Spirit of faith
Faith involves believing, acting and speaking. Let us look at Mark chapter 11:23-24; 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. In this case saying and asking is an action that one takes – You and I are putting into action by saying or declaring through prayer what we expect to come to pass.
In Psalms 116:10, psalmist demonstrated the spirit of faith to us when he wrote, “I believed, therefore I spoke…” (Later, the Apostle Paul recalled those words and wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:13, “Since we have the same spirit of faith…we also believe and therefore speak”.
If you were to ask many Christians what faith is, many would respond with answers like trust, confidence, or assurance. All of these are true, but according to the Bible, there is more to faith than just this.
Based on what apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:13, anyone who has faith – whether it is you, me or anyone else – has the same spirit and it operates the same way for everyone regardless of age or how long you have been a believer. In fact, 1 Samuel 17 tells us that David had the spirit of faith when he was just a youth.
How to maintain the spirit of faith
1. Stay in the Arena of Faith – In the Word
If you and I stay in faith, we are overcomers. The devil knows this and will try everything in his playbook to get us out of the arena of our faith.
The devil will attempt to draw you into his arena, so you focus on your circumstances, your past, your feelings, or failures. He wants to face you anywhere except in the arena of your faith. He’ll say to you, “It looks to me like things are getting worse instead of better. It looks like you are going to go under.” But when you have the spirit of faith, you don’t let him lure you out of the arena of faith. Instead of believing the devil’s lies, you simply say to him, “I walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
2. Faith Sees Victory – See ONLY success
It is very easy to see the contrast between those who have the spirit of faith and those who do not by reading Numbers 13 and 14. There we see that Moses sent twelve spies – including Joshua and Caleb – into the Promised Land. For forty days those men traveled together and scouted the territory God promised them.
When they returned, they gave very different reports even though their physical eyes had seen exactly the same things. Caleb said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it”(Numbers 13:30), but ten of the spies banded together and said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we” (Numbers 13:31).
What was the difference? God said that Caleb had “a different spirit” (Numbers 14:24). That different spirit was the spirit of faith! Joshua also had the spirit of faith, and because of it, both he and Caleb were able to inherit the Promised Land. Those who did not have the spirit of faith were unable to enter in.
All twelve had observed the same things, but their perspectives were determined by what was inside them, not by what they saw. Likewise, you and I don’t see with our eyes, we see through them. Spiritually speaking, we “see” with our hearts, and anyone with the spirit of faith can “see” victory even before it is visible to others!
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