September 9, 2022
How to activate your Faith!
Why is having Faith so important?
Faith is the key factor that shows your absolute trust and belief in the Lord and His Word. It is what activates the power of God to work in your favor. The Bible makes it extremely clear just how important faith is to the Lord. Hebrews 11:6 states “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” The Lord is explaining to us plainly that there is no way to please Him outside of having faith. With us knowing that fact we need to make it a top priority to learn how to develop complete reliance on His Word because that is how your Faith is established. The more you consume the Holy Scriptures, the more your faith will naturally develop.
The Bible is the story of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us, John 1:14. That is why it is vital for us to understand and gain the knowledge that the Lord is giving to us in every verse of Scripture. It is the absolute Truth, the key to living your life abundantly, and the Sword needed to fight off the enemy. When you spend time in God’s Word and begin to see His Promises fulfilled in your life, your faith becomes unshakable!
I know for me when I was under extreme warfare getting demonically attacked left and right, the Lord’s Word was the only thing that gave me any strength. As I began to devour the Holy Scriptures, not only did I become fully aware of the devil’s devices but I now had the arsenal needed to defend myself against him.
Don’t underestimate your Sword (the Word of God). If your Bible was just an ordinary book the devil and his demons wouldn’t be threatened by you opening it up and reading it. They know that the more you spend time learning the Truth, the more your faith will grow which makes you a threat to the kingdom of darkness! Below I have listed some of the main ways that you can begin to activate your faith, remember consistency is key!
Get into the Word of God:
When we think about what it means to have faith we know that there is a clear answer in Romans 10:17. It states, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The Lord is making it evident what He wants us to do when it comes to building our faith and that is relying and trusting in His Word. There are several ways that the Lord can speak to us distinctly: a Bible verse can be highlighted to you, a Pastor can deliver a sermon with a message that resonates in your spirit, or someone can give you a message directly from the Lord pertaining to a situation. The main way the Lord speaks is through His Word.The Bible is not a novel that you pick up and read and never read again. No, it is alive, powerful, and sharper than any double-edged sword, Hebrews 4:12.
The more that you dive into the scriptures, the more you will understand why they are so important. They have the ability to speak life into a hopeless situation. Remember, death and life is in the power of your tongue, Proverbs 18:21. But if you have no bible verses in your memory bank to reference, how are you going to pull them out when you need them the most? The Lord’s Word is filled with promises and guarantees that He wants to give every one of His children but in order to know what those promises are you have to get into His Word.
The way that the Scriptures can activate your faith is when you begin to apply them to your life and see them manifest firsthand.
Two examples of verses that reflect God’s promises are:
Isaiah 26:3 states, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”
God’s promise in this scripture is that if we remain focused on Him during our trials and tribulations regardless of how harsh they may be, He will keep you in perfect peace. If you declare this verse over your situation and believe in your heart that His Word is the absolute Truth you will begin to see the peace that surpasses all understanding comfort you during adversity, Philippians 4:7. As you begin to experience this promise without fail because God is not a man that He should lie, Numbers 23:19, you will no longer question that guarantee. Your faith will naturally begin to grow.
Luke 10:19 states, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
This particular verse of scripture is near and dear to my heart. When the enemy had me completely bound and I had no strength, no hope, and no direction I clung on to the Word of God with the little bit of courage that I had left in me. He assures us that He gave us the authority to trample on any demonic power and over any tactic that the devil will throw at us! He also guarantees us that nothing shall harm us! Those are some powerful promises.
I began to stand on His Word without wavering using my double-edged Sword like I was supposed to against the enemy and he began to flee! It certainly didn’t happen overnight but the more I began to consume the Word, the more spiritual strength I developed. One thing that I realized beyond a shadow of a doubt was that I could rely on God’s Word as the absolute Truth and my faith began to grow tremendously! I started to own the authority that Jesus Christ died for us to have. Through the guiding of the Holy Spirit training me every step of the way I began to regain my complete freedom from the chains and shackles that the devil had over my life! If I could do it, so can you! There is power in the Word of God; never doubt or believe the lies of the enemy, he is a defeated foe and that will never change!
Pray:
The importance of prayer is scattered throughout the Bible. The Lord commands in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray without ceasing.” What exactly does that mean? Prayer is really just communication with God: speaking to Him about everything, talking to Him throughout the day, and giving Him back His Word as you pray. The more that you speak to your heavenly Father, the more He is able to direct you through the Holy Spirit.
What better way to activate your faith than seeing how the Lord moves on your behalf. That check in your spirit that you get when something just doesn’t feel right. Only later to find out that the Lord kept you out of harm’s way. He will lead you and guide you in the right direction in every single thing that you do. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.” In order to establish that complete Trust that He would never lead you astray, it is going to take you actually spending quality time with Him.
Your Father wants to have an intimate relationship with you and not just on a Sunday afternoon once a week. He wants to hear from you daily! Give Him back His Word; it is your sustenance, it is the bread of life, it’s the currency of heaven, and it is what will propel your faith! The Word of God says in Hebrews 11:6 that the Lord is a rewarder of those that consistently seek Him. One of the ways that we can continuously pursue Him is through prayer. He wants to give us the desires of our hearts; and as we continue to trust and lean on His Word as the foundation of our lives, we will begin to see our faith mature and develop.
Remain obedient:
As Christians, we are vessels of the Lord to be used without reservation. That is why it is so crucial that you keep your temple (body) refined and cleansed. He wants to use our mouths to speak to others and our hands to heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead, Matthew 10:8. With that being said we have to be willing to be obedient when the Lord instructs us to do what He wants us to do. For instance, He may have you speak to a stranger on the street about the Gospel of Jesus Christ because He knows that their heart is ready to hear about Him. He might have you lay hands and pray for a family member or friend because their body or mind needs a touch from the Lord.
We are representations of Him so when people see us, we want them to be able to see the Lord reflecting in us. That happens when we spend time in his Word, in prayer, and with the Holy Spirit. As believers in Christ we should want our spiritual walk to increase and not remain stagnant. If the Lord can see that you are a willing vessel to be used by Him, He will give you more responsibilities. If you are reading your bible daily, praying, fasting, going to Church consistently; but you aren’t sharing with anyone about what you’re learning or who Jesus Christ is, how can you expect the Lord to trust you with more?
We need to make sure that we are obedient when the Lord guides us through the Holy Spirit as well as following what the Bible is teaching us. His main commission is to make disciples sharing the Gospel that was given to us saving as many people as we can, Matthew 28:16:20. What an amazing way to build your faith in the Lord and His Word than to see someone that you love, that you’ve been praying and interceding for coming to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and accepting Him into their heart. Let me tell you, there is no greater feeling than to see the complete transformation that one goes through by renewing their hearts and minds through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Listen to the voice of God:
Listening to the voice of God can be difficult at times, especially if you have the enemy whispering in your ear at the same time. So how can we know if it truly is the voice of God? If what you are hearing is not matching up with the Holy Scriptures than more than likely it is the voice of the enemy. The Lord instructs us to test the spirits, 1 John 4:1-3. The reason that we need to make sure that we don’t trust every voice that is speaking in our ears is because the devil comes as an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11:14. 1 John 4 will break down exactly what you need to look for when testing the spirits to make sure whether it is from God or not.
The more that you spend time with the Lord: reading His Word, praying in tongues (your heavenly language), fasting, and just praying in general the more in tune you will be with His voice. He explains in John 10:27-28 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” When we put ourselves in a position to hear and obey the voice of our Heavenly Father we will begin to see His hand in every aspect of our lives. This is a sure way to develop your Faith. Imagine getting a spoken word from God giving you specific instructions on something pertaining to your life only to see it come to pass exactly as He said it would? Your faith will completely explode!
The Lord is not the author of confusion, 1 Corinthians 14:33. So, when you hear that still small voice that you feel is from the Lord, go directly to His Word and see if what is being said is lining up with the scriptures. He is not going to give you instruction or direction contrary to what the Bible is saying. That is why it is vital to get into the Word of God and stay in it. It is truly the bread of life, John 6:35. Your double-edged Sword will guide you with Truth, fight off the devil, give you spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional strength, and so much more! You are hearing the Lord’s voice every single time that you open up your Bible and read the powerful words written on every page. That is why the enemy will try to use every weapon in his arsenal to prevent you from saturating your heart and mind in the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God, Romans 10:17.
Surround yourself with people that have faith-Iron sharpens Iron:
The possibility of you developing characteristics and habits from the people around you is highly likely. That is why you need to make sure that you are cautious about the company that you keep. In Proverbs 27:17 it states, “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” As we take a closer look into this verse of scripture we can see that the Holy Spirit is disclosing to us the impact someone can have on another person.
If you spend time with a brother or sister in Christ that has tremendous faith, it is bound to rub off on you. It is contagious! One thing that you will notice is the amount of time he or she spends with the Lord and in His Word. They usually have a positive outlook on life and you will not hear them speaking negatively. Why is that?
Someone that has a great amount of faith has a clear understanding of the repercussions of the words that you speak. Death and life truly is in the power of your tongue, Proverbs 18:21. If you’ve studied to show yourself approved you will have knowledge of the spiritual laws scattered throughout the Bible. These are the kind of people you want to be around if you’re attempting to grow your level of faith.
On the flip side, if you are spending your quality time with someone that is always speaking negatively and they have no type of faith; those traits will trickle onto you. For instance, say that you are believing for a healing from the Lord by faith; you are fasting, praying, and coming into agreement with the Lord’s Word regarding your situation. Then here comes Debbie downer with her negativity making it difficult for you to remain optimistic! People that are going to hinder you from growing in the things of the Lord need to be kept at a distance. The circle that you keep near you will make or break your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
For more information related to this topic, check out these blogs listed below:
What Does it Mean to Walk by Faith and not by Sight?