“So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that there is a God and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him”. Hebrews 11:6 NLT
Faith is the currency of God’s kingdom. It is the living principle of God’s kingdom to which we belong. Everything operates and functions by faith. Everything is also sustained by faith. It takes faith to receive and sustain anything from God. Faith provides the link or contact with the power of God. It takes faith to live the supernatural life that’s ours in Christ. Faith is what pleases God. It is what honours Him. Nothing else honours God like faith in His word and power. It is emphatically declared in no uncertain terms that “it is impossible to please God without faith”
Faith is the universal currency of God’s kingdom. It delivers at the same rate in every nation” God is not a respecter of persons. There is no partiality neither is there any tendency for change in Him.
To please God, everyone must come to Him by faith. Irrespective of your financial, academic or social status, nationality, tribe, tongue or even religious creed, it is impossible to please God without faith. It is faith that activates and sustains the move and activities of the Holy Spirit in every generation. Faith encourages the operations of the Spirit of God.
The gifts of the Spirit are received and operated through faith. To experience the workings and manifestations of the Holy Spirit, it is essential that we believe that God is and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.
A lifestyle of faith is a non-negotiable factor in experiencing the workings of the Spirit. The Bible says, “It is impossible to please God without faith.” It didn’t say it is difficult to please God without faith. We are told that it is impossible to please Him without faith.
But it is also important to know the kind of faith which pleases God. There is a kind of faith that God is pleased with. Every human being believes in something. Some believe in themselves, others believe in the devil. Some people believe in nature, while there are those who believe in created things. There are those whose faith is in the system of the world or their job, certificate, connections, etc. In this humanistic, scientific, atheistic and secularistic world we live today, it is important to define faith scripturally in the context of our relationship with God and the experience of Him.
When we talk about faith, especially as this book is concerned, we mean the belief in God and His Word. David, speaking about these things, said, “Some nations boast of their armies and weapons, but we boast in the LORD our God.” (Psalm 20:7 NLT) To activate our spirits for the workings of the Holy Spirit, we must exercise a lifestyle of faith in God.
And he [Abraham] believed in the LORD; and He [the LORD] counted it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 15:6
One of the many hindrances I have seen among believers that is preventing them from laying hold on the promises of God is lack of proper understanding of the concept of faith. Most anointed preachers have succeeded in mystifying this spiritual principle, thereby making it difficult for the ordinary believer to come into the experience of God’s blessings and promises. I’ve often maintained that the complexities and ambiguities around the gospel are as a result of the inventions of men and women who communicate it. And most times, it is a result of lack of proper vocabulary to communicate spiritual truths.
If you listen to Jesus, you’d be so amazed at the simplicity of the gospel He preached. He used windows or similitudes that ordinary people could relate to. He gave His sermons using physical or natural realities to explain spiritual phenomenon. People could understand His discourse, and that’s why multitudes followed Him.
I have studied faith under several anointed teachers and have even employed their quotes in some of my teachings. But recently, the Lord opened my eyes to a definition of faith I hadn’t read from any book or heard anyone teach. I heard this words in my spirit, “faith is simply agreeing with God.” I actually investigated it and I found it to be thoroughly scripturally accurate.
The words translated faith and believe in the New Testament are the Greek words ‘pistis’ and ‘pisteuo’. The only difference between faith and believe is simply the fact that faith is a noun while believe is a verb. Believe is the action of faith.
Therefore, to believe or have faith in God is simply to agree with Him. If you understand this, it will clear most of the ambiguities around this subject. God doesn’t want people arguing with Him. He wants us to simply agree with Him. Until we agree with Him, He cannot work among us.
In Genesis 6:3, the LORD said, “My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh…” Our experience of God’s promises and blessings is not dependent on God’s ability to perform, but our ability to believe or agree with Him.
For example, Jesus told the father of the epileptic boy, “if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23, emphasis mine). All things are possible to the one who agrees with God. We must agree with God according to His written word and take corresponding actions if we hope to see any manifestations of the Spirit among or through us. We must create the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to move through our faith. We must receive and exercise the gifts of the Spirit through faith.
…If ye will not believe (agree with God), surely ye shall not be established.
Isaiah 7:9
So, beloved, God says to simply “agree with Him”. Please my friend, stop arguing and complaining, and simply agree with God. Agree that He knows exactly what He’s doing and will do exactly what He says He will do. Agree that He can do what He’s promised to do. Responding to Peter’s observation of the withered fig tree, Jesus said to him, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22).
That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination] (2 Timothy 1:6 AMP).
As Christians, we’re not ordinary. Jesus said, “…as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21). He gave us power and authority to minister and be a blessing to our world. Paul said, “…we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). We can minister to the sick, the oppressed, and depressed and have virtue go out from us to them. God’s power in us is to flow from us to those in need of God’s touch in their lives.
This is why you take out time to stir up the power of the Spirit in you again and again; get yourself filled with the Spirit always! Ephesians 5:18 says, “…keep on being filled with the Spirit”(ISV); it’s not a one-off but a continual experience. You’re to maintain the glow of the Spirit in your life; keep His fire burning in your spirit with unquenchable intensity. Be dressed and fully clothed with Him all the time. Before you hit the streets, “dress” in the Holy Ghost! Soak yourself in Him, and when you face a crisis, His power in you will be activated, for His glory.
Stir that power always by speaking in tongues,meditating on the Word and living out the Word. His glory is in the Word; as you live in, by, and through the Word, you cause His glory and power to be manifested in and around you. Blessed be God!
There are moments when, deep within your spirit, you sense that something ought to change. It may concern your family, your finances, your work, or even your walk with God. You simply know within that the time has come for a new phase, yet the outward circumstances don’t seem to reflect it. Don’t ignore such moments.
The Spirit of God can stir your heart to recognize divine timing. If you fail to respond to that prompting, you may lose the opportunity to step into the next phase or higher level of your walk with God. Daniel gives us a remarkable example of how to respond when you recognize such spiritual timing.
While studying the writings of Jeremiah, he discovered that the seventy years of Israel’s captivity were coming to an end, yet there were no visible signs of deliverance. Instead of ignoring what he knew from the Word, Daniel set his heart to seek the Lord. He prayed and fasted, giving earnest attention to the matter at hand.
For three weeks, he continued in prayer until an angel appeared to him with a message from heaven. The angel told him that from the first day he began to pray, his prayers were answered. Daniel refused to abandon what he knew in his spirit and continued to pray until heaven’s response manifested.
This teaches an important lesson: sometimes the Spirit of God stirs your spirit to know that it’s time for a change; when that happens, seize the moment. Pray and fast. If the situation doesn’t seem to have changed immediately, continue steadfastly in prayer.
Christianity
Persistence in prayer at such times is important, for the Bible says, “…The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]” (James 5:16 AMPC). When you recognize spiritual timing and respond with prayer, you position yourself to participate in the fulfillment of God’s will and purpose.
Daniel’s prayers were connected to the unfolding of prophetic events. The message he received revealed that the Persian Empire would fall and be replaced by another kingdom. What began with a man recognizing God’s timing and seizing the moment to pray in alignment with God’s Word became part of the unfolding of God’s eternal plan for His people.
For the Christian, there’s no such thing as the Spirit coming afresh on you. There’s no fresh anointing coming upon you from anywhere; it’s not in the Bible. Some say they want a double-dose anointing. How can you get a double dose of something you already have in full?
There’s no place in the New Testament that suggests that you could have a double anointing or another anointing. Stop praying, crying and begging for what you already have! What the New Testament teaches is that when you received the Holy Spirit, you were anointed with the full measure of God. You’re replete with God.