Understanding and Developing Faith that Works Wonders (2021)

The law of addition says 2+2=4: right? If I wrote, 2+2=5: that’s certainly not addition. If it’s addition, subtraction, multiplication or division, you can always be sure of what the result will be. If you know the principle, you can predict the result accurately.

The same goes for faith. When you do not get the predictable result, it means what you exercised was not faith. Many believers assume they understand the subject of faith, but they don’t. The correct understanding and application of the principles of faith that works always produces results.

No matter how sophisticated a weapon maybe, if the possessor lacks the knowledge to use it, then, the man with the most powerful weapon is as prone to injury, or even death, as the man without a weapon. The Understanding of faith that works is a necessity, towards enjoying the benefits of the Christian life.

The just shall live by faith. For without faith, no man can please God. For a believer, the subject of faith is not one of those topics to understand; it is the main theme of Christianity. Faith that works could mean two different things. It could mean the faith that produces result or the faith that is followed by an action for it to produce results. However, these two aspects will be dealt with.

God’s desire that believers live His kind of life on earth can only be attained by the exercise of faith that works. Through faith, we make efficient, in our lives, the essence of crucifixion, death, and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Faith is the only effective key to bring into reality, all that God had provided for His beloved. Hence, to live your full life in Christ, you must grasp the real meaning of faith; so that you can claim all that your loving, heavenly father had provided for you.

What is Faith?

If it’s faith, it will work; producing the desired result! It’s not working because it’s not faith. It’s as simple as that. Thus the need to understand what faith in its real sense is. Many are exercising something else other than faith, and that’s why they aren’t getting the result desired. If it’s not faith, it can’t produce the result that faith should produce.

What is faith? Faith is simply holding on God’s word irrespective of the circumstance. It is the absolute confidence in the ability and willingness of God. It does believe nothing, except the word. Faith brings spiritual realities into physical manifestation.

Whenever the subject of faith is being discussed, some folks will say, “You see, in this instance, let’s be realistic”. They think faith is being unrealistic. They have no understanding of what faith is. They think faith is fantasy or an assumption without basis. It’s not so.

Faith is a reality. There are two realities—the physical reality and the spiritual reality. In either way, whichever you base your life on, you are being realistic. Faith is not fantasy. It is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. You may not be seeing it physically at the present, but you have the evidence of its reality.

In the days of coca-cola promotions, when you buy a bottle of coca-cola, open it, and look under the cork, whatever (say an LCD television) you find there is what you win. All you need to do is to take the cork to the redemption center as evidence of your entitlement. As far as you have the cork with you, whatever is under the cork becomes your right and the redemption center must honor the cork.

When you were still with the cork, you don’t have the LCD television physically with you, but you have evidence that it will soon become yours as you follow the due process for redemption. In that case, it is not unrealistic to say you have an LCD television. That’s not fantasizing; it is a reality because you have a basis for your expectation. Your evidence already puts you in the possession of it.

Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Your cork is the substantial evidence of the LCD television not yet seen. Faith is like that cork. It is the substance of the things you are hoping for. It is the evidence of what you cannot yet see.

The word of the Lord is the evidence of spiritual realities. Whatever is found in the word is already made available for you in the spiritual realm. The word is your evidence. That’s what your faith is based on.

So when those folks say, “You see, in this instance, let’s be realistic”. I simply tell them, “I’m being realistic”. I choose to take the spiritual reality to be more realistic, than the physical reality. This is because that which is seen is temporary and that which is unseen yet, but will soon materialize is permanent (2 Cor. 4:18). Faith that works is not fantasy. It is the evidence of your expectation.

Bible Definition of Faith

We do not need to go far to understand what the bible describes as faith. Hebrews 11:1 is a great definition of faith. You may like to see different renditions from different versions to drive home the understanding of faith. Below are a few versions to understand what faith is.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (New International Version)

“NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]” (AMPLIFIED BIBLE)

“What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead”. (The Living Bible)

“To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see” (Today English Version)

Understanding Faith that Works

Fake gadgets might work, but will certainly not be durable. Fake drugs might relieve, but not be as safe and effective as supposed. But fake faith will never work. If it seems to work, it’s simply a coincidence. If the faith is not genuine, it will not generate the expected result. Genuine faith is the faith that works. The same thing applies to spiritual matters. When you get it wrong, you get the wrong response.

Misconception brings frustrations. It’s unfortunate that life doesn’t respond to just our intention. Life responds to principles. Break the law of gravity, and you’ll pay for it, even when you have the right intention.

Life is simply based on “cause and effect”. Be wrong in the cause, and you won’t get the supposed effect; even if you got it wrong unintentionally. So is faith. Faith that works is not by accident. A wrong exercise of faith will certainly not yield results as expected. When the exercise of faith is wrong, it’s no more faith. It was an exercise of something else. Just as 2+2 = 5 is not addition.

The kind of faith that works has at least five features. These features will be mentioned briefly here.

1. The Faith That Works Sees

Until you can see it¸ you can’t have it. I mean seeing it with your spiritual eyes. In Jeremiah 1:11, God asked Jeremiah, “What can you see?”. He replied, “I see a rod of an almond tree”. Then in verse 12, the Lord said, “thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it”. This explains that until you can see well, God is not committed to perform it.

In Genesis 15, when it was time for God to perform His promise of a child for Abram, God took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars — if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (Gen 15:5 NIV). It was needful that Abram sees before God could perform His promise. The next verse says, “And Abram believed…”. That means his seeing, contributed to his belief. Faith that works is the faith that sees.

Faith sees, not the physical, but the provisions and solutions in the realm of the spirit. Faith sees, not the challenges but the provision of the way out into victory. Faith sees the healing in sickness. It sees peace in times of trouble.

Every manifestation is preceded by revelation. If you have not seen it in the word and in your heart, you will not see it manifesting. The man with the greater manifestation is the man with the greatest revelation.

2. The Faith That Works, Knows

Faith answers to revelation knowledge. When you do not know your inheritances in Christ, there is no way you can stand up to claim what belongs to you. Until you know what the devil has stolen from you, you would not know you need to exercise your faith to get it back.

A man of faith is a man of knowledge. Take a quick look at the men of faith, both in the bible and in the history of the church; you will realize that they are men with a knowledge of their position and possessions in Christ. Your faith is in concomitant to your level of knowledge of the Word of God.

One of the major strategies of the enemy is to keep believers away from the word. For your faith to work, you can’t afford to be ignorant of your position in Christ, and possession as an heir of the kingdom.

In the scripture, the popular story of a woman is told. The woman with the issue of blood. This woman had a knowing that propelled her to push through the crowd. She knew if she could just touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, she would be made whole. She was so sure that nothing else matters to her, but what she knew.

The just must live by faith; and this faith can only come by hearing and hearing the word of God. No man can believe beyond the level of his knowledge of the word of God. To be ignorant of the word is to be incapacitated to exercise the faith that works. consistent study of the word of God, results into consistent growth in faith.

The faith that works, knows.

3. The Faith That Works, Speaks

Faith speaks without regarding the circumstances. You do not need to deny the fact, but you do not reckon with it; because you are living by the truth in the word.

Faith is not dumb; faith speaks. In the exercise of faith, speak up, speak out, and speak loud. Confess in line with your expectation. Irrespective of whatsoever you are seeing around, speak positively. Avoid the temptation of “saying it as it is”; rather, say it as it should be. Say it as you want it to be, not as it seems to be. It could be that your business is not doing fine, or your children are misbehaving, or you are feeling sick in your body. Those are facts; the truth is what the Word says.

Faith speaks in accordance with what it believes. Say it as you want it to be! Your words get things in the direction of your declarations. Create your world with your words.

You have been created in the image of God and after His likeness. Therefore, you have the ability to create your world by the words of your mouth, just like God created the world by the words of His mouth.

Jesus made it clear, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned.” (Matt 12:37 NKJV|) Your faith confession determines your possession.

Related Search: How to Pray and Get Result Without Delay

4. The Faith That Works, Acts

Effective faith is an active faith. If you believe it, you have to act it.

This aspect would be explained further under the subheading: Faith at work.

5. The Faith That Works, Waits

To walk with God, you have to walk with him patiently. The kind of faith that works is not in haste. It’s a faith that waits.

Keep on holding faith. God can’t be too late. Although God may not come in your prescribed time, He will always come in the time that all things will be made beautiful. He makes everything beautiful in His own time.

Faith keeps you in a position of rest, where you rest assured that what you believe will become a reality physically. So even if it’s not coming as fast as you desire it; you’ll have to learn to wait until God perfects it. In His infinite wisdom, God knows and is working towards making it happen at the perfect time.

“And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. (Heb 6:15 NIV)

Faith and Work

Faith and work are complimentary. Faith is not passive. Faith is active. And so for any faith to yield result, it must be accompanied by works.

Faith without work is dead. You must act by your belief; not in accordance with your circumstances. You don’t wait till everything becomes ‘perfect’. No; that’s not the way to do it. You bring things into perfection through your faith as you work it out. You walk by faith and not by sight. Physically, the resources may not be there, but your actions of faith will bring them to you.

“What doth it profit (of what use is it), my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can (such)faith save him?” …So faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee (the evidence of)my faith by my works. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2: 14, 17-18 & 26 KJV emphasis added)

The strength of your faith is made obvious by the intensity of your work. To work doesn’t contaminate faith; rather, it reveals how much faith is in the heart. Faith cannot be without work. Faith is never passive. It’s always active.

The woman with the issue of blood worked toward her miracle according to the belief in her heart. She believed that if she could touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, she would be completely healed and she worked towards it. She pressed into the crowd. You’ll agree with me that for a woman to force herself through the crowd wouldn’t be very easy. But she had to do so. She had to ‘work’ to make her faith complete.

Faith that produces results, works.

Faith at Work/ How to Walk By Faith

To wait until the physical look like your expected result before taking action is to terminate your faith. Start acting as though your prayers are answered. Certainly, your mind will say you are deceiving yourself. That’s normal because the mind cannot understand the things of the spirit. Faith is beyond the scope of the mind. It is a thing of the spirit. As you go on, the mind will understand.

This is where many people miss it. They want to feel it before they know they have it. How you feel is not necessary for the exercise of faith. Faith is not based on feelings. Faith is spiritual.

If you want healing and believe God had healed you, then stop lying on that sickbed. Truly your body may still hurt, but you have to bring your body into the reality of healing which is in the spirit realm.

Don’t wait until you have the money before making plans to start the project. Act like you already have it. I don’t mean “fake it until you have it”. I mean having a ‘knowing’ that you already have it. That’s faith.

Faith is not trying to have it. You already have it. Just that it’s in the spiritual realm. Your faith is to simply help to concretize it.

To bring into physical manifestation is your part of the game. And I bet you, God won’t do that for you. One of the ways to do that is to act out your faith.

Somehow, people miss things up. Some people act before faith in their hearts. That’s putting the cart before the horse. You are to have faith in your heart before acting out your faith. Actions follow faith; not the reverse. You don’t “fake it” to have it. You are to “faith it”, to have it. Spiritual things don’t respond to mere action, except it is accompanied by the force of faith in the heart. Things do not answer to your action if it’s not backed-up by faith.

Faith works, by obeying spiritual principles and by doing whatever ought to be done. Faith is not in any way passive.

Faith and Love

To talk about the efficiency of faith, the necessity of love must be mentioned. It takes understanding love, to understand faith. Faith is basically appropriating what you know the Father had made available in His love. Faith works by love. To firmly hold on the truth that God loves you and won’t forsake you, no matter the situation, is the backbone of the exercise of faith. It’s pretty much easier to exercise faith that works if you have a knowing that God loves you.

Knowing that God cares for you, is a major step to the understanding of faith. The knowledge of the boundless, unconditional love of God is the beginning of faith. Advancement in faith is a result of advancement in the revelation of the love of God and the word of God. Exercising faith requires understanding love.

God is love. He can only work in an atmosphere of love. If You have hatred in your heart, it would contaminate the faith in your heart. Faith that works and hatred, bitterness, or strife cannot co-exist in the same heart. One would have to leave for the other. If your faith would be effective, your heart must be filled with love.

Jesus made it known that whenever you want to pray and you remember that a friend who offended you. He admonished that the matter is settled first before going on with worship.

 

 

Faith that works is the faith that relies on the word of God. And you have to work out the word of God for it to work. Faith doesn’t entirely push the responsibility to God; rather, it is your cooperation with God to bring your expectation into reality. The kind of faith that works is the faith that works.

I want to know how this has been helpful to you. Let me know through the comment box. Also, kindly spread this by sharing with your loved ones through any of the social media means below. It is my prayer that all things work together for you good. Shalom!