Faith must Be Visible, Spoken and Acted upon
by Victoria Thornton
Faith must be VISIBLE. Verbal Faith is not Enough. Mental Faith is Insufficient. Faith Must Inspire Action. Faith Displays Itself In Works. It Will Not Merely Hear And Not Do. Faith Produces Doers. Faith without works cannot be called Faith. 'Faith without Works is Dead' and a Dead Faith Is Worse Than No Faith At All.
After you have believed you have received the answer to your prayer for a mate, according to mark 11:24, for the faith process to be complete faith must be acted upon. Faith must be visible, Faith must be spoken and most important, faith must produce action. If you have really believed you received after praying the prayer of faith for your mate, demonstrating what you believe should be a natural next step.
Because when someone really believes something they will act upon it. If someone really believed their employer will pay the salary they agreed upon, they will act upon it. They might start budgeting for the salary amount even before it reaches their bank account.
And it is the same with God. God says ‘Everyone that asks receives’. If God is to be believed, once we ask Him for anything within the confines of His Word, our normal reaction would be to act upon it.
Just as the employee will act upon what their employer said, so should believers act upon what God has spoken to them.
And if you find it hard to act upon God's Word it simply means that your faith hasn't been developed to the level it needs to be to see results. If your faith isn't operating at its optimal level yet, it is nothing to be ashamed of, it just shows you what you need to work on. But once faith is established in the heart and you believe without a doubt God has heard and answered your prayer, it's time to demonstrate faith.
FAITH MUST BE VISIBLE
“And behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.
And when he [JESUS] SAW THEIR FAITH, He said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.” Luke 5:18-20
Faith can be seen. Faith is having confidence in God and believing what He said. The men who carried the man, stricken with palsy, through the roof refused to be deterred when they could not enter in because of the crowd. The crowd was not going to stop them from reaching Jesus. The tenaciousness of their faith was clearly seen when they removed the roof of the homeowner's house and let down their friend from the ceiling. And when Jesus saw their faith, it drew a positive response from Him.
Faith is detectable
Faith can be detected. It can be heard in your voice, identified in your words and perceived in your overall disposition. Faith has a peacefulness and resoluteness that will not back down when faced with contrary circumstances. It is neither anxious nor doubt-ridden. Faith sides with the Word of God no matter how bad the circumstances look. Faith is unmoved.
A person strong in faith knows and readily accepts the fact that faith will always be contrary to the five senses. It is the essence of what faith is—believing the Word over what you see in your circumstances.
Acts 14:8-10, And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked: the same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and PERCEIVING THAT HE HAD FAITH to be healed, Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
Would someone be able to perceive your faith? As God observes you throughout your day, would he see faith? Would the angels of God assigned to bring your mate into your life be able to detect faith? For example if two friends (Person A and Person B) decided to believe God for their mate and after studying the Word their faith had reached a level where they prayed the prayer of faith.
But after praying, Person A got up saying 'how she sure hoped God heard them' then went home and watched tv until bedtime. The next day upon rising jumped out of bed and went about her day. After work made dinner, then spent the rest of the night surfing the internet, updating her social media sites, and chatting with friends before falling asleep.
However, Person B after the prayer meeting went home and sat quietly thanking and praising God for answering her prayer for a mate. To memorialize the prayer, she wrote down the time and date she believed she received the answer to her prayer. After a few minutes of praise and worship, she spent time meditating on scriptures imagining how her life will change once married.
The next day upon rising, gave thanks to God standing on Matthew 7:7 and I John 5:14-15 believing God heard and answered her prayer. After a busy day at work instead of watching mindless tv, excited about her new life, began to make plans for her mate's arrival. Trusting God that He is faithful and certain it is coming to pass, began surfing the internet on marriage related topics being assured of its reality because she had God's Word on it.
If God and His angels were observing these two individuals and were looking for signs of faith, which one demonstrated actual faith? Since faith pleases God which one pleased God and would most likely receive a positive response from Him? Yet after hearing this, what if person A with the same doubtful heart set about duplicating Person's B actions, would she get the same response? Would God see faith even though she is acting like Person B? Probably not, because God not only sees what we do, God also sees our heart.
The Bible says, in Roman 10:10 …'it's with the heart man believes…' and in order for faith to work, corresponding actions must spring forth from what is firmly implanted in the heart and not the mind.
FAITH MUST BE SPOKEN
Faith Must Be Spoken. It Is Not Enough Just To Think It. Mental Faith Is Not Enough. The creative ability God has implanted in your spirit to change your world is released through your mouth. It works because it is the same process God used to bring the world into existence. And because God spoke the world into existence using words, it still works using words which is why speaking is so important. Since God created us in His own image and if He needed to speak words to bring the earth to conform to what He wanted; you will need to also speak words to your world to bring it into conformity. Therefore the spoken Word flowing from a believer, who is full of faith, will change his or her environment as God changed His.
II Corinthians 4:13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, AND THEREFORE SPEAK;
Luke 17:5-6 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye MIGHT SAY unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
Another reason speaking the Word is so important is after the confession of our faith has become real and there is no more doubt, the word being confessed changes from mere words to commands. Mixed with the anointing, the creative ability God has embedded in your words become instructions. Instructions to your physical circumstances to line up with what you are saying that is in agreement with the Word. Your words become weapons so that when you speak, it changes the physical realm.
It is the same when Jesus spoke to the fig tree. “saying no will would eat fruit of that tree forever.” (Mar 11:14 ) He spoke to the tree and the tree dried up from the roots. It is the same power in words when God said, “Let there be light” and there was light. It is the same power when Peter in Acts 3:6 saw the lame man said, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” Peter using the Name of Jesus issued a command with words only and the man received strength to walk.
Finally it is the same power in words when you speak, saying. “I believe I have received my marriage” and it becomes so. God says ‘you can have what you say', therefore speak the Word boldly over your circumstances and over your life. But after you have boldly spoken faith-filled words over your circumstances, there is one more thing that must be done to complete the faith process.
FAITH MUST BE ACTED UPON
Read James 2:14 -24
Acting upon what you believe is very important because it demonstrates what you believe. It puts all on notice that you believe God. David acted on what he believed. David believed God and gave no regard to the physical circumstances. David was strong in faith; so strong in God's ability to deliver him went out and fought a giant. David did the impossible and received great blessings in his life.
The woman with the issue of blood demonstrated strong faith. She believed, she spoke, she acted then received her healing. She drew the power of God right out of Jesus without Him knowing she was there. He only realized something happened after the power had left Him. The fact that Jesus had no idea she was there yet withdrew power from Him confirms that it is more up to us than God. God's power was present to heal everyone that day, but only healed the woman who touched his garment with faith. We know it was her faith that secured the healing because Jesus confirmed it in Mark 5:34. This woman who suffered 12 years in pain was instantly healed because she sought the Lord in faith. (Mar 5:25-34)
Finally consider the four lepers in II Kings 7. There was a great famine in the land and people were starving (II Kings 6:25). But in II Kings 7:1, God gave a Word to Elisha that it would end the very next day. The king's servant doubted the Word and said so. Now God's Word had been spoken but nothing happened until God stirred the hearts of four leprous men to go to the camp of the Syrians. As they went, God caused the Syrians to hear chariots and horses and fled. (II Kings 7:6)
Notice that God put his Word out there but still needed someone on earth to act upon it to bring about the deliverance the people needed. Could the Word of the Lord spoken to you regarding your marriage has yet to come to pass because it has not been believed and acted upon?
Some have reported after they began believing God for their mate, began receiving dreams, prophecies, etc. This is evidence that God wants to work with you and inspire you to continue flowing with the Him in faith to see the manifestation of your prayer. As God begins to speak, receive it as the Word of the Lord for your life, meditate on them until you believe them and then begin to act upon it. As God is demonstrating His willingness to bring your mate into your life, work with Him to bring about the manifestation.
This simplified explanation of the faith process will help you receive what you need from God. Therefore, faith for marriage must be sown in the heart; then spoken from your mouth; then acted upon.
In closing, how long do you release faith? The answer is, until it manifests. This process is like an American football player when he catches the ball holds onto it tightly until he reaches the end zone to score the touchdown. Come what may from the opposing team the player will do what needs to be done. He will run over, run around, run through, he'll zigzag, jump over the opposition all the while holding the ball tightly because he knows if he fumbles, falls or drops the ball he may lose the game.
Determine to hold onto to the promise of God until it manifests, if there is an issue that needs to be resolved, set it in your heart to resolve it. Do not leave this life without receiving everything God has given you in His Word. If you need further assistance, contact me through the site. †
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