The Bible promises many wonderful benefits to those who have faith: delivery from sorrow and sickness, from poverty, struggle, and uncertainty, from ignorance and limitation, and finally from death itself. Jesus said that if a man keeps his sayings, he shall never see death (John 8:51); in Psalms is a promise of renewing our youth (Psalm 103:5); and we are told in Job that by acquainting ourselves with God we shall be at peace, we shall lay up gold as dust and have plenty of silver, we shall decree a thing, and it shall be established unto us (Job 22:21-28).
Jesus said: "Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." (Mark 11:23)
"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:22)
Did Jesus lie? So many people in the world pray every day, and yet so many prayers go unanswered. Is it because Jesus lied, or is it because our faith is lacking? Read again what Jesus said:
"Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." and "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
Many people do not believe these things are possible. They do not see these things happening in their own life, nor in the lives of people they know, so they assume that it is not possible and that the Bible must mean something else. Maybe Jesus was speaking figuratively and did not mean what He said literally. The problem is compounded when members of the clergy are among those who doubt that Jesus meant EXACTLY what He said.
A statement is not true just because it is written in the Bible. The Bible is true because it contains statements of truth. It is not logical to assume that the statements in the Bible do not say what they mean. What would be the point? Some people claim the Bible is nothing more than a historical document. If that is true, then it cannot be a work of fiction.
God's message has been delivered to us through His messengers over and over throughout history. And over and over again, people fail to believe those Words. We make all kinds of excuses for not following all of God's Laws; we say it is too difficult, too restrictive; no one can live that way, it is just no fun. Others claim that the Laws need to be revised and updated to make them appropriate for our modern times. People said the same things back in the time of Jesus.
God's Laws are Universal; like God, they are timeless and do not need to be revised and updated. The only thing needing revision or updating is our understanding of God's message. Our faith must be absolute; without the slightest doubt. We must truly believe we will receive these gifts and when we do, we shall receive them.
Jesus came to us as living proof that God's message is true; that we can live the life He wants for us. Not only is it possible, but Jesus also proved that when we live our lives His way, we will be resurrected and have everlasting life. Not some symbolic resurrection, but an actual flesh-and-blood resurrection, just like Jesus did. And if we can see that this happened and know it is true, then imagine what we can do because our faith has not even the slightest doubt. How much will your life change, if you can have anything you want? How would our world be different if everyone could have what they need without taking away from anyone else?
"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
Believe without any doubt. Doubt weakens our faith, and a weak faith can be undermined and manipulated. It becomes easy to make excuses for not doing what you know must be done. When we fail to set a good example, we demonstrate to others that what we are doing is okay. Apathy spreads like wildfire, and before you know it, God is being removed from our lives. Look at what has happened with prayer being banned from schools, God's name being removed from the Pledge of Allegiance and oaths of office.
Everything in the Universe is in motion. If you are not moving toward God, you are moving away from Him.
The importance of strong faith cannot be over-emphasized. The key to achieving such a strong belief is not by force of willpower; it is a matter of learning. Learning is not the same thing as memorizing. You can memorize an entire list of facts and not learn anything from them. This is a major problem with many religions today. They get so caught up in following the ritual, memorizing magic words, and doing things only because someone else did them, but they do not understand WHY these things were done. When you LEARN something, you can repeat it, demonstrate it, and teach others what you have learned.
Everyone agrees that 2 + 2 = 4. This is something that we have all learned is a fact. We know it is a fact because we were taught the Universal Laws of Arithmetic, which enables us to prove that 2 + 2 = 4. It is a Universal Law because it does not matter where we are standing, what day it is, what time it is, or who is doing the adding; two added to two will always equal four.
In the same way that we learned that 2 + 2 = 4 we can also learn about God and ourselves. And once we fully understand our relationship with God, we can work on doing what we need to do to ever improve that relationship. As we do that, we begin to receive the gifts of God's Promises, and we will know, without the slightest doubt, and our faith will become a solid unshakable conviction. This is something that blind faith cannot give you.
Each individual must decide for themselves what their beliefs will be. No one can force you into belief. I am merely attempting to present the information. It is up to you to decide whether to accept it or not. When we see the truth and know that it is true, and know WHY it is true, we shall have established for ourselves the most devout faith. And it is this strength of faith that we require to benefit from all of God's Promises.
Jesus told those He healed that their faith healed them. He did not say that HE (Jesus) healed them. They healed themselves through their faith.
"And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." (James 5:15)
"Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you." (Matthew 9:29)
"And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour." (Matthew 8:13)
"And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole." (Luke 17:19)
We have the power to heal within us. We fail to use that power because we do not know that we have it. Once we understand that we have this power, we can use it and know without any doubt that it will work for us. Jesus taught this lesson to his apostles and sent them out into the world preaching and healing. (Matthew 10:8). Maintaining our health is the first step in defeating death.
Faith, without doubt, is knowledge. We are the Children of God, and God's Promises are available to us. Our only obstacle is that we do not KNOW this. We suspect it is true. The Bible says so, but can we prove it? The greater the doubt, the less work our faith can perform. The less we doubt, the more powerful our faith becomes and the more work it can perform. Remove all doubt, and the limitless force of faith flows and can produce miracles.
"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."