"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)
Having faith and believing make up a huge part of a true Christian. We can't be Christians without faith ...we can't even be saved without believing ... we can't be delivered without first believing that God can bring us out ... we can't receive healing without first believing that God can do anything but fail. You cannot live a Christian lifestyle without faith. We're supposed to be servants of God. Our desire should be to please Him and to do His will. How can we do that without faith?
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)
The Lord taught that men ought to always pray and not faint. However, the results of a prayer without faith is absolutely nothing. James 1:6 says, "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." As long as you have one drop of doubt, you will not receive what you're praying for. You can't be an unstable Christian. You have to either believe or not believe; your result will depend on your decision. Jesus said, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." (Matthew 21:22)
Many ask, 'How can I get more faith?' Get into the word more. Eat it up until you can't eat anymore. The more you read the Word of God, the more your faith grows. You may not recognize it at first but when your spirit is overflowing with the Word, it makes it very hard for the spirit of doubt to enter in. Go to church as often as possible...stay under the word...don't give Satan any room to enter deception into your mind. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)
There are many out there who are sick and desire to be healed. God can heal anybody and can do anything. But we have to believe that He can and will heal us without a doubt. For example, the woman with the issue of blood. She had this disease for 12 years. She spent all her money on different doctors but no one was able to heal her. But she heard about the man called Jesus and she believed in Him. She said within herself, "If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole." Please note that she didn't say 'If I touch his garment, maybe I'll be healed', and she didn't say 'Maybe I can ask Him to heal me.' She had already made up in her mind that this is it...I'm getting my healing this day...I'm not going home without it...I'm not going to die from this...I'm never going to be the same after today...I don't even have to ask him to heal me...If I can just TOUCH him, I know I'll be made whole again. Now that's what I call faith.
"But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, 'Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.' And the woman was made whole from that hour." (Matthew 9:22) Note that she was healed according to her faith, not according to Jesus' faith. Because she believed, she was healed. God already knows what He can do...but when we, as followers of Christ, come to the realization that there is no limit to what God can do, that's when we'll start seeing miracles being performed, even in our everyday lives. Our prayer life will be forever changed.
There was a certain man whose son was possessed by a demon. He brought him to Jesus' disciples and they weren't able to cast the devil out of the child. Then the man brought the child to Jesus and He rebuked the devil and it left from the child. The disciples were then wondering why they were not able to cast the demon out of the child. "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. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.'" (Matthew 17:20-21) Therefore, with the combination of true faith (belief), prayer and fasting, if we consecrate ourselves, we should be able to do anything through Jesus Christ including healing the sick and casting out devils. We should have enough faith to lay hands on ourselves and rebuke sickness as well because there may be a time when we won't have anyone to call on to come lay hands on us or to come pray for us. What will you do when you're somewhere all alone, you're sick and need help and can't get in touch with anyone? Jesus is just a prayer away and you're going to have to know how to reach Him and get into His presence for yourself no matter what the situation may be.
"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." (Psalm 118:8) Man can let you down and even disappoint you. Man can't be everywhere at one time. Man can get stuck in traffic on their way to come pray and lay hands on you. But Jesus is everywhere at the same time (He's omnipresent), He has all power in His hands (He's omnipotent), He knows all things (He's omniscient). If you need him all you have to do is call Him. You can reach Him no matter what part of the world you're in. There's no long distance charges and you can talk as long as you want. He never gets tired. There's no busy signal when you call Jesus, He won't let you down. He'll never fail you. He can do ANYTHING but fail. We as Christians must walk by faith, not by sight.
"Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass." (Psalm 37:5)
