The Word Works!: ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE II

Naturally he couldn’t perform as a strong man would, neither could Sarah take seed. In spite of this, he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was STRONG IN FAITH, giving glory to God (Romans 4:19-20). He was undeterred by every physical and natural evidence that challenged the ability of God. Everything that he knew in this world told him it was impossible for him to have a child. For Abraham to be able to overcome his problem, he might have considered something other than his problems. What then was Abraham considering? He was considering God’s Word. He gave thought, attention and focus only to the Word that God had spoken to him. Remember what we read in Psalm 1. Abraham saw his body as well as the deadness of Sarah's womb, but he just didn't consider it. That's what faith is. When the twelve spies returned from the journey, ten of them gave the exact report on what they saw. Two refused to give in.

God was angry with the ten and they all died. You may say, “But they said the truth.” Yes, they did, but it was out of faith. God praised Caleb and Joshua, and rejected the rest. The Lord said concerning Caleb, “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it” (Numbers 14:24). If Caleb had another spirit, then Joshua had the same spirit. These two guys gave a positive report. You may want to call them liars because they didn’t report exactly what they saw. It’s true. You see, faith does not consider things from the natural perspective. As long as it’s God’s will for me, that’s it. It doesn’t matter what I feel or see. As long as the Lord has said it, so be it. Fear is a spirit, because the Bible lets us know that, “…God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). God has not given us the spirit of fear? Then fear is a spirit!

This means that the spies had the spirit of fear apart from Joshua and Caleb. Fear can attack you because it’s a spirit. Many people are agonized over their seeming inability to change their situation. Some Christians find their faith coming under attack and weakened by adverse circumstances. If the doctors diagnosed you of any ailment, say to yourself, “This is a lie, because it’s not what God’s Word tells me. By the stripes of Jesus, I was healed and I remained healed today!” (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24).

Jesus took our sickness and infirmity, so we could not be sick and infirmed. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4). The word translated “griefs” is the Hebrew word “choli” which means “sickness or disease.” And the word translated “sorrows” is the Hebrew word “makob,” which also means “pain.” The right translation should read: “Surely he hath borne our sickness or diseases, and carried our pains…” Matthew 8:17 puts it right: “…Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” When you get to know this, what you’ve got to do is to keep proclaiming your health. Talk your faith! Do not keep quiet on your problems; speak what God says concerning it. So far as God is concerned, everything we see that’s inconsistent with His Word is a lie. That’s why the natural man would call Caleb and Joshua liars, but for us, they are truth-bearers!

Against hope Abraham believed in hope; oh my God! And he was fully persuaded that, what God had promised, He was able to perform. For this faith, God could not do than to impute it to him as righteousness (Romans 4:18, 21-22). And so was the rest of the great men of faith the Bible talks about in Hebrews chapter eleven. Let’s see what God’s Word has to say concerning faith: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report” (Hebrews 11:1-2). The Amplified Bible puts verse one this way: “NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].” Faith is what gives substance to hope. Faith is likened to title deed in this verse of scripture.

Title deed is a document proving that somebody is the owner of a property. Say you have an estate or a piece of land somewhere. You don’t carry your land or estate around, but you make sure you have your title deed with you. To prove ownership of the property, you only bring out your title deed. It’s the same with faith. You may say you’re healed, and the world would call you a liar. But you know what, your witness is the Word of God and your faith. It’s what the Word tells you that’s true; everything else including the doctor’s report is a lie. This reminds me of Smith Wigglesworth’s story. During the years 1930-32, Smith was virtually forced to stay at home, due to his ill health. He had stones in his kidneys, and the doctors told him that they would need to operate. He said his God would operate. The doctors told him his God would need a steam hammer to break these stones up.

He said, “My God is more powerful than any steam hammer...” It took him three years to pass these stones. He often passed gallons of blood. So he was able to deal with the situation. It’s your faith that matters. Caleb and Joshua saw the giants but instead of calling them great, they said they are bread. What do you do with bread? You eat of course! And do you struggle eating bread? Of course not! In essence, they were saying that the giants were easy to overcome, so long as God had said He’s going to give the land to them. What a blessing to depend on the Word of God alone. Don’t give in to problems. Your faith is small when you faint in the day of adversity. It’s wrong for our faith to fail or buckle under the pressure of adversity. Unfortunately, it is at such times that some take their eyes off God's Word. Meanwhile, you’re to take hold of the Word, never letting it depart from your eyes.

You need not to see what you want before you believe; that wouldn’t be faith. The Bible unequivocally states that “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). With faith the elders (the Old Testament folks – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Daniel, David, Shadrach etc.) obtained a good report. In other words, God scored them high for their faith. It didn't say they obtained it through love or prayer or holiness or righteousness, but through faith. They are all important but for you to even activate them and the blessings that are in the Word of God, you’ve got to have faith. Some have tried religiously all their lives to be holy, to walk in love or pray, yet they couldn't please God because they haven't learnt to walk by faith. It's impossible to walk in any of these successfully without faith. You're not expected to pray yourself into faith. You have faith, even for the fact that you know there is a God that you pray to.

God had promised to make Abraham the father of many nations. The same God told Abraham to offer his only son Isaac as a sacrifice to Him. Abraham responded. He figured that if God wanted to, He could raise Isaac back to life (Hebrews 11:19). In a sense, that's what happened when he received Isaac back, alive from off the altar. That's what faith is all about – responding swiftly to God’s instructions and doing everything He tells you. That's how you can please God in your life. Find out the reason why God praised some Bible characters and learn from them. Abraham was called “the father of faith” and “the friend of God” because he lived by faith in God’s Word. This is the life to which we've been called as Christians - the faith life! Hebrews 11 is referred to as the faith hall of fame. In it Paul gives account of some of the great men of faith that lived in Bible days.

While he wrote he said, “And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:” (Hebrews 11:32). There was so much to talk about that Paul couldn’t state them all. Great! You too can be one of them; your account would be given in heaven. It’s possible! The limitation to how far you can go is yourself. Find time to read the whole of this chapter and it’ll bless you. God is our Father. He created everything in the world through spoken words, apart from man. God speaks His faith. That’s what we’re to do; we shouldn’t be quiet. The just shall live by faith (Hebrews 10:38). Everything in the Kingdom of God functions by the principle of faith. If our Father is a faith-God, then we’re faith-children. God’s Word didn't say the just shall live by holiness or righteousness, but by faith. Without faith, you wouldn't function well on your job, in your business, family, academics, finances, health or ministry.

You can't even keep the devil under your feet where he belongs without faith! There are those who speak evil and wrong stuffs about us. You cannot respond rightly to the comments from such folks if you don’t have faith. Jesus tells us to love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them which despitefully use and persecute us (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:28). I tell you, you cannot respond to this statement from Jesus if you don’t have faith. Sometimes I listen to how some men of God are highly criticized. But you see, the more they are criticized, the more glorious they become. They would have given up if their faith was weak. The faith way is the only way for the Christian; we need to have a faith lifestyle. You can control your life; your destiny isn't in the hands of anybody. You can go anywhere you choose to go; have every good thing you desire; live a supernatural life of prosperity and be an all-round success. It’s possible!

There are some Christians who think that God isn’t answering their prayers because of sin. As long as I know, God has given answer to every prayer. We need to learn how to receive when we pray. Sin is not the problem (Romans 6:6-7). The reason Jesus came was to deal with the problem of sin. As a believer, sin is no longer your problem. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ brought an end to sin and ushered the believer into a newness of life. That's why the Bible declared that sin shall not have dominion over you (Romans 6:14). Something the devil uses to keep Christians under is sin-consciousness. You’re never going to win in your Christian life if you’re unable to deal with sin. That’s one of the tools the devil uses. He sometimes deceives God's children into believing that the reason they're not receiving from God is the sins they've committed. He makes them feel there are certain blessings they can't receive because of sin.

When you come to understand the nature and character of God, you'll discover He doesn't answer your prayer or bless you because you're living right, neither does He refuse to bless you because you're not. If you’re born again you want to live right naturally. That’s the desire of every child of God, for no true child of God will deliberately want to live in sin. Every child of God desires to come out of anything that's wrong. That's one of the signs by which you can identify a child of God – he's uncomfortable with sin and doesn't want to continue in it. This is very true. You can examine yourself to see. That's why when God looks at you He doesn't see your imperfection. As far as He's concerned, you're holy, unblameable and unreproveable in His sight (Colossians 1:21-22). Even being born again is by faith. Some people want to feel some shake or feeling on their body in order to know they’re born again. It’s just like healing. Bible says they are healed but they want to feel something before.

The kingdom of God is not in observation (Luke 17:20). You may not feel righteous or holy all the time but this is the truth of God's Word about you. You’ve got to accept it because God says so. Your problem is not sin. You must understand this truth and let it soak into your mentality, otherwise it will be difficult for you to develop your faith and make it work. I’ve heard of people who said they were putting their faith to work but suddenly, they began remember some wrong stuffs they did. Immediately you allow that, your faith is weakened and unable to produce results. When you understand that Jesus died for the propitiation of sin and He's given you a new life that's superior to Satan, sin becomes a thing of the past. Constantly study the Word of God to renew your mind, so that you could deal with guilt. Jesus took responsibility, and paid the full penalty for your sins and misdeeds; past, present and future.

Some teachers find it difficult to include this in their message but that’s the truth. 2 Timothy 2:1 tells us to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. We’re to take advantage of God's unmerited favour. He has qualified us by Himself to be blessed. We didn’t have to work out anything on our own; all we’re to do is to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. He qualified us (Colossians 1:12; Ephesians 2:8-9). For your faith to work you must learn not to trust in your human ability or qualifications but in Christ. Settle this truth in your heart: nothing can disqualify you from receiving God's best, not even your sins! The new creation is not righteous because he doesn’t not sin, but because he is recreated in righteousness (Ephesians 4:24). When you're born again you're no longer a sinner but a saint. You become as righteous as God is righteous because He gives you His very righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). So, if God is not going to answer the prayer of a sinner, that's not you. The sinner is the man who doesn’t have the life and nature of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus said, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24).

Jesus showed us how to pray and receive at the same time. I know most Christians can pray; some minutes and some hours. That’s beautiful, but many have not learnt to receive even though they’re continually praying. Jesus said, everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to those who knock (Matthew 7:8). Why is it that some pray and pray and pray over the same issue? I know that not all prayers are for receiving but we’re talking about prayer to receive here. Even prayer has become religion for some people – and that’s produces no results. The truth is that God answers when you pray, but you do the receiving. If you truly believe the words of Jesus, after praying, you rejoice immediately, thanking God for everything. That’s faith! Remember Abraham gave glory to God, despite his condition; he thanked God. You may not immediately see what you prayed for, but you know that’s God’s Word; that you receive whenever you pray.

After prayer, behave like you’ve received what you asked for. I love this from Rev Chris Oyakhilome, PhD, “Prayer is not an avenue to remind God about your needs and complain about all the things that are troubling you. At the moment of prayer, you seem to know you got it. Don't go about complaining or grumbling; you know in your spirit that you've already received, therefore keep the right attitude of faith.” When you catch this truth I'm sharing with you, you'll stop trying to get God to do something for you. You really can't try to get Him to do anything for you anyway, since He's already done everything He ever needed to do for you. All things are yours (1 Corinthians 3:21). With this scripture, you could just be thanking God for giving you all things. God expects you to receive all things in His Word. Keep the consciousness that I’ve got it! “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John 5:14-15).

Having prayed or asked God for something, your role is to begin to act as though He's done what you asked for because He's actually done it. If you’ve already got it, then you’re not going to think God is going to do something, for you’ve got it. Do not just say it, act it! That's how to receive from God; that is faith. How sad is it for people who are always crying for God to do something for them. How said God feels when we do such. Your prayer carry power (James 5:16); recognize it. Put your faith to work! A glorious, prosperous, healthy, excellent, successful and good life is your God-given inheritance. “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3). It's your responsibility to meditate, personalize and receive the blessings in God's Word by speaking in consonance with Him. No wonder Paul could say, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Our sufficiency is of God (2 Corinthians 3:5). Paul didn't say, “God will supply your needs according to how much money you have in your bank account,” neither did it say, “God will supply your needs according to how good and stable the economy of the country where you live is.” It’s your faith that matters; faith that prevails! Did you know we’re already rick? Some believers are always praying to God to make them rich. The reason is it’s either they don’t know what God says about them, or they’re unable to believe God’s Word enough. You should be familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as He was, He gave it all away for us – in one stroke He became poor and we became rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). If you're a Christian, God is not going to make you rich since He's already done it. They think they are the poor trying to be rich, but this isn’t the case.

You get what you say (Mark 11:23). Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). You see, everyone who asks receives. So after prayer don’t go wondering, “Did God hear me; did I received what I really asked for?” This is wrong! As soon as you asked you received. What you’re supposed to do is to keep thanking the Lord for granting what you asked for. Speak and act like you’ve got it real. This brings another key: Don’t go back to God, asking Him to do the same thing you asked for. That would be unbelief. Jesus said everyone that asks receives, and that includes you. Let me put it this way: You were ordained to receive answers to prayers. Let this soak into your spirit. Yours prayers are answered every time! It’s a law in the realm of the spirit, an established principle in the Kingdom of God.

Others think they would be heard, or to put it right, they think they have to speak or pray long enough for their prayers to be answered. Praying for long is not bad, but having the mentality that your prayers are going to be answered based on that you are wrong. Jesus said, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Matthew 6:7). The volume of your words when you pray is not what moves God; it's your faith that gets His attention. It’s also not about how articulate you are. Faith is believing, endorsing and receiving God's Words as the ONLY truth. Sometimes you do not even have to pray for certain things. You find out what God’s Word says about your situation and keep confessing it. Speaking or saying with your mouth what God says belongs to you in His Word, is a key to your receiving. When you begin to make mistakes when you start, do not worry. As you keep declaring God’s Word, it’ll become part of you and will soon be easy.

Click HERE to continue to the part 3 of this message.