Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see. It was their faith that made our ancestors pleasing to God. Because of our faith, we know that…what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen. Hebrews 11:1–3 (CEV)
How important is faith to God? Hebrews 11:2 tells us that faith made the great men and women of the Old Testament pleasing to God. In fact, verse 6 says that without faith no one can please God (CEV).
All of the people listed in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews—Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel—did great works for God by faith.
However, there is a counterfeit faith that I call mental assent. Mentally agreeing that it is possible for God to heal is very different from believing that God WILL heal you today. We need to know the difference!
Discovering how to use your faith is one of the biggest challenges you will face. No one else can activate your faith for you. When Jesus healed people, He often said something like, “According to YOUR faith let it be done to you.” As it is with all of us, there are several things you are not experiencing in life because you are not in faith in that area.
We can’t simply pat each other on the back saying it’s going to be okay when God has so much more for us than what we are living. We need to encourage and provoke each other to stand up and speak to the mountains that try to take us out.
Refuse to be satisfied with mental assent when you can have real faith that moves mountains.