God's Word is alive and powerful and has within it the ability and purpose to produce the force of faith on the inside of whoever chooses to hear and receive it in their lives.
Why is faith so important to every believer? Well, simply put, without faith, it is impossible to please God. Perhaps it's easier to understand this statement by talking about what brings God pleasure. Scripture states that the Lord delights in the prosperity of His servants (Psalms 35:27), which is easy to accept because the blessing of prosperity is exactly what was on His heart for us when Jesus went to the cross. Jesus died to redeem us from the curse that has been over mankind since the fall of man. When we as believers choose to walk in the fullness of that redemption, I believe it brings God much pleasure. The fullness of God's blessing, His anointing, the freedoms Jesus secured for us, all of these benefits were intended, by a loving God, for every man to enjoy.
And the only way to walk in the fullness of these benefits, is by faith (Hebrews 6:12). When we put faith to use, it will cause every area of our lives to align with God's promises concerning us. However, unless we put it into use, it just remains dormant inside of us - with no effect. Everything Jesus did for us on the cross becomes a manifest reality in our lives, only when we exercise our faith.
But what does it mean to exercise our faith? The English dictionary says that exercise is: putting into action, use, operation, or effect. So in order to see the supernatural promises of God become a reality in this natural world, we need to put our faith into action, we need to put it into use and operation. We need to put our faith into effect.
James 2:20 says, "...faith apart from [good] works is inactive and ineffective and worthless..." The word works here means corresponding action. So, you can read James 2:20, like this, "...faith apart from a corresponding action is inactive and ineffective and worthless..."
In other words, if the Word of God has instructed us to do something in order to set a promise into effect in our lives, then we actually need to do the corresponding action that is connected to that promise.
Let's take the promise in 2 Corinthians 9:7,8 as an example. It states that a purposeful, cheerful, prompt to do it giver will receive abundant grace "... so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need - be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]."
The promise of abundant grace and financial blessing is linked to the corresponding action of cheerful giver!
The problem, however comes when we hear the promises of God, faith rises up on the inside of us, yet we fail to activate that faith by doing the corresponding action. There is a 'tug of war' that takes place between our hearts and minds. As born again children of God, we are born into the kingdom of God. The language of that kingdom is faith. So the language of our spirits is faith. However, the language of our minds is reason. And the two are opposed to each other. They are constantly fighting against each other.
That is why scripture instructs us to constantly renew our thinking to the language of the kingdom of God - the language of faith. A little while ago, I heard Kenneth Copeland say that before we can become fluent in a foreign language, we need to think in that language. So for our minds to become fluent in the language of the kingdom of God - we must keep them renewed to the Word that produces faith! If we don't, at the times our spirits want to respond to the faith that has risen on the inside of us, our minds will resort to reason and not recognise the language of faith. And reason will usually win, causing us to not follow through on the corresponding action that would activate our faith to receive the promise.
James 1:22 says, "But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]."
You see, when we hear God's promises, and faith rises up on the inside of us, yet we don't do, or obey the Word, we betray ourselves from receiving the reality of that promise. Simply because reasoning convinced us to not obey the Word.
As powerful and vitally important as faith is in our lives, its ability to cause the supernatural promises of God to become a reality in our natural lives depends on our obedience to do what the Word says.
I once read that if we choose to be a doer of God's revelations and not just a hearer, His river of Divine provision will never cease to flow into our lives.
