Faith
no 2
What
is Faith no 2?
Faith
is a Revelation
May 17, 2017
Brian
Kocourek, Pastor
This evening we
will continue to examine just what is faith? I would like to approach our subject
tonight from a description of what Faith is from something brother Branham said
in his sermon called the Rapture that we closed our last sermon with but never
got into what speaking on what he said in this quotation.
If you look at
the date this was preached, we find it was three weeks before brother Branham
was taken from the earth, and I think this sermon strategically was given to
him by God to settle the questions of where are we at in the cycle of time.
This sermon was a message of solace to those who believed the Message itself
because it told us the order of the end time events concerning the Rapture or
catching away and it helped us to understand that there are events and timing
and much more concerning the Rapture than people had any idea of before this
sermon was preached.
We know that
there must be Faith to receive the Rapture as there must be Faith to receive
any promise from God.
For we read in Hebrews
11:6 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.
Now within
this verse of Scripture there are two very important statements the Apostle
Paul makes.
Notice he
starts out by saying, "Without Faith it is impossible to please God"
And therefore statement number one:
1) "for he that cometh
to God must believe that he is"
2) That He is a
rewarder of them that DILIGENTLY seek Him.
So we are
looking at these two most important statements, one to believe God is, and two,
to believe that He is a rewarder of our seeking Him.
To put what
Faith is in as few words as possible so that there is no mistake in what we are
saying, Faith takes God at His Word and believes that God will always honor His
promises which is His Word.
Therefore
anything outside of God's own Word does not qualify as an example of Faith.
In other
words, you can believe in anything your mind can come up with but God is not
obligated to your ideas, or your beliefs, he is only obligated to His Word and
He wll always honor His Own Word.
Now, with this
in mind, let's examine what Brother Branham says concerning what Faith is from
his sermon The Rapture which he preached
on December 4th of 1965 and we will look at a statement he made in
paragraph 40 "But to the church, the Bride, the rapture is a revelation to
her. It's revealed to her, that the revelation, the true Bride of Christ will
be waiting for that revelation of the rapture. Now, it is a revelation, for the
revelation is faith. You cannot have a revelation without it being faith. Faith is a
revelation, because it's something that's revealed to you. Faith is a
revelation. Faith is something that has been revealed to you like it was to Abraham,
that could call anything contrary to what had been revealed to him as though it
wasn't so. Now, That's what faith is, is the revelation of God.
The church is built upon a revelation, the whole entire body."
In a nutshell he
is telling us what Faith is. He says, Faith is a revelation, but not just any
revelation is faith, for he further defines what faith is when he states, Now, That's
what faith is, is
the revelation of God.
Therefore we
must understand in order to have faith that Faith has to deal with one thing
and one thing only, knowing what God said about the subject.
Faith then is
not a guessing like so many believe they have faith when they only have hope.
Because hope can be misguided because it believes in something to which it may
or may not understand. But Faith is never a hope so, it is a genuine believing
in something God has said will come to pass.
So get it out of
your mind that Faith has anything to do with what you desire, or what you want
or any idea that you may have concerning yourself. There is simply one thing that
Faith it. Faith is a genuine belief in what God has said, and that God will
bring to pass every jot and title of His Word concerning that thing.
So faith has
nothing to do with you and your own conceptions, but has all to do with God and
what He has promised in His Word.
It is not about
you, It has nothing to do with you, but it has everything to do with Him, for
Faith is about God and whether God keeps His Word or not.
So let's just
read that again, Hebrews 11:6 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.
Notice what the
Apostle Paul said is all about whether God keeps His word or not, and the only
thing it concerns about you is whether you believe God's Word and what he said
about it.
Therefore
whether you believe God or not does not change what God said, it only changes
whether you will become a recipient of that promise of not.
The promise is there,
but is it for you? That is what faith will tell you. Faith will tell you that
the promise if for you and therefore you believe God and will hold onto that
promise. No faith will tell you that you really do not think that promise is
for you and therefore you do not expect anything from God concerning that
promise.
That is what John 14:12
is about. There is a definitive promise from God which says, "Whosoever believeth
in me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works shall he do for
I go unto my Father."
Therefore Faith
looks at that promise and says that is a promise for me, and therefore I expect
to see the works of Christ in this vessel of mine. Those how have no faith say,
"John 14:12
is
for one individual and that individual is William Branham." Or
"Jesus was speaking to the Apostles, so that promise was to the Apostle
and so they are the only ones besides Christ that had any of the works of
Christ using their vessels".
Now, both of
those statements show no faith in this promise of God. And we have a prophet of
God who himself demonstrated John 14:12 and he refutes both those attempts to
nullify that Word of promise.
From brother Branham's sermon The Second Seal
63-0319 P:82 He said,
" When Jesus incarnates Himself in
His people, the very Life that was in Christ is in this person.
What would it do if you took the life out of a grapevine and put it in a
pumpkin vine? It wouldn't bear pumpkins no more; it'd bear grapes. See? What if
you took the life out of a peach tree and put it in a pear tree? Would it bear
pears? No, bear peaches. The life tells what it is. See? When you hear people
say they got the Holy Ghost and deny this Word, there's something wrong.
The Holy Ghost wrote that Word. And Jesus said this: "If a man has My Spirit in him, he will do My works." You want to read that? If you want to put it down, it's Saint John 14:12. Yeah. All right. "He
that believeth in Me, the works that I do shall he do also, even more than this
shall he do, for I go to the Father."
See? Then He sanctifies and cleans him so he can stand before God. That drop of
ink falls there and takes him across the chasm. See?
Now, let's skip ahead a few paragraphs as brother Branham further
delineates what he means.
The
Second seal - 63-0319 86. And when a man turns down the Gospel Truth, Satan marks him.
Where? At his ear.
He deafens him so he can't
hear the Truth no more. And he's finished. My. He stays with the
group that he's with, if he won't hear the truth. No. "You shall know the Truth and the Truth
shall make you free." The Truth makes free. God marks His
when they come. God marks His by vindicating His promised Word through them.
That's exactly. Saint John 14:12, and another
thing if you want to put down: Mark 16. Jesus
said, "These
signs shall follow them that believe."
Notice brother Branham tells us the way God marks His own is with signs
and wonders following. And then listen to what he tells us next, because there
are some who would have you to believe God limits that to just the apostles or
just His prophets. But that is not what God said. I can show you where God made
this promise, now you show me where he took it back. Now, listen to what
brother Braham says next. Because he is telling you exactly what I just said.
87. Now, let us
just take that a minute. Was He joking? [Congregation replies "no"--Ed.] Did
He just just mean the apostles as some would tell us? [Congregation
replies "no"--Ed.] "Watch, read the background of it. "Go ye into" (where?)
"all
the world; preach this Gospel to" (what?) "every creature." It has not
even one-third of the way have met it yet. "These
signs shall follow in all the world, to every creature, wherever this Gospel's
preached. "These signs shall follow them that believe," not just to one little handful.
Like a fellow one time tell me: "God only gave the twelve
apostles gifts of healing, and..." Oh. Many of the brethren is
setting here when he raised up to say that. See? He got enough of it in a few
minutes. So now, notice, "All the world, to every
creature, these signs shall follow." 88. Don't take Satan's unbelieving
mark. Now, he will put it on you tonight if he can do it. He will
poke you up against the wall and you'll walk out and say, "Aw, I don't
know about that." You go home and study it. And then be sincere and
pray, 'cause everything's is too perfectly Scriptural at this very hour,
this sacred hour of time. It's done been for years, proved. Come right up to it
and this is the hour. This is the time. And now, don't let him poke that in
your ear, his unbelieving mark. See? 'Cause he was an unbeliever to
begin with. He doubted it. All right. Oh, don't even let him take the
Scripture with his wisdom and twist It and pervert It with his own wisdom into
reasoning powers. You just be humble and say, "God said so, and that's all
there is to it."
I like that,
because that is what Faith in God's Word, Faith in God's promise is all about. You just be humble and say, "God said so, and that's all there is to it."
Now, getting
back to our opening text we read where brother Branham was teaching us that
"Faith is a revelation".
Faith is a revelation, because it's
something that's revealed to you. Faith is a revelation. And even more specifically he said, , That's what
faith is, is
the revelation of God.
And that is
exactly what the Apostle Paul was saying when he said Faith is believing God
and taking him at His own word that He is more than able to bring to pass what
He has promised.
Hebrews 11:6 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.
Now only believe
what He said, but believe he is more than able to bring it to pass. And not just
to bring it to pass to others, but more specifically bring it to pass in you or
for you. And that is what determines whether you have Faith or not, is whether
you believe God's Word, His promise and that it is for you personally.
Now, when
brother Branham says Faith is a revelation, he is not saying Faith is some form
of mental gymnastics that you must contort your mind into in order to believe.
NO way shape or form is that Faith.
Faith is a
revelation and the definition of revelation in the Webster's Dictionary is
this: "Revelation is the manifestation of Divine truth."
Now, in the
original 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary
it states: The act of disclosing or discovering to others what was before unknown
to them.
The Webster's
New World Dictionary defines
the word Revelation as: Bringing
into view or manifestation that which has been hidden.
And the
definition of the word Reveal which is the root word of Revelation
is:
To disclose, to discover; to show; to make known something that was before
unknown or concealed. In other words, to draw back the veil
So you cannot
have revelation without the one who had been hiding the thing makes that thing
available to the view of the one he was hiding it to.
Therefore
revelation or faith is completely in the control of the one who is revealing.
Now, that brings us to Matthew 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him,
Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He
answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For
whosoever hath, (echoes) to him shall be
given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, (echoes
not) from him
shall be taken away even that he hath. (even that he thinks he is
echoing) 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables:
because they seeing see not;
and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is
fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15 For this people's heart
is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of
hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should
understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they
see: and your ears, for they hear. 17 For verily I say unto
you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have
not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and
have not heard them.
Notice they hear but there is no understanding of what they
are hearing, and they see but there is not perception of what it is they are looking
at. Therefore, Revelation is totally sovereignly given and sovereignly
received. In other words, the Word is spoken and people hear it, yet they do
not understand what they are hearing, and The Word of God is written and people
read it, they see it with their eyes, yet they have no perception of what they
are reading or seeing. Therefore it is not up to the individual who reads or
hears but rather it is up to God to open their eyes and open their ears to what
he is disclosing in His Word.
But then Jesus says, "It is given for you to know, but for the others who are
without, it is not meant for them to know, therefore I speak in parables, that
seeing they might not perceive, and hearing they might not understand."
Now, by these words, it is apparent that many will come in
that day and say "Lord, Lord, have we
not done this and that in Thy name" But notice they shall
be rebuked and told that He never Knew them.
And so we are looking at a “Knowing”
or an intimate understanding that is based upon a personal relationship
or a
personal disclosure from God to the person given faith to have and thus
to believe. This Word as w know it is the Word Ginosko, and means to
know or to understand, based upon an experiential relationship.
Now, the reason we are looking at this is because we must
understand the difference between just seeing something and recognizing
what we see. Many people can look at the Pillar of Fire over Brother
Branham’s head and say that is Christ. They may even recognize the Cloud and
say that is the outline of the Face of Christ. But even Satan, in all of His
wisdom, did not know for sure if Jesus was the Christ. For he said, “If thou be the Son of God turn these stones into bread”.
Now he would not have said, “If
thou be” if he was 100% certain, and just like so many who claim
to follow this message, they are not 100% sure of what they
believe. That’s why brother Branham told us so often that when
the Rapture comes and the Bride is taken out of here, then the tribulation will
set in and many people will say, “I thought this was to happen and that was to
happen,” and they will not have recognized that the very things they
were looking for to happen have already happened and they never knew
it.
So we see the importance of this KNOWING that is spoken of
in the Scripture, This Ginosko. Because it suggests to us
more than mere recognition. Rather, it suggests a union with or a becoming one
with through intimacy. Mary said, “How
can I be with child having known no man.”
And that word is Ginosko.
Then Faith is not only an understanding, but it is a
becoming one with the revelation. We become one with the interpretation by
becoming one with the manifestation. As the description of word
Revelation tells us, "Faith is a manifestation of Divine truth."
Then entering into this manifested Word by hearing, recognizing and then acting upon it, brings us into oneness with it, and since the
interpretation is the manifestation of the Promise of God, that is when
we have moved from believing in the Word, to Faith in the word which is the
reality of the Word interpreted, we then become identified with that promise by
stepping into that promise and then we know that promise is ours. by becoming
part of that manifested Word, We thus have become a part of the interpretation
of that Word, and we are then identified with the promise itself.
Lean not unto thy own
understanding 65-0120 P:32 The identification, that God's Own interpretation is the
manifestation of the promise. Maybe I'll say it, make it a
little plainer. When God speaks the Word, He doesn't need any
man, or any woman, or no one else to say what That means. When He said...
Well, you say, "God meant this." God means just what He says it
means. See? Now, how does He interpret His Own Word? By fulfilling It.
The Bible said, "A virgin shall conceive"; she did. That don't need
any interpretation. God said, "Let there be light," and there was.
That don't need any interpretation. God said also, that in these last days
He'd pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, and He's done it. That don't need any
interpretation. That
only needs an accepting, somebody to accept what God has done. It
doesn't need an interpretation. God interprets His own Word. God promised
the things that we see day by day, that He would do it in the last day.
Let's read that again, he said: That only needs an
accepting, somebody to accept what God has done.
Influence 64-0315 P:93 Healing is based upon your faith. God's identification's based upon
the promise of His Word. But your faith in his identification is what heals you.
If you don't, no matter, the holiest man in all the world could stand here and
pray all day long, it wouldn't do one bit of good until you believe it emphatically yourself.
Jesus might be standing here Himself in the incarnate body, lay hands upon you,
it still you would not get healed. How many knows that? Many mighty works He
could not do because of their unbelief. That's Scripture. So you see, you in
the prayer line, it's got to be your faith in the Word.
And your faith
is what identifies you with that promise. You don't believe in healing based
upon myth, or personal belief. You base your faith on what the fact that God is
your healer. Therefore unless you believe the God who healed in the Bible will
heal you, your faith is in vain. Unless you believe that God is the same and
changes not, and that he is not a respecter of persons you will never
appropriate faith for your own healing. But when you identify yourself with the
promise then that promise is for you.
From his
sermon, Identification 64-0216 P:7 brother
Branham said, "We're living in a days when
identification is required. You can't... Unless you're known at a bank,
you can't cash your check unless you have something to identify
yourself. I know, my wife, she can't cash a check. Yet when we get our check,
we put it in the bank. But she don't cash it, because she doesn't drive; she
has no Social Security number, or nothing to identify herself. So
therefore, it's a hard thing for her to cash a check. You've got to
have some official identification. And I think it's just that time that we're
living in.
What he is
telling us here is that if you do not have identification with the promise you cannot
expect to receive the promise. And that is why the Apostle said Hebrews 11:6... for he that cometh to God must believe that
he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Christ is the mystery 63-0728
P:226 His Presence in the individual with
a personal
a-vindication of Himself expressing Himself, the living Word that's promised for the day, expressing Itself through you,
a vindication of the great revelation of God... Look, only in an individual, never in
a group: an individual, not in a group, His identification is with an individual.
You get that? Not with the Methodists, not with the Baptists, not the
Presbyterian, not the Lutheran, not the Pentecostal, but as an individual.
"I'll
take one and leave one. I'll separate them." That's right. "There'll be two in the field; I'll take
one and leave one. There'll be two in bed, and I'll take one and leave one." It's
not a group. It is a
personal vindication of a pregnated child of God filled with the Holy Ghost, so
surrendered to God that he don't care about anything else, and the Holy Spirit
living Its Life, pulsating through him, showing the personal--personal
vindication of the Word Itself expressing Itself to the people and to the world.
In other words, you and the promise are so united as one
that you become the identification and thus the interpretation of that promise.
Notice then, our receiving the manifestation as the
interpretation brings us into oneness with the Revelation, and just as God had
to send One with the Message, there had to be ones it was sent to. And the ones
that the Message was sent to, are just as much a part of the Manifestation of
the Word as the One in Whom the Word is being Revealed through.
Again let me remind you brother Branham said in his sermon, Lean not unto thy own understanding 65-0120 P:32 The identification, that God's Own interpretation is the
manifestation of the promise.
And again we already read to you where he said, Influence 64-0315 P:93 Healing
is based upon your faith. God's
identification's based upon the promise of His Word. But your faith in his identification
is what heals you.
God identified by
characteristics 64-0311 P:23 Today, Luther said, "When you believe, you've
got It." The Methodist say, "When you shout, you got It." The
Pentecostal said, "When you spoke in tongues, you had It." We find
all that wrong. Some of them said, "The fruit of the Spirit's got
It." And it's wrong. The only evidence is, is when the a-vindication, when
God Himself identifies Himself in the promised Word of the hour. There it is.
Who had any more fruits of the Spirit than them kind old priests, circumcised
the children, and blessed them, and everything else? And here this guy Jesus
was, come around, kicked over their sacrifice blocks, looked upon them with
anger, beat them, run them out, no identification of nothing. The Scripture is
His identification. He had no fellowship card; He belonged to no organization. But God spoke of Him; that was
His identification. That's the genuine identification of God
in any hour, is His identification. That's what it is, the Scriptures that's
promised made identified by the characteristic of the promise which is God, and
God is the Word. And the characteristic of that promise being identified, that makes the
believer. Jesus said so, and that settles it. Amen. Notice, now
we find out, the characteristics identify Him. As He said, "If it doesn't
do it, then don't believe Me." Now, Jesus spoke that it would identify
Him.
Token the 64-0308 P:50 The Token
proves He is alive to identify Himself with us, according to His promise. Now, how can
a man read the Bible and see that He promised it, and see Christ return in
these last days in the form of the Holy Ghost and identify Himself alive? That's
the Token. That's the sign. That's the price paid. Don't never rely upon
some sensation. "I felt chills run over my back. And I smelt something;
seen some blood in my hands, or some oil. Or, I won my Bachelor's Degree. Or, I
danced in the Spirit. I shouted. I spoke in tongues." Them things might be
all right. I've nothing against them, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the
identification of the Token, Jesus Christ, raised and in
us now, identifying Hisself, to re-vindicate His promised Word of this
day. Amen. Then you
and Christ are one. God and Christ are One. "That day, you'll know that I am in the
Father, the Father in Me, I in you, and you in Me." There is
God made manifest in human flesh, showing Himself alive after two thousand
years. That's the Token.
Token the 64-0208 P:73 He expects us now to display the Token over
our faith, to Satan's group, the unbelievers, and cults, and
so forth, that don't believe in it, that we, believing what He has said of His
promises, and that Jesus Christ has raised up from the dead, showing Himself
alive... And that is the badge, the Token of identification,
because it's
Christ's own Life in you identifying the Word. It doesn't need
anything else.
Shalom 64-0112 P:61 Turn to His
Word and see the promise of today. And then see what the promise is, and watch for its
identification. When it's vindicated, then you know whether you're
in Light or not. See
what the promise is. Changing the pages or changing calendars
doesn't change time. A lot of people say, "Well, the old year's gone,
throw away the old December calendar now and put up the other one, a new
year." That, that's what new years means to them. To me, I want to see what's promised
for the day. I want to know what the Light of the hour is, so I can know how to walk in it.
I want to know where I'm living, what age I'm in, how far up the road am I?As
Paul said, I could stand quoting again, "Forgetting those things that are in
the past, now I press towards the mark, the high calling," to the complete identification,
when all time will fade out into eternity when Jesus comes.
Therefore Faith is not just believing in God and faith is
not just believing what God said, but Faith is becoming identified with the
promise and thus becoming one with the promise, and then becoming the
interpretation of the promise itself.
Now let me break this down into 3 points here. We know
Faith is a Revelation, but in order for there to be a revelation, there must be
three things take place.
First there must be One Who
reveals, For that is the sole purpose
behind faith or revelation because Faith is sovereignly given so there must be
One who gives us or reveals to us or discloses to us.
Secondly, there must be the One
in Whom that The Revealer uses to reveal, in
other words the vessel of God's choosing, and thirdly there must be the ones
to whom He reveals.
Again, I want you to catch this because this is the
revelation of how God made Himself known to us through Christ Jesus His
Son. One Who reveals, One In Whom He is revealed
through, and Ones to Whom He is revealed. One
Who, One In Who and Ones To Whom.
#1) First of all, there must be One who reveals Himself. And
we know that God Himself came down with a Shout. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, Ephesians 1:17, Acts 3: 19-21, Luke
17:30, Revelations 10:1-2
#2) Secondly, there must be one that God reveals Himself
through, seeing that He promised that He would do nothing lest He
reveals it through His Servants the Prophets.
Amos 3:7, Acts 3: 22-23, Acts 13:41 Revelations 10:3-7, Malachi 4:5-6, John
14:7-9
#3) And Thirdly, there has to be a people in which His
Revelation of Himself is made known to and upon receiving this revealing
or Revelation, they become one with it by receiving the manifestation of It. Hebrews 12:25-29, Colossians 3:4, 1 John 3: 2-3, 2
Thessalonians 1:7&10-12, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 1 Cor 13:12, Romans 12: 1-2,
Therefore in order to have faith we must get rid of all
uncertainty concerning God's will in the matter. Appropriating faith cannot go
beyond one's knowledge of the revealed will of God which we know by knowing His
Word, "what does God say about it".
It is only by knowing that God promises what you are seeking
that all uncertainty can be removed and a steadfast faith can be made possible.
Our minds must be renewed by His Word in order to being us
into harmony with the Mind of God.
Thus Faith for the appropriation of God's promises is a
result of knowing and acting on God's Word.
Romans 10:17 "So then Faith cometh by hearing and hearing the Word of God."
Brother
Branham always taught us that the right mental attitude toward any divine
promise of God will bring it to pass.
In
his sermon God in His Word 57-0323 P:35 You put me on record tonight in these
recorders. I have no apology for this remark that I'm fixing to make. I
believe, and can prove, that the right mental attitude towards any Divine promise of God will bring
it to pass. Yes, sir. The right mental attitude,
but you've got to have the right attitude. The attitude is what brings the
results. If you say, "Yes, yes, I believe it but I don't know now."
That's not the right attitude. The right attitude is to receive it, and say
it's "THUS SAITH THE LORD." Then it's right.
We would see Jesus 58-0523
P:12 Don't never be afraid to put any
Divine promise of God to action. And remember, don't never forget this
quotation: "That the right mental attitude towards any Divine promise
in this Bible will bring it to pass." Just remember that. The right mental attitude toward
any Divine promise that's written in this Bible will bring it to pass. So
now, just keep that on your mind. If God made a promise, and you'll take the
right attitude towards that promise, God will fulfill everything that He's
promised. I know that to be true. And I've saw a sarcomas cancer healed
with that, because people believe that it was the Truth.
God revealing Himself to His
people 50-0813E P:39 The right mental
attitude towards any promise of God will bring it to pass. Do you believe
that? The Word is a
Seed (Is that right?) that a Sower sowed in the ground. And every Seed will bring forth of its kind. If you need salvation,
the Seed's here. If you need healing, here's the Seed in the Word. The Word of God is a Seed. Put it in your heart.
Don't dig it up every morning to see if it's sprouted, put it in there and
leave it there. It's
God's business to bring forth the harvest. You just leave it
there; water it by faith and praise every day thanking God for it. All right.
It would be
impossible for a farmer to have faith for a crop of wheat if he knows he never
planted any wheat. It is not God's will for you to expect a harvest where no
seed has been planted? The law of life
is that "every
seed will bring forth after its kind." Genesis 1:11
To say "I
believe the Lord is able to heal me" before you know from God's Word that
He is willing to heal you, is like a farmer saying, "I believe God is able
to give me a harvest" without any seed being planted and watered.
God operates
the energies of God, the operations of God, the manifestations of the Divine Word
of God based upon the principles He has laid out for us in His Word. "YOU
reap what you sow". If you do not sow, you shall not reap.
Praying for
anything with those faith destroying words, "If it be thy Will" is not
planting the Seed, it is destroying the seed. The prayer of faith is to follow
the planting of the seed, it is not to precede the planting of the seed.
Because Faith is based entirely on what God promised.
James said, The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man, (a
rightly wise man)
availeth much. We must know what the promises of God are before we
can appropriate them by faith.
Only a rightly wise man can have an
effectual fervent prayer, because only a rightly wise man knows what God has
already said concerning what need that we are seeking to be fulfilled in our
life.
When I was a young man and decided that
I wanted to get married, I searched the scriptures concerning a wife and found
all that I could, and knew from God's Word he wanted me to have a wife, then I
went to God fully equipped to pray for my need, and within weeks I met my wife
and within months we were engaged.
God is not obligated to answer your
requests but God is certainly obligated to act upon His own Word and what He
has promised to do for you. So the first step in asking God for anything is to
know what he says about that thing, and then when you pray, your prayer will be
effectual because you have become a rightly wise man concerning what it is you
desire, and you will know what God said about it, And you will be able to quote
back to him what He has promised concerning it, and you will with no
uncertainty that the thing you desire is something also that God promised to
give you.
There are over 800 promises in God's
Word for the believer, but you must find the ones your heart desires and then
once you have instructed your mind and heart concerning what God has to say
about those promises, then you can go to God in Faith, with nothing wavering,
no uncertainty, and then your prayer will be the effectually fervent prayer of
a righteous man.
Let us pray.