Nuts and Bolts of Faith
After reading this newsletter, I want you have a proper understanding of faith and how to live by it. Before reading this newsletter, make sure you read my previous one titled ‘Seeing in the Dark.’ I will reference things that I mention in that newsletter.
Mark 9:14-24, “14 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. 15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. 16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?” 17 Then one of the crowds answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So, I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” 19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” 20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. 21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’ This is the cry the father made to Jesus about his faith. My big struggle with faith is that I want to believe God and what He tells me, but this feeling always rises inside of me and saying, ‘You know you can’t believe that, that is too much for you to expect.’ These thoughts go on and on to the point that I start believing them. I grew up in the Word of Faith movement hearing preachers proclaim bold and amazing statements. These statements, instead of bringing faith, would bring fear because I could not see how God could use me like He used them. Ever since Brea and I were put in charge of Revive, we pray and expect God to move every time. I usually leave the house full of faith, and as soon as 6:30 hits, all that faith that I had seems to disappear. I am writing to you about something that I deal with every single day.
‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’ is a battle that happens to all of us. It is the greatest tug off war that we will have. The good news is that there is an answer. Jesus goes on to tell us how we deal with this battle.
Mark 9:28-29, “28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
Let’s correctly divide these scriptures. A lot of times when this passage is taught, it is said that you pray and fast so that you can be able to rebuke the devil. Although that is true, that is not what Jesus was talking about here. The verses below give us some context to the answer of Jesus.
“…18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So, I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” 19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”
Jesus identifies unbelief as the problem. Our faith in Jesus will overcome any devil and problem. So, in verse 29 when He says, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.’ He is talking about unbelief. Prayer and fasting are the cure of our unbelief.
Prayer and fasting weakens our unbelief. Praying and fasting brings self/the flesh into subordination. Fear, doubt, and unbelief all originate from the flesh. When we have more fear, doubt, or unbelief, that is an indication that we are being dominated by the flesh. The battle that we have sometimes is that our faith looks like the size of a mustard seed and unbelief looks like pike’s peak. This is the reason why we have short bursts of faith. We cannot go the distance with faith because we are looking at the mountain of unbelief. In the case of Peter, when he walked on water, he saw the wave which caused unbelief. When we are faced with that mountain of unbelief, prayer and fasting will help us look away from the mountain and focus on Jesus.
Having faith does not mean we have no fear and doubt. That is why the dad of the young man cried out, ‘…I believe, help my unbelief.” Prayer and fasting cures unbelief, but there is another element needed to help with our faith.
James 1:2-4, “2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
Most of the time we define that word patience as “putting up with”. An example of this is being stuck in traffic. When we are in traffic, we will say, “I must be patient.” What we mean is, ‘I have no other option so I will put up with this traffic’. That is not the true definition of patience according to the Bible. That word patience can be translated to mean steadfastness, constancy, endurance. My favorite definition of patience is, “In the NT the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.” Another way to read that verse in James is, “…knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But let endurance have its perfect work….” Endurance having its perfect work means that the job is not done and complete until we have what we are believing God for.
Hebrews 11 is known as the faith chapter; before Hebrews 11, there is Hebrews 10, the endurance chapter, as I like to call it. My favorite verses about endurance or patience are Hebrews10:35-39.
Hebrews 10:35-39, “35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: 37 “For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
We do not draw back to perdition, but we believe to the saving of our soul. We are going to be people who do not quit, but stay strong till the end. The true test of our faith is whether we will give up on the promises that God has given us when the road gets tough.
Read out loud the below declarations and choose to trust God:
I CANNOT QUIT!!!
I AM NOT OF THOSE WHO DRAW BACK TO PERDITION,BUT OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE TO THE SAVING OF THE SOUL!
I WILL NOT LET FEAR OVERCOME ME!
I WILL NOT LET ANXIETY OVERWHELM ME!
I WILL CHOOSE TO BELIEVE GOD!
I WILL CHOOSE TO BELIEVE GOD’S WORD!
I WILL CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THE BIBLE!
I WILL WIN ALL MY BATTLES!
I AM MORE THAN A CONQUEROR!
