Faith Overcomes the World
When we are born again and accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, Lord and Savior,
the Bible says we are instantly changed into a new creature in Christ. We immediately are translated supernaturally out of the kingdom of darkness, the enemy's kingdom, into the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13) where Jesus is King.
We are given a new set of guidelines, the Bible, that teaches how to operate in the kingdom of God and live our lives. The Bible becomes our life-manual. The ways we learned in the kingdom of darkness, the world, will not work to our benefit in the kingdom of God. For example, in the kingdom of darkness, Satan's kingdom, we were justified to worry, gossip, get angry, judge others but these and other behaviors are a liability in the kingdom of God.
At the time of our salvation we received a vast inheritance. The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 1:3,4 our inheritance includes "all things that pertain to life and godliness" including "exceedingly great and precious promises." Romans 8:17 reveals we are joint-heirs with Jesus in the Father's property. God even promises to supply all our needs "according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). The Lord sums up all that's ours in Mark 9:23 when He says, "...If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." God's matchless love is indicated in His provision. He has provided everything we could need or desire to have a peaceful and enjoyable life on earth.
It's reassuring to know we do not have to compel God to bless us. He has made our provision already available to receive. We don't have to oblige God by being good enough, holy enough or even earn our inheritance; it has already been given through Jesus Christ. All we do is appropriate what is already ours, that is, take it, and the way we take it is by faith.
You may be familiar with the term "faith" as meaning the religion a person practices as in the question, "What faith are you?" Or in the sense of believing there is a God, such as, "I have faith there is a God." The faith I am referring to concerns securing by faith what God has already provided. Faith is how we transfer something God has already given into an actual manifestation.
The "Measure of Faith"
When we are born again, we are given "the measure of faith" (Romans 12:3). We are to develop "the measure" so we can use it to receive from God. Since our inheritance is taken by faith, Christians should make growing their faith a top priority.
What is faith? Faith is believing with certainty something exists before we can see, feel, taste, touch, hear or smell it. In other words, it's belief something exists before our senses detect its existence.
The Bible states Christians are to live by faith. Four times the Bible mentions, "the just shall live by faith" (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews10:38). Who are the "just?" We are the just because we have been justified by Christ (Romans 3:24). That is, justice has been served by Jesus paying the penalty for our sins so we don't have to pay the price ourselves. In the courts of heaven, we have been set free or justified as though we never sinned.
Faith for what God has already provided requires confidence in God and in the truthfulness of His word. Faith is trusting God to come through for us regardless of our circumstances. Faith connects our confidence to only believe God and His Word over our circumstances, sensory information or mental reasoning. It's being unfazed by what our five senses and minds tell us and instead only focuses on what God's Word says.
How to Receive Using Faith
So how can we receive something by faith? First, find a promise in the Bible which reflects your need or desire. If you cannot find a specific scripture you can use a general scripture such as Philippians 4:19 or Romans 8:32. Second, we bring our promise to God in prayer. Mark 11:24 says, "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Notice this scripture says when we pray we are to believe we received the very thing we just prayed for.
Faith believes the promise or impossibility has been received at the moment we pray not when we see it! If we take the position we received the answer at the time we prayed, then we will (future) have it. This is a point that can tilt heads. How can we have something when there's no evidence we have it? The answer requires making a heart-felt decision to believe the Word of God over anything else. God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19), if He made a promise He will keep it. The point is we take or appropriate the promise or our need at the time we pray and not later when we see it.
This is exactly how we received our salvation. We heard about Jesus' death and resurrection, said the sinner's prayer (Romans 10:9) and believed in our heart we were saved when we prayed. How did we know we were saved? Did we require any physical or sensory evidence afterwards? No, we did not. We simply believed the word of God concerning salvation. The word of God was sufficient to believe we had received.
We may struggle with this idea because we normally use judgment to decide whether something exists through the use of our senses or reasoning. The challenge here is to continue to believe you received it '"when you prayed" even when you don't see the results yet.
Like receiving salvation, faith occurs in the heart (spirit). Romans 10:10 says "...for with the heart a person believes." If we are struggling believing we have it when we don't see it yet, we will need to develop faith for it.
According to Romans 10:17 faith only comes one way, "by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." This is a pivotal truth. We can build faith for our prayer petition by hearing the promise we prayed and similar promises over and over and over again. If we repeatedly confess the promise of God, faith in the promise will form in our heart over time because we are continually hearing it over and over again. This means we will start to "see" ourselves as already having it when we don't see it yet in the natural.
A good indication faith is forming in our heart is when the scripture promise we continually confess in the face of contrary circumstances, naturally starts to rise up from our own spirit. For example, you could be lying in bed one morning just resting and realize your spirit is softly speaking the exact scripture you've been confessing. This is a good sign, it means faith for the promise is on its way, it's building.
The Enemy Attacks Our Faith
Our confession is a repetition that creates faith for what we prayed. When we continuously say God's Word faith develops. However, be aware, we have an enemy who is out to steal our faith. Satan brings thoughts, imaginations, visions, dreams, suggestions, feelings and circumstances opposing God's promise. The enemy wants us to snare ourselves and not say what God says. Satan wants us to be convinced things are not going to change, that God's word won't work and to give up. To thwart the enemy's tactics, we must train our minds to only agree with what God says about the matter. Faith is therefore being steadfast believing God's promise in mind and mouth until the manifestation comes in our lives. It is continually being aligned in word and thought with what God said.
Jesus' half-brother, James, reinforces this point saying, "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (James 1:6-8).
James lets us know there can be no doubting. If we doubt we are like waves on a sea the wind blows back and forth. Doubt occurs when we think contrary to our promise and don't believe we have received when we prayed. Doubt makes us double-minded meaning sometimes we are thinking we have received and at other times not. It means we are a mixture and not single-minded about God's word. James says we cannot switch our thoughts back and forth between doubt and faith if we want to see our manifestation. He declares this type of person is double-minded and won't receive from the Lord.
Esteem What God Says
In light of this revelation we ought to be indignant to anything in thought contrary to God's Word. In order to receive by faith its imperative we esteem only God's Word over anything else regardless of its appearance. This takes an ongoing monitoring of our thoughts and turning aside every thought, imagination, reason, suggestion, and emotion that does not line up with the Word of God that we have received what we asked for when we prayed. It's being single-minded on the promise of God.
Our thoughts influence what we say. It's vital we do not speak words contrary to what we believed we have received when we prayed. We want to keep our words aligned with our developing faith. That is, we are to talk as though we already have received and say nothing contradictory to that belief.
After overcoming the contrary information for some time by confessing the Word of God, faith will come, and nothing and no one will be able to dissuade you from the fact you have your promise. In matter of fact, an image of already possessing what you asked for will have been formed in your heart. You will know positively you have it. When you get to this stage manifestation is imminent.
We are told in the Bible we receive by faith and patience (Hebrews 10:35,36). It takes patience to develop our faith, manage our thoughts, speak our promise, and wait for faith to be formed. Having faith is not necessarily a quick work, especially when it involves something big or seemingly impossible. Rest assured though faith will come if we remain diligent. 1 John 5:4 tells us, "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith." Faith always wins!