By Faith
#faithseries
(This Weekly Prayer Summary was written by Lisa Ang, assistant director of the CBC English Prayer Ministry, and edited by Brigitta Tedja)
Pastor Dion opened today’s sermon with a question and a reminder for all of us: “Do you have room for more?” Many of us have been Christians for a long time and we know a lot of things, but if we do not have room for more then we will not be able to receive anything new. Many of us know the principles of the Bible and are eloquent in quoting the Bible verses, but are we really experiencing the supernatural power of those stories in our lives? When we do our daily Bible reading, are those verses just come across as information only?
Hebrews 11 NKJV
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
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7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
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11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she[d] bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
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17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
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28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.
When talking about faith, we can learn a lot from Hebrews 11. Pay attention to the pattern words in Hebrew 11—by faith. Miracles can happen before you see it with your eyes, however, you can miss the miracle if you do not have faith. Just like the story when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry land. They saw the water, but if they did not have the faith, they will not see the water parted. Hebrews 11 is filled with stories of individuals in the Bible who could accomplish many things because of their faith.
All miracles happen in response to faith.
Faith is the currency of heaven.
There are many things that God has prepared for us, but unless we step in faith, we cannot receive it.
Faith is a muscle. The more you exercise it, the more it grows.
— Ps. Him Djuhana
What is the Definition of Faith?
Faith simply means believing that something is true and then committing our lives through it.
—Rev. Billy Graham
Pastor Dion gave an example of a chair per Rev. Billy Graham and the faith definition includes 2 aspects:
Agreeing that a chair is designed for us to sit on and have the ability to sustain our weight
Committing to sit on the chair and believing that it will be able to sustain our weight
James 2 says that even demons know that there is one God and they tremble, but that knowledge does not save them. They know that Jesus is the Messiah, but the second part is, do you commit your life in following Him? They did not get saved because after knowing, they did not commit to following Jesus.
Jesus teaches us to deny ourselves, to carry our cross, to follow Him because He wants us to commit to what we know. Faith is not something that happens once and done. It is something that we need to continue to build.
Hebrews 11:6 NKJV “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
How Do You Build Faith?
Your faith is primarily determined by these 3 things:
1. Your Ability to Hear
Romans 10:17 NKJV “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Your level of faith is determined by your ability to hear what God is saying. If you do not hear what God is saying, you will not be able to grow in faith. Position yourself to hear God. Have you set a time in your daily life to hear what God is saying? We live in a very busy and noisy world; we need to learn to take ourselves out from the busy-ness of the world and have quiet time with God. Hearing is the first step in building faith; what do you do after you hear? We need to learn to say, “Yes, Lord!”
If we read the Bible and we only think of those Bible stories as information only, that means we are not hearing what God is saying. Those stories contain real people with real struggles, they experienced real breakthroughs and real miracles because of their faith, and believing that God will deliver them and will do it again. We need to learn to hear what God is saying through those stories. We need to claim those stories as our own so we can experience the breakthrough.
Hearing without believing will not produce anything. Once you hear, you need to decide on what to do with what you have heard.
Pastor Paul mentioned several weeks ago that there are things that hinder our faith:
Preconceived ideas
Unresolved issues
Disappointments
Misunderstanding of the Word of God/wrong doctrines
Unforgiveness
Double-mindedness
Another thing that hinders us from growing in faith is treating what God is saying through the Bible as historical lessons or a moral message. Until those messages become a rhema Word for you, it will not move or change you.
Re-read Hebrews 11 above; notice that faith, after you hear and after you believe, should always move you into action.
Hebrews 11
Verse 4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering ...
Verse 5 By faith Enoch ... pleased God.
Verse 7 By faith Noah, ... built an ark ...
Verse 8 By faith Abraham ... obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
Verse 11 And by faith even Sarah ... was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.
Verse 17 By faith Abraham ... offered Isaac as a sacrifice.
Verse 28 By faith he [Moses] kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
Verse 29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
Verse 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
2. Your Decision to Obey
Your level of faith is directly determined by your ability to obey what God is saying to you. If you have no intention to obey what was being said, then you will not be able to receive the blessings that come with obedience.
John 2:1-5 NKJV
3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.
7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.
9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.
The above verses are the beginning of Jesus’s first miracle. Nobody around Jesus knew that Jesus can perform miracles, yet Mary had faith that Jesus will perform the miracle. Do not confuse God’s timing with His willingness to perform the miracle for you. Notice how the timing changed in John 2:1-5 above. At one point Jesus said, it’s not time, and the next, Jesus told the servant to fill the jars with water—the time has come. Mary’s faith changed Jesus’s timing.
Don’t let your faith be destroyed by what God has not done;
Trust in what God is saying today.
— Vlad Savchuk
In the context of the story above, Mary told the servants to fill the jars, which by the way were used for ceremonial feet washing. Jesus then told the servants to draw some water from the jar and give it to the master of the feast. Mary told the servants to fill the jars instead of telling Jesus’s disciples because she knew the servants will have to obey what they were told. A miracle is sometimes just one obedience away.
3. How Well You Know Him
Our faith in God is fundamentally rooted in our understanding of His character and nature. Some storms or challenges last a long time. Unless we understand His character and nature, we will not endure through the process. Many times, things get tough, but do not come out of the process until God says so. You do not want to come out half-baked.
Stay in the process. Hear God. Believe God. Obey God.
Read the story of Joseph – Genesis 37-38,40-50. Joseph went through many identity changes, from the most beloved son to slave to house manager to prisoner to a prime minister. How can Joseph endure the process? Joseph did not go into a self-destructive mode. Joseph acknowledged that God’s favor is upon him and he had such a great faith that God will deliver him out of his plight.
Romans 8:28-29 NLT “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son.”
Romans 5:3-6 NLT “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, or we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
We go through the process because God wants us to be more like Jesus. There are some character-moldings that need to happen in us. Testing, tribulations, and trials are a setup for our promotions and blessings.
Genesis 45:4-8 NKJV “Then he said: ‘I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.’”
In the end, Joseph did not become bitter or hateful, yet his heart was filled with tenderness, forgiveness, and compassion towards his brothers because Joseph understood God’s purpose in bringing him into those trials.
Prayer Points:
Pray that we will have the hunger to experience something new from the Lord. Pray for new level of hunger for God’s Word!
Ask God to teach you how to hear Him. Pray for an increase for our ability to hear the Word of God. Read His Word and ask Holy Spirit to bring those Words to life. Ask God for the rhema Word.
Pray for a heart of obedience. Once you receive the rhema Word, obey and do it.
Ask Holy Spirit to reveal to you the things that hinder your faith from growing. Ask God to change you.
Pray for God to reveal His character and nature to you.
If you are in the midst of challenges and have been praying and declaring but have not seen your breakthrough, pray for perseverance that you will stay in the process and be like Joseph.
Pray that we will have greater faith.
Pray for the advancement and building progress of the Training Center; no delays, obstacles, accidents, pushback, or interruptions. Pray for divine favor, connections, and provision. Also pray for wisdom, a hedge of protection, and unity upon the Strategic Planning Team.