What is Faith?
Head Faith vs. Heart Faith
John Wesley once said that the devil has given the Church a substitute for faith; one that looks and sounds so much like faith that few people can tell the difference. This substitute he called “mental assent.” Many people read God’s Word and agree that it is true, but they are agreeing only with their minds. And that is not what gets the job done. It is heart faith that receives from God.
MARK 11:23-24
23 “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."
How can we tell whether we have this heart faith or we are just mentally agreeing? Mental assent says, “I know God’s Word is true. I know God has promised healing, but for some reason I can’t get it; I can’t understand it.” However, real faith in God’s Word says, “If God’s Word says it’s so, then it’s so. It is mine. I have it now. I have it even though I can’t see it.”
I’ve heard people say, “But the thing I have been praying about hasn’t come to pass yet.” If you already had it, you wouldn’t have to believe it, for then you would know it. You have to take that step of BELIEVING in order to come to the place of KNOWING. Too many people want to know it from the standpoint of its coming to pass, and then believe it. We must believe it because God’s Word says it is ours. THEN it materializes.
Notice from Mark 11:24 that the receiving comes AFTER the believing: “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Jesus was simply saying, “You’ve got to believe you have it before you can receive it.”
“Faith is… the evidence of things not seen.”
Kenneth E. Hagin, “New Thresholds of Faith”
Head Faith vs. Heart Faith
John Wesley once said that the devil has given the Church a substitute for faith; one that looks and sounds so much like faith that few people can tell the difference. This substitute he called “mental assent.” Many people read God’s Word and agree that it is true, but they are agreeing only with their minds. And that is not what gets the job done. It is heart faith that receives from God.
MARK 11:23-24
23 “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."
How can we tell whether we have this heart faith or we are just mentally agreeing? Mental assent says, “I know God’s Word is true. I know God has promised healing, but for some reason I can’t get it; I can’t understand it.” However, real faith in God’s Word says, “If God’s Word says it’s so, then it’s so. It is mine. I have it now. I have it even though I can’t see it.”
I’ve heard people say, “But the thing I have been praying about hasn’t come to pass yet.” If you already had it, you wouldn’t have to believe it, for then you would know it. You have to take that step of BELIEVING in order to come to the place of KNOWING. Too many people want to know it from the standpoint of its coming to pass, and then believe it. We must believe it because God’s Word says it is ours. THEN it materializes.
Notice from Mark 11:24 that the receiving comes AFTER the believing: “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Jesus was simply saying, “You’ve got to believe you have it before you can receive it.”
“Faith is… the evidence of things not seen.”
Kenneth E. Hagin, “New Thresholds of Faith”
RSS Feed
