is a word. However, whenever our Lord Jesus Christ addressed the disciples, He used the verb rather than the word. The word denotes a singular action, while the verb denotes a continuous action.

Having faith is to believe and to keep believing. It is not to stop believing until you have obtained. And when we have obtained, we continue to believe that it is because we believed that we have received. Thus, we break free from the singular notion that the word “faith” can bring and move towards a continuous concept that applies to all aspects of our lives, not just to a specific area or moment. That is what it means to be a person of faith.

As we can see from the analysis of the previous verses, faith is the access card to our inheritance in Christ. Everything in the spiritual realm is obtained through faith, meaning believing before it manifests on the Earth. That’s why we are called “believers.” So, without faith, we have nothing. The paradox is that more and more people no longer believe, or at least claim to believe. But faith is evaluated by results:

“So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” – James 2.17

Unfortunately, many lose faith in God’s promises. They go to church but receive nothing; they pray but do not receive. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, in his message “Making Your Faith Work,” said:

“One of the biggest problems in the church today is that people pray without receiving.“

Jesus said: “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” – Mark 11.24

The future is not in the belief of obtaining because “faith is always in the present,” but in the manifestation of fulfillment. I believe right now that I have received, and I continue to believe, and I will see it fulfilled. The future may be near or distant, but what we must do is believe that we have ALREADY received.

It is sometimes curious to see how we have made God’s people liars because of prophecies that have not come to pass. The truth is that often it is we who lack faith.

“For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened.” – Hebrews 4.2

You have certainly received a word one day while reading the Bible or listening to a sermon. When you read or heard that word that day, you knew it was meant for you and was God’s answer to your request. You believed, but some time later, you gave up. The Bible says:

“Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” – Luke 1.45

To see the fulfillment, you MUST BELIEVE FIRST. Faith is a genuine assurance of what we hope for and what we expect; we will see it. It does not depend on the contrary events that surround us. Faith is a certainty that leads the believer to adopt an attitude in line with their hope.

For example: I believe I will soon hold a position of responsibility, so I begin to behave as a true leader and distance myself from certain habits and attitudes that are inadequate for the role I will soon hold.

This faith is what the world has tried to explain by calling it the Law of Attraction when attempting to find an explanation for this divine power. But the difference between Christian faith and a simple human hope (the law of attraction) lies in the foundation. Our faith is based on God’s word (logos = written, but more precisely Rhema = revealed). We have every reason to believe because each promise from God engages Him. God is His word.

Furthermore, His word is more important than His reputation, which is why He does not say that He makes Himself known before acting, but rather:

“I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.” – Psalms 138.2

One day, as I meditated on this important topic, which led to the writing of this book, the Lord said to me, “If the devil knows that you obtain all these things by believing, what will he do?” I replied, “He will attack my faith every time!” Considering the place faith holds in the Christian life and the difficulty some have in manifesting it, one could say, as the Apostle Paul did, that faith is a battle. This is the only type of battle to which he invited his son Timothy: “Fight the good fight of faith…” – 1 Timothy 6.12

“The” good fight: by this expression, the Spirit demonstrates that there are no other true battles. The only true battle is the battle of faith. The battle of faith is undoubtedly one of the greatest and most important battles in the walk with the Lord…

This text is an excerpt from the book “WIN THE FIGHT OF FAITH” written by Marc SAKALA.