Receiving a Gift of Faith

I wanted to talk about receiving a gift of faith and the reason I'm doing it because it wasn't my plan I was going to talk about something different than them and and I think that we I think we all need faith but it's come to my attention but to my understanding that oftentimes the reason why we don't have faith is that perhaps we probably have it we don't understand it so the title of this little introduction to hopefully we'll have time to pray together I think what I'm sharing is actually quite important so I'll share that with you is faith worth it Reza's works and now I started with the Creek misunderstanding of what the separation between faith and works is before there's actually Hebrew misunderstanding as well so there's a look there will be a lot to share backed up trying to be short because I think we should just spend some time brain but you know the story in Matthew 17 and verses 14 to 20 you know when the disciples are unable to you cast out a demon and and then Jesus India and he explains why I think often times I mean is within this contest the context it says because of your unbelief for assuredly I say to you if you have faith as a mustard seed you will say to this mountain move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you so I would propose that most of us struggle with this sentence would Jesus say that we and we think we don't have faith because if we had that fight then they won't move but I would propose that it is because we have a wrong reading of this verse because we didn't actually understand what Jesus is saying and she's saying something quite different and what we expect well first of all you know the number one thing and verse 17 he says you know okay plus 16 he said this man brings his son he says in a black a black tip and suffers severally anyway so disciples couldn't could and couldn't cure him so then the first freshman of Jesus's Oh faithless and perverse generation how long shall I be with you do you know who he's talking to this perverse and faithless generation who is he talking to when he gets angry so probably not it's probably talking to the man I'll tell you why because there is first of all he comes to Jesus lying and saying that he suffer from epileptic by his demon possessed the only way a child becomes demon-possessed is when the parents are dabbling would give to your culture that's dusty mainly my experience the people I know who've been into occultism through their parents that these are the kind of people I met on the way it always goes down to their family I watch this what does the Bible say in in the Old Testament this is not the kind of thing you should be doing so here isn't maybe an Israelite who is dabbling kids just don't get him and possessed basically it doesn't happen like that is when their parents do stuff and so Jesus is actually first of all I think telling this Garf maybe he's also talking to the disciples as well but he's angry and this leads to number two point I mean Jesus says all the disciples said why could we not cast it out first of all maybe they didn't even try to cast the demon out because his man is coming to Jesus and saying that my son is ill when he's actually demon-possessed so I reckon he's not in the text but I reckon that the disciples were trying to heal the boy or all of that cast the demon out and then we'll there will be continued on the steam but so when we read this mouth about this mountain-moving faith we as Westerners we read us a description as if we were sunk or a sort of intensified internal state of believing if I could just accumulate that internal disposition and sense of faith then that mountain would be moment so base it primarily as about power because it takes power to move the mountain and but I don't think that that's what because Jesus saying it if you have faith as a mustard seed that's not what he's talking about so I would propose and this is where I mean if you read James you see James is he comes from the Hebrew stock and these talks to the Gentile believers and he talks about faith without works is dead and I think hearing we could have identified that central misunderstanding we have about faith in the West we think that belief is a sort of not know we might have think about it that way but you think about it that way without without realizing it for very simple reason we kind of tentative belief is a psychological and internal state of mind and I'll tell you why this because since Plato Western philosophy has defined knowledge and belief very closely so we look at that's what philosophy would define and knowledge is justified to believe so it is belief that is true and that is justified that becomes knowledge so so as a this is the mindset we are we have been raised in so what does what what is belief what is faith like in our minds it is not true and it's not justified so what is left is internal this position internal and we can see the word of faith movement very strongly where where you kind of we try to accumulate faith so spiritually up psychologically because we don't think it's got nothing to do anything good to do with it being true and justified and now we understood of in a society where we can see and I can say that where especially in America even the passages they don't care about facts anymore because they don't see that their commitment is to choose but in the Bible and even in the Greek philosophy believe is always trying to become knowledge so how does your faith become knowledge is become you become a friend of God should working your faith becomes knowledge to testing but it becomes knowledge of God but we are in that place so so we basically when we talk about faith we isolated from truth and from proof so if we follow this creek way of thinking when we accept the idea that because of the very definition of the language this is what language is so important because we talk about belief and we use belief and in and faith interchangeably so we think they're kind of the same thing but they're not I'm not in a biblical sense anyway so we because we accept that and we accept the whole sort of linguistic system where knowledge is justified true belief which means that believe without being true an adjustment modification kind of stays in the era of irrational and and and and we think that how do we at the only direction we have to go is to intensify that irrational and in this way we can talk about supernatural we talked about in in in no connection whatsoever to reality in one sense but actually you read the Bible faith is always connected to reality it is so it is not like we are in in the situation I'm in the Cosmo church where we people because they can't move the mountains they will move the mountains at least in their speech and they they move move imaginary found mountains sort of like began the spiritual warfare and nobody knows what you're going to do like nobody no I'm not I'm not discounting Special Warfare but when people talk about things that as if they are when there's no way of verifying whether they are maybe they're just making up you never know so anyway so the he proves at a different way of thinking about faith and for the Hebrews faith is action for the Greek people believe is some sort of internal psychological said I'm studying a sort of communication some dr. Lynn Murdoch dr. ray so it's kind of an science says outcome of that so we basically we're trying to figure out how do you know that somebody has been influenced so how do and in communication Sciences there would be cause backed up psychology and they would talk about and the foundation would be we're trying to figure out whether somebody's believes have been changed and adjusted or not and how do you measure that because it's a belief is an internal state that's how science defines it so believes an internal state that we tried to measure it externally but actually because we've accepted the definition so is Douglas Walton sort of one of their so the philosophers he is proposing this way of measuring it is said well why don't we rather than measuring the belief why don't we measure people's commitment so commitment is when when there is a medical sales and said I'm committed to to releasing brexit 31st of March we have no idea whether she actually believes it or not or we can only go by her commitment spoken commitment and the he pursuit measure your commitment from your action are you actually doing what you say I'm doing that's what James is actually saying are you doing what you've confessed by your faith because if a great good example is is in mark 5 25 to 30 to know this woman who has the issue of the of the flow of blood for 12 years so what does she do see touch is the government of Jesus she says if only I may touch his clothes I shall be made well so what she thinks if I to action and touch him I will be made well so when Jesus is saying that your faith has made you well is that it is a power of God who is healed her because the power is being released from Jesus but it is her action method in the commitment of trying to get hold of Jesus where where he acts is expressing her faith know in a biblical sense we've accepted the critic definition of words without without criticizing it so when you take you only use the word believe and Billy I believe you actually take it not from the Bible from the biblical meaning but from the culture that we are in so you are reading the word raw in the wrong way no you have believed that's proved that's knowledge that's a scientific event there's a scientific philosophical definition of knowledge it's justified true belief it's true but it's also justified in the sense that it can be verified so that becomes knowledge so but what I'm saying is that we are you're removing just it right and true I be left with belief and that's where I think we have lost that way because now we think that belief doesn't need to be justified and it doesn't need to be true it's just enough when it's kind of irrational in a sense so that's why I believe in many races in the Western culture is considered to be in the area of irrational in many people's minds although when you go back to follow the science and philosophy you realize that everybody is a believer like any sort of aim any philosopher I would acknowledge that everybody's a believer whether you believe in God you because the foundations of of all of existence are the way we communicate and everything we kind of some areas they're kind of all very very very shaky foundations in the sense that nobody can verify the ultimate cost effectively because they generate sort of points what I'm just not put another conversation so what I'm trying to say here is that okay so so Jesus okay this Hebrew lady sees approaching Jesus and she is committed to touch Jesus that's the expression of her faith so the first point to look like I had to say all of these sort of you would understand this sentence which is said when you're when our faith is tested how is it tested it is tested to our commitments are we continuing to do what God has clearly told us to do see the wavering of your faith is not measured primarily the changes of your psychological state of mind but in the wavering of your commitment to do what He has called you to do and that's why none of you have more faith than you realize if you're measuring the wrong thing the enemy will be attacking your mind a God is testing your commitments what are you committed to do so you are in this flood of unbelief that the enemy is releasing into your mind but God is testing your commitment so in one sense you don't care like it's obvious your mind matters because if it's always taken over by unbelief then it will pick you up back to action but actually more often than not you are acting in faith without realizing it you think you don't have faith and then if this is not talking about saving faith I'm talking about walking in faith that's a conflict in the conversation so so what did Jesus say so okay the suppers come afterwards and they asked him why could know because this even out I would propose the number one I'm thinking the authority to cast out demons and heal the sick but I think that maybe their job it's possible that try to do the wrong thing it's possible that they tried to heal the person because this man is coming to them and say you know my son is sick so they're trying to heal and then she says what I say however this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting did you see Jesus go to pray and fast between the man coming to him did he go into out of the room and say you know what oh sorry just doesn't come out without fast let me go to pray and fast no he didn't do that he did that immediately so what does he mean he what he was meaning is this that you disciples you still have not begun to lifestyle of Prayer and I'm expecting you to have see the power of God is not one thing I noticed myself more and more said the power of God in my life is not dependent on my prayer before the meeting the power of Guardium lives depended on the on the life style of prayer that I have so I can walk into a situation and I can Dulles which can give me word of discernment about a prophecy and all physics that's because maybe I have a life even maybe if maybe if I miss the prayers that morning but what's your lifestyle so what she is actually telling the disciple said you don't have the lifestyle or prayer and easy it also says fasting here and it's quite interesting to see that it's like so I think a lot of times we take this the wrong way it's like we we think that okay we need to have a prayer meeting now and gather to pray but it's too late that primary thing is if you begin to pray for what you need to do today now you are too late you are far too late it's it's in many situations I've been praying for things I'm doing today 20 years ago more than 20 years ago and you are I have begun to move the mountain 20 years ago and now I'm moving the mountain and and that's interest you see that and it's funny because now I'm moving one mountain London over the last few days to Hollis with the country remind you of another mountain that is removed and I have absolutely no idea how the mountain will be moved this linked with my ministry my destiny are different things and I'm saying okay now you're talking about it again and I haven't been I have been unable to move that mountain with all my best effort or last 10 years but I am believing now because he not just because they moved the other matter but because he's reminding me of what he has spoken to me years ago so so how was their unbelief how was the unbelief of of the disciples expressed now in that moment where they lacked of psychological motivation at that precise moment when twenty okay let's let's just say the dad does it well as I know what actually just this kid this demon possessed it was not measured the unbelief was it was not a result of them not being unable to somehow produce his power of faith at that moment the unbelief was expressed in their desire not to pray on a daily basis that's where the unbelief was expressed he was too late they did they were following Jesus what did he do Jesus never prayed the guys were sleeping you ever think about it even when Jesus was about to die these guys were still there every day I fell asleep after three years of walking which is and we will probably be in the same same same category oh I'm not I'm not laughing at them I think about after three years of working with Jesus they still fall asleep so then it kind of even then they have not yet learned the lifestyle of prayer after three years of working with Jesus and that is that was the issue so I would say that that faith is been accumulated over time and that time is the time you is those days and evenings and nights and mornings whenever you pray when you feel that nothing is happening but you turn up to pray because you know that's what you need and also I would say that's what God wants but that's because that's what you need because you understand and if everything that Jesus said is true and the first thing you need to do is to pray because if if we read through the Bible and it's just a continual story of God remarking us and we can not do it without him yet we continued to try to do it without him so in the Rabbinical model of learning a disciple learns by doing so how do we learn faith you know I promise this hurts me the sadist but am I was laughing at this the other day you know you know what's the first thing Jesus did when he wanted the disciples to learn faith it's a simple thing he said okay I want you to go this is before this story you see he stays he says I want you to go heal the sick and cast out the demons and I want you to take nothing with you no resources whatsoever these people probably had a little bit of money a little bit of said I don't want you to take a purse no food so he sets them out think about this sa 10-mile journey as they are walking to the next village in the Sun and they have nothing got Jesus I said I have mercy Jesus said I command you not to take anything at all Jesus removed every advantage they had some of them had money the others didn't some of them maybe came from a wealthier family whatever but Jesus I don't care what you have this journey I want you to take nothing with you and it's that journey where you learn faith when you walk they only based on the promise of God I one thing I noticed that over and over again God takes me to a place and no matter what we have accumulated no matter what we have gained a lesson is this he always put you in a situation where you can do nothing without him whatever your situation is if you're a millionaire he will give a big Kaiba he will give you a billion dollar challenge because if if you have nothing then he will give a different challenge but you will always be living if you listen to the Holy Spirit beyond your capacity because where does God fetch in if you don't if you live in your within your capacity let's see if it's in it's just you so what do you find is in that journey where God meets your need you see that moment where you think that your faith has not released you what you should have now that's actually the moment when God is teaching your faith it's not a failure it's the way he's teaching your faith so that oftentimes lot of us believe you come from the prosperity school or world of faith school you feel that you're lacking but that lack is your training school for the gift of faith because that's the first lesson do you believe that Jesus disciples you personally or is it some church that study disciple you some program sell whatever posture I know Jesus decide for me personally and if I read this and if it is he was so nice that the first he needed to do puzzles was to remove a reactor advantage that they had okay now when you're following me I want you to go empty handed with empty pockets if we did that to Peter John could he possibly be doing that with you just possibly if he loves you if you prayed that prayer Jesus I want to follow you I want to learn how you work all that stuff that we probably done what if he actually hurt that stuff and took your price seriously it's just a thought so so I never could I think I'm quicker than that was that's wonderful it's sad I thought the psalmist text yeah so let's go back to James chapter 2 and verses 17 to 24 so this is James who does God he comes from the Hebrew stock he can't understand the Gentiles who are complaining about to the Gentiles that you need to see the creep believers come is like we have faith they kind of follow up like Jonah sense we have the internal state of belief and we are fine and then James is saying that's also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead even the demons believe and tremble so the tree even the demons have an internal state of believe in the sovereignty of God so what James is sort of puzzled by I read them but to confuse up with the teachings of Paul but sort of like he says was not Abraham our Father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar and this abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God but you can see in both Paul's teaching abraham is justified by faith without doing anything which is true in james his teaching he goes little bit further down the road and he says that how did Abraham express his faith it is a moment when he takes his son to be sacrificed and then he is ready to sacrifice Isaac when God appears and says speaks I said now I know that's the tested faith and that is the moment when the mountain is removed because you see faith is not just an internal state of mind with kind of part of it is also you've been committed to what you believe and if you think about the promises God made to Abraham it make those promises before but that Siegel the promise after that give us nothing that could remove that promise fulfillment of the promise from his life anyway we don't want to go into legalism but you can see the he proof way of thinking it's like Hebrew religion is expressed to doing loads of I mean I've been spending a lot of time with Muslims and they kind of follow the same thing in the sense they and I look at the Orthodox Jews and Muslims they are externalizing their faith into action so you had a Muslim prayer which has to follow all these certain things and then the Orthodox use prayer but it kind of kind of similar they're taking a lot form from there so you find that they believe it the way I prove my faith and and not just proof but express my faith is to external action and commitment and they attended obvious um back into interstate with Sufis and them and they begin to contemplate and all that but it's the same thing so you say I will if I believe I will do something about it no to be honest even the Hebrews are wrong because that way leads to the due to the law so they read the law and they mr. Bates the other bits about the law which swervin Jesus came around he was always talking about the other bits of opposite of like so you read this this way but you know what this is what I mean so they miss the spirit of faith they didn't have the spirit of faith like we have the spirit of faith but nevertheless I've noticed that so many times the Holy Spirit is speaking to me about something over a long period of time as only when I'm in a situation where it's almost like the testing gets very real and very it's a point where I have to make a choice do I believe it is promised do I believe in what he has spoken to me about enough she walk on water in a sense it it looks to me this way leads no way I'm gonna sink but like a my phone of my fave - from those learnings one of my favorite things would already said he hasn't failed me yet think about these lights when they went to gather manna every single day for 40 years they wake up with no food and they have to believe for another day so rather than saying oh it's not here yet I'm like I'm learn to thank God like I woke up in the morning I say I don't know I'm gonna pay my bills few months down the line a month down the line whatever but I thank God that I have food in the fridge because he have kept your promise for today give us today our daily bread I thank God most of most days I wake up the food is over there for the evening I have something in the cup so that means the cards cryptochromes gave me to tell you my daily bread I thank God it today my needs have been met rather than saying okay god I can't see how you will meet money tomorrow well I think God is very Latino sometimes he says my nina mañana have come tomorrow you know but he will meet you on it so i but that's also another way he's teaching us faith because if you always get what she want when you wanted immediately that will never build your faith ever because your you will never be you never have the tension between the need and and where you are which is your perception so it's almost like God God I have to see does this I was walking down the road as like Jesus asked me I had money do you ask me to go without anything it's like something I didn't at all Paul and he asked me to go without anything how mad is that it's just the first lesson he told his disciples when you asked him to go alone the first lesson don't take anything I will quote relief decisions anyway so let me just move quickly and we'll have some times I pray adding up it's but now we talked about faith Greek as faith as sort of to which we sort or believe as an internal set of mind with the creek understanding and jam and hiepro understand that faith is expressed to action and to commitment and actually doing something about it but God's understanding of faith is it is God who just are believing under doing so it's all gift so after having yes ladies express to action but it is God who does the believing this God who does to doing it says it is God who father believes is in Jeremiah 1 verses 4 to 5 now the word of the Lord came to me saying before I formed you in the womb I knew you before you were born I consecrated to me I appointed you a prophet to the nation's we respond to his call so he calls as his belief he's believing in you when he calls you he's already believed in you before you were born you look at yourself and wonder how what is he going to do how is he gonna do anything about about anything to me but he's already believed in you before he called you because that's why he called you a discard who works out the salvation if Fish officials chapter 2 verses tonight for by grace you have been saved through faith that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest anyone should boast again we respond to his word because he worked our salvation on the cross there was a work for salvation but he was the work he did Jesus did it the work salvation didn't come without works but he did the work so we've done it so he wasn't it is a free gift to us but he wasn't a free gift to him it came through the work of Jesus Christ it is Cardinal sanctifies Titus 1 verses 11 to 14 for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and were the last and it goes on so it is the craze of God whose act that sanctifies and teaches us to walk in righteousness again that's God's work again it is the God who duster works in us it says in officience for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works so we have been created in Christ Jesus for good works via his work which God prepared beforehand we should walk in them so he has already worked prepared the works beforehand he's prepared us for the works which he has prepared she has prepared both and it is God who gives us a spirit of faith and as well one of my favorite readings second Corinthians chapter 4 verses 7 to 13 it starts with but we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the actions of the power may be of God and not of us the heart pressed in every sight and you know it goes down is a very depressingly reading in one sense but then he says in verse 13 and since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written I believed and therefore I spoke we also believe in therefore speak so in that pressure that Paul is under and he says but God has given me the spirit of faith and that's tested faith he's walked with God and he would be martyred eventually we believe but on that journey he learns something far greater than what any of these most teachers of today can never tell you that means if whatever situation you are God is with you and that faith a spirit of faith it's been released it releases Holy Spirit so while we're really talking about here you're not like the Greeks who measure everything based on up psychological state we are not like like like like the Jews who miss her everything by the external obedience we are the people of God who received the spirit of faith actually does transform our our understanding our internal state of mind as well might as a gift from God is the Holy Spirit and but but he doesn't leave it there also does the work to us because if the Holy Spirit is living within you if you listen to him at all it's absolutely no chance that there won't be works it's absolutely no chance that there won't be works but his works and I know this is no legalism this is walking in submission do you have any father to look to your Lord your master to your senior partner Holy Spirit so I have country seasons where for days and days and days up to look like I've been bombarded with this Perl unbelief is like literally like cars no can do this for you this is going to go go wrong and and the more missions we've done them all but to deal with the party cup that God have gone to new place where I just sort of just don't even listen to it anymore I'm just concentrating on working with God because if I listen to the enemy I will never do what he would what Jesus asked me to do if I listened to my shortcomings I will never do what were what Jesus asked me to do if I live if I even listen to my old mind I want to you what Jesus called me what do I do I listen to the Word of God and I listen to his holy spirit and I've become convinced that he probably is right but so I spent 40 minutes nearly just talking about this because I would propose that number one we just say this and then go number one way because gift of faith is a gift from the Lord how do you activate it it really goes down to you're like Jesus say this one doesn't come out without brand father without belaboring fasting it really comes from the place of cultivating a lifestyle of prayer and being immersed in the world as well in the sense that when you pray I spend more time not praying the word and I never in my life because I have run out of press so now I come I can have all my prayers I can I can pray the Bible I read the Bible he says before I found you in the moon above I need you know just free that that thank God about it and this is you to go on is it that it gives my prayers have more more firmer footing than just my mom I know that this is the work of anyway that's that's it yeah you want to ask something yeah it's it is basically very simple is and the data it's just a problem it doesn't happen like this most things in your life important things take time I mean think about when a baby is born it takes my son is just it's now 18 and it took him 18 years that become an adult so it's mouse things and this is I think the problem we have is that we we we confuse disciples they've been growing and maturing with legalism we are at the point now where people genuinely believe that they can receive what God has called promised to them without any relationship with the Word of God with all grace yes it is all grace but the Grace and I'm not talking about salvation here but what happens to you if you don't obey those promptings that the Holy Spirit gives to you you're not going to get where he asked you to go simple it's like Jesus is telling you go this way oh no I'm gonna go this way what's going to happen in his mercy sometimes you look like the world is round and you get you can might get to the same point to disobedience then you get your opinions but your journey will be completely different so it's like we have and this is kind of at the heart of the problem we have here is that way how do we walk in I think that answer is relationship and I'm not discipleship in a sense of voice discipleship is obviously the relationship because we have the problem we have is that we are trying to I had this like when I was 18 I read the Bible I had to buy the radical sort of was a conversant but call for discipleship I thought let me read the Bible I see what Jesus has asked me to do and let me do it so we we we think that this average is just reading the Bible and to like in ones we read the Bible and then we pray and we do it no no the surface is following Jesus it's very personal so it's your is kind of and that is only possible because of the holy spirit of faith as well so like that that journey that he is taking us is individual and unique because you are individual and unique so there is a comparison point with the scripture my dad scripture is covers all the people in all ages the way God is going to express his plan in your life it's different and it's in mind but we can see some similarities because of like they talk about a family resemblance with walk with Jesus we did the same Holy spirt but the way he walks in your life will be different so that's why litera thinks were one-size-fits-all but there are other areas in a life where your God's plan for your life is completely unique so that's what I find is that in my life my faith is tested primarily in the area where where he has give me a prophetic word I have a prophetic ministry that's how God is Custis so he's testing it am i faithful to like basically about situations where over and over and over again where you know they know what I don't know how I'm gonna get you this and but I do know that this is what you asked me to do and it looks impossible to me and then I say what's the worst thing that could happen and say actually let's leave this day and let's not turn away from the Lord from the way that Lord show me and then even if I did get it wrong they all knows that so it's it's it's a you if God asks you to what would were the vision you have if God's asking you to move this mountain he will build the program for you in relationship to the mountain in a sense so I have not been asked to move like we all will have our mountains what's the mountain goddess ask you to move and it's your faith journey it's oftentimes in their relationship to that mountain no another mountain in somebody else's life so I find that faithless released in my life for certain things in relation to the revelation that God has given to me but as we see like with Abraham God speaks to him and then he makes the journey just a moment when he actually is ready to give his all to what God has promised he's kind of obtained because he's deciding that if God has promised that I will have Nations to Isaac then even when I bring him to the altar somehow I will have family to Isaac which means that maybe God will resurrect him from the dead that's extreme faith I've got it daddy this is an extreme example of faith and that indeed we are meant to this kind of things today but have you say that I think God visits those things in their life from time to time which we would never consider to be our idols so I don't have much more to say about it but I just want to pray if anybody have any questions at the appetizer we've only ten minutes but I think what I'm trying to say that but it's after the beginning I think because our creeks sort of Western background we most of us we are trying to message the wrong thing where we're measuring faith so I get this like let's say for example I had months and months when we started working in the Middle East I had months and months vary throughout have days where 810 hours my mind would just be continually bombarded with all sorts of attacks so what that was in the middle of a time way I was doing something the moment you know my computer's broke down all sorts of things happened I had to I remember I had I was typesetting these books hidden into Arabic act month of relentless pain here because I'm saying normally I've got like this the holes beside this is not natural and I said okay popped another painkiller for a month the moment I released that file one month of pain to Spanish he was and then I had to touch those files again same thing happened and I for another week okay thank God we have moved on and I'm doing the same thing again but I think we want that Pacha program sort of so we don't go to those things but between then and now the amount of Prayer like I was asking God this question maybe I'm not answering my own question here I was asking God why do you call me to an amped-up this is not boasting because this is not me why do you wake me up every night Trillo cook for a couple to pray for a couple of hours I want to sleep so me I am telling God I went to sleep and he says no your lack of sleep so he stopped me praying anymore so me praying anymore is the Holy sprit because I'm resisting the Holy Spirit but if he kicks your backside we pray and then I realized as we were doing this I would go to like in the morning something would happen and like that prayer time would give me that ability to make the right decision for the projects and that I would have to I would have the answer question would come a problem would come when I would in 10 minutes I would solve it because the bachelor was not dealing with my mind by this a spiritual battle so I thought okay if that's the way God you want to do this work as long as you wake me up I will actually didn't have really a choice to you do so I'm trying to say so I've been in this journey for last two years where you realize that the amount of prayer you put into that's a counter you working isn't this isn't this you who are supposed to do it all why am i praying so much why is SMS wrestling what is going on and I go back into this race I'm realize actually yeah maybe we are wrestling with principalities maybe there is a place where you don't receive what you receive by Evan Lewis he was was a senior minister of this house before colony he said you'll only pray for something three times because that's what Paul did and so like if you didn't receive it at times you've just like okay I didn't make your point but that I see if you don't mix faith into your prayers then but actually when Paul prayed for three times I don't think he just prayed once it's like okay God at least I think what Paul is talking was intensive periods of seeking the Lord so this whole idea that comes from them because again going back to sort of the prayer there are situations where God releases healing just like that but that spiritual lifestyle that's happening behind is what you see somebody maybe with pray for something on stage and that's what you see if it's real that's not what happened that's what you see if it's real then this person would have thought the Lord it didn't just turn up and say you know what that's not the way it works sometimes it can happen up child price for somebody and I know we do have faith etc but by and large over a long period of time if you want to have a ministry no sister one random happening with God is meeting somebody's need by because something else break for that person and you just happened to be on the site so often like I have healing stories but I'm so humbled by the fact that I know that most of those healing stories somebody prayed for this person for 10 years 5 years 2 years 3 months I happened to be on site I just sort of randomly say the words but it's not Maya prayers that are being a sorcery you should always be humble when God is using us in most cases when amazing things have happened in my life is a back story somebody else's brain somewhere so I don't try to explain how God works to that but this way but what Jesus says this one doesn't come out without Brandon fasting and I first we see he's not praying at that moment in that moment he says commanding but so the prayer has happened before so that is the way the primary way is prayer but it's not just prayer because if you don't have the word in your life you were praying for funny things so you want to feed your prayer with the Word of God because then half of the prayers you like like you pray for a long time God freaking out and say how we gonna pay our bills on different things you know we goddess chalasis we done things that are beyond our ability financially in our family I could write a book about them alone but they always let us such as where I feel I'm in luck in the shortage and then I'd realize that most of the time I'm praying for what he's already promised when I take the book he's saying don't worry do not be anxious do not fear I'll meet your need so I'm praying for what he's already promised but that's the moment when you take him to apply faith so I'm you begin to read that Scripture rather than asking for what he's already promised to give to you you begin to thank God what he is promised and you say God help my unbelief because I don't believe what you're telling me can you see it's like that's why the Word of God is so important because I spent probably yes praying for things that he's already promised it was bother to read the Bible I have just thank God I moved on the other things and so anyway let's just pray briefly I take it most of your time but I hope that it's been useful I have your father witnessed here before your word and marveling at your word marveling at were cheated marveling at what your disciples did and also learning hopefully from their mistakes father I parrot age 100 meters through would always hold the Word of God dear and precious father I pray that as we read your word faith would be released you just pray for that release of the spirit of faith today father father we pray that you would not be measuring the wrong things and I will be measuring what you've asked us to measure Lord according to your word her father seems to mean also the time you're asking us about our intentions you're asking us about what we have actually done and we know that's also your gift father we just pray that that spirit of faith has also spirit of obedience spirit of submitting to your will father that partnership and he called us to walk in the Holy Spirit would be released onto us afresh validus press for press sensitivity to your holy spirit in this room first sensitivity your commands fresh sensitivity to your ways fresh sensitivity to your word fresh sensitivity our promptings but because our faith is just a response to you and we come to you this morning with submit G father father which every school we are on whichever class be on in the school of fate today father I pray today father and this word has just been shared would provide at least and as for partial answer to their needs today in the name of Jesus I pray that you would teach each one of us to fight the right way fight the right way in our lives today father to fight the right battle father I can see the enemy I think that them I'm sorry I'm going to switch it off battle see how do you write how do you fight the wrong battle your life is when you're focused on what God has not called you to be focused on it doesn't mean I'm doing I'm doing so I am doing doctoral research in a university completely secular I'm not saying that you test is all about the Bible school all about reading the Bible but what is the fight a God has called you to be in what other words he has broken over life but the enemy has an amazing ability to distract you divert your attention you're wasting your time on things which are not really relevant sometimes they're things that God has already promised to release into your life sometimes it's just a wrong way so I always say this do you everybody when I get to heaven Jesus doesn't say I will never have this I would lose this conversation if I say she just said why didn't do this and I say my pastor or somebody as telogen convinced me enough to do it and then said Jesus says what did I say we will be just by his words not by the words of me not by the words of of anybody on earth ah judgment will be based on the words of Jesus so if the words of Jesus are not central in your life you might be in trouble I don't think I've been jumping the Last Judgement even to be honest but in a sense you might be wasting your time because if what he told us is not important to us do we truly love him it doesn't mean that we can deliver it which is another ballgame because TV this is not calling us under the law because he has finished her work it's given us His Holy Spirit but if we don't live in a relationship to the words of Jesus so I parry or decree I go back on the Sermon on the Mount that's what Jesus said it doesn't mean it's the law but if I would recommend every Minister to read to summoned amount at least once once it was in the courtrooms I'm glad see what she is saying because it's you know when we talk about we say make disciples they focus on make a commanded us to go and make disciples and what does it mean just teach them to keep all that Jesus asked them to do the cycle ship is not just about let me make the service unless we make disciples who are and we're teaching them to do what Jesus told us to do and actually making disciples for Jesus making disciples for something else so I go back there and I am I am challenged challenged every single time were examined about I become very small and my god comes great and you take you to a place of humility where you read it's the program of Jesus this is how far I am but let me at least try to read divert my life towards what he says because if I'm not I'm not really taking him seriously that's the problem with the Western Church because we are scared of the words of Jesus because we think that beat up his legalism but that he never left us alone with those words he walks with us so that's it for today I think that's FN

I wanted to talk about receiving a gift of faith and the reason I&#39;m doing it because it wasn&#39;t my plan I was going to talk about something different than them and and I think that we I think we all need faith but it&#39;s come to my attention but to my understanding that oftentimes the reason why we don&#39;t have faith is that perhaps we probably have it we don&#39;t understand it so the title of this little introduction to hopefully we&#39;ll have time to pray together I think what I&#39;m sharing is actually quite important so I&#39;ll share that with you is faith worth it Reza&#39;s works and now I started with the Creek misunderstanding of what the separation between faith and works is before there&#39;s actually Hebrew misunderstanding as well so there&#39;s a look there will be a lot to share backed up trying to be short because I think we should just spend some time brain but you know the story in Matthew 17 and verses 14 to 20 you know when the disciples are unable to you cast out a demon and and then Jesus India and he explains why I think often times I mean is within this contest the context it says because of your unbelief for assuredly I say to you if you have faith as a mustard seed you will say to this mountain move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you so I would propose that most of us struggle with this sentence would Jesus say that we and we think we don&#39;t have faith because if we had that fight then they won&#39;t move but I would propose that it is because we have a wrong reading of this verse because we didn&#39;t actually understand what Jesus is saying and she&#39;s saying something quite different and what we expect well first of all you know the number one thing and verse 17 he says you know okay plus 16 he said this man brings his son he says in a black a black tip and suffers severally anyway so disciples couldn&#39;t could and couldn&#39;t cure him so then the first freshman of Jesus&#39;s Oh faithless and perverse generation how long shall I be with you do you know who he&#39;s talking to this perverse and faithless generation who is he talking to when he gets angry so probably not it&#39;s probably talking to the man I&#39;ll tell you why because there is first of all he comes to Jesus lying and saying that he suffer from epileptic by his demon possessed the only way a child becomes demon-possessed is when the parents are dabbling would give to your culture that&#39;s dusty mainly my experience the people I know who&#39;ve been into occultism through their parents that these are the kind of people I met on the way it always goes down to their family I watch this what does the Bible say in in the Old Testament this is not the kind of thing you should be doing so here isn&#39;t maybe an Israelite who is dabbling kids just don&#39;t get him and possessed basically it doesn&#39;t happen like that is when their parents do stuff and so Jesus is actually first of all I think telling this Garf maybe he&#39;s also talking to the disciples as well but he&#39;s angry and this leads to number two point I mean Jesus says all the disciples said why could we not cast it out first of all maybe they didn&#39;t even try to cast the demon out because his man is coming to Jesus and saying that my son is ill when he&#39;s actually demon-possessed so I reckon he&#39;s not in the text but I reckon that the disciples were trying to heal the boy or all of that cast the demon out and then we&#39;ll there will be continued on the steam but so when we read this mouth about this mountain-moving faith we as Westerners we read us a description as if we were sunk or a sort of intensified internal state of believing if I could just accumulate that internal disposition and sense of faith then that mountain would be moment so base it primarily as about power because it takes power to move the mountain and but I don&#39;t think that that&#39;s what because Jesus saying it if you have faith as a mustard seed that&#39;s not what he&#39;s talking about so I would propose and this is where I mean if you read James you see James is he comes from the Hebrew stock and these talks to the Gentile believers and he talks about faith without works is dead and I think hearing we could have identified that central misunderstanding we have about faith in the West we think that belief is a sort of not know we might have think about it that way but you think about it that way without without realizing it for very simple reason we kind of tentative belief is a psychological and internal state of mind and I&#39;ll tell you why this because since Plato Western philosophy has defined knowledge and belief very closely so we look at that&#39;s what philosophy would define and knowledge is justified to believe so it is belief that is true and that is justified that becomes knowledge so so as a this is the mindset we are we have been raised in so what does what what is belief what is faith like in our minds it is not true and it&#39;s not justified so what is left is internal this position internal and we can see the word of faith movement very strongly where where you kind of we try to accumulate faith so spiritually up psychologically because we don&#39;t think it&#39;s got nothing to do anything good to do with it being true and justified and now we understood of in a society where we can see and I can say that where especially in America even the passages they don&#39;t care about facts anymore because they don&#39;t see that their commitment is to choose but in the Bible and even in the Greek philosophy believe is always trying to become knowledge so how does your faith become knowledge is become you become a friend of God should working your faith becomes knowledge to testing but it becomes knowledge of God but we are in that place so so we basically when we talk about faith we isolated from truth and from proof so if we follow this creek way of thinking when we accept the idea that because of the very definition of the language this is what language is so important because we talk about belief and we use belief and in and faith interchangeably so we think they&#39;re kind of the same thing but they&#39;re not I&#39;m not in a biblical sense anyway so we because we accept that and we accept the whole sort of linguistic system where knowledge is justified true belief which means that believe without being true an adjustment modification kind of stays in the era of irrational and and and and we think that how do we at the only direction we have to go is to intensify that irrational and in this way we can talk about supernatural we talked about in in in no connection whatsoever to reality in one sense but actually you read the Bible faith is always connected to reality it is so it is not like we are in in the situation I&#39;m in the Cosmo church where we people because they can&#39;t move the mountains they will move the mountains at least in their speech and they they move move imaginary found mountains sort of like began the spiritual warfare and nobody knows what you&#39;re going to do like nobody no I&#39;m not I&#39;m not discounting Special Warfare but when people talk about things that as if they are when there&#39;s no way of verifying whether they are maybe they&#39;re just making up you never know so anyway so the he proves at a different way of thinking about faith and for the Hebrews faith is action for the Greek people believe is some sort of internal psychological said I&#39;m studying a sort of communication some dr. Lynn Murdoch dr. ray so it&#39;s kind of an science says outcome of that so we basically we&#39;re trying to figure out how do you know that somebody has been influenced so how do and in communication Sciences there would be cause backed up psychology and they would talk about and the foundation would be we&#39;re trying to figure out whether somebody&#39;s believes have been changed and adjusted or not and how do you measure that because it&#39;s a belief is an internal state that&#39;s how science defines it so believes an internal state that we tried to measure it externally but actually because we&#39;ve accepted the definition so is Douglas Walton sort of one of their so the philosophers he is proposing this way of measuring it is said well why don&#39;t we rather than measuring the belief why don&#39;t we measure people&#39;s commitment so commitment is when when there is a medical sales and said I&#39;m committed to to releasing brexit 31st of March we have no idea whether she actually believes it or not or we can only go by her commitment spoken commitment and the he pursuit measure your commitment from your action are you actually doing what you say I&#39;m doing that&#39;s what James is actually saying are you doing what you&#39;ve confessed by your faith because if a great good example is is in mark 5 25 to 30 to know this woman who has the issue of the of the flow of blood for 12 years so what does she do see touch is the government of Jesus she says if only I may touch his clothes I shall be made well so what she thinks if I to action and touch him I will be made well so when Jesus is saying that your faith has made you well is that it is a power of God who is healed her because the power is being released from Jesus but it is her action method in the commitment of trying to get hold of Jesus where where he acts is expressing her faith know in a biblical sense we&#39;ve accepted the critic definition of words without without criticizing it so when you take you only use the word believe and Billy I believe you actually take it not from the Bible from the biblical meaning but from the culture that we are in so you are reading the word raw in the wrong way no you have believed that&#39;s proved that&#39;s knowledge that&#39;s a scientific event there&#39;s a scientific philosophical definition of knowledge it&#39;s justified true belief it&#39;s true but it&#39;s also justified in the sense that it can be verified so that becomes knowledge so but what I&#39;m saying is that we are you&#39;re removing just it right and true I be left with belief and that&#39;s where I think we have lost that way because now we think that belief doesn&#39;t need to be justified and it doesn&#39;t need to be true it&#39;s just enough when it&#39;s kind of irrational in a sense so that&#39;s why I believe in many races in the Western culture is considered to be in the area of irrational in many people&#39;s minds although when you go back to follow the science and philosophy you realize that everybody is a believer like any sort of aim any philosopher I would acknowledge that everybody&#39;s a believer whether you believe in God you because the foundations of of all of existence are the way we communicate and everything we kind of some areas they&#39;re kind of all very very very shaky foundations in the sense that nobody can verify the ultimate cost effectively because they generate sort of points what I&#39;m just not put another conversation so what I&#39;m trying to say here is that okay so so Jesus okay this Hebrew lady sees approaching Jesus and she is committed to touch Jesus that&#39;s the expression of her faith so the first point to look like I had to say all of these sort of you would understand this sentence which is said when you&#39;re when our faith is tested how is it tested it is tested to our commitments are we continuing to do what God has clearly told us to do see the wavering of your faith is not measured primarily the changes of your psychological state of mind but in the wavering of your commitment to do what He has called you to do and that&#39;s why none of you have more faith than you realize if you&#39;re measuring the wrong thing the enemy will be attacking your mind a God is testing your commitments what are you committed to do so you are in this flood of unbelief that the enemy is releasing into your mind but God is testing your commitment so in one sense you don&#39;t care like it&#39;s obvious your mind matters because if it&#39;s always taken over by unbelief then it will pick you up back to action but actually more often than not you are acting in faith without realizing it you think you don&#39;t have faith and then if this is not talking about saving faith I&#39;m talking about walking in faith that&#39;s a conflict in the conversation so so what did Jesus say so okay the suppers come afterwards and they asked him why could know because this even out I would propose the number one I&#39;m thinking the authority to cast out demons and heal the sick but I think that maybe their job it&#39;s possible that try to do the wrong thing it&#39;s possible that they tried to heal the person because this man is coming to them and say you know my son is sick so they&#39;re trying to heal and then she says what I say however this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting did you see Jesus go to pray and fast between the man coming to him did he go into out of the room and say you know what oh sorry just doesn&#39;t come out without fast let me go to pray and fast no he didn&#39;t do that he did that immediately so what does he mean he what he was meaning is this that you disciples you still have not begun to lifestyle of Prayer and I&#39;m expecting you to have see the power of God is not one thing I noticed myself more and more said the power of God in my life is not dependent on my prayer before the meeting the power of Guardium lives depended on the on the life style of prayer that I have so I can walk into a situation and I can Dulles which can give me word of discernment about a prophecy and all physics that&#39;s because maybe I have a life even maybe if maybe if I miss the prayers that morning but what&#39;s your lifestyle so what she is actually telling the disciple said you don&#39;t have the lifestyle or prayer and easy it also says fasting here and it&#39;s quite interesting to see that it&#39;s like so I think a lot of times we take this the wrong way it&#39;s like we we think that okay we need to have a prayer meeting now and gather to pray but it&#39;s too late that primary thing is if you begin to pray for what you need to do today now you are too late you are far too late it&#39;s it&#39;s in many situations I&#39;ve been praying for things I&#39;m doing today 20 years ago more than 20 years ago and you are I have begun to move the mountain 20 years ago and now I&#39;m moving the mountain and and that&#39;s interest you see that and it&#39;s funny because now I&#39;m moving one mountain London over the last few days to Hollis with the country remind you of another mountain that is removed and I have absolutely no idea how the mountain will be moved this linked with my ministry my destiny are different things and I&#39;m saying okay now you&#39;re talking about it again and I haven&#39;t been I have been unable to move that mountain with all my best effort or last 10 years but I am believing now because he not just because they moved the other matter but because he&#39;s reminding me of what he has spoken to me years ago so so how was their unbelief how was the unbelief of of the disciples expressed now in that moment where they lacked of psychological motivation at that precise moment when twenty okay let&#39;s let&#39;s just say the dad does it well as I know what actually just this kid this demon possessed it was not measured the unbelief was it was not a result of them not being unable to somehow produce his power of faith at that moment the unbelief was expressed in their desire not to pray on a daily basis that&#39;s where the unbelief was expressed he was too late they did they were following Jesus what did he do Jesus never prayed the guys were sleeping you ever think about it even when Jesus was about to die these guys were still there every day I fell asleep after three years of walking which is and we will probably be in the same same same category oh I&#39;m not I&#39;m not laughing at them I think about after three years of working with Jesus they still fall asleep so then it kind of even then they have not yet learned the lifestyle of prayer after three years of working with Jesus and that is that was the issue so I would say that that faith is been accumulated over time and that time is the time you is those days and evenings and nights and mornings whenever you pray when you feel that nothing is happening but you turn up to pray because you know that&#39;s what you need and also I would say that&#39;s what God wants but that&#39;s because that&#39;s what you need because you understand and if everything that Jesus said is true and the first thing you need to do is to pray because if if we read through the Bible and it&#39;s just a continual story of God remarking us and we can not do it without him yet we continued to try to do it without him so in the Rabbinical model of learning a disciple learns by doing so how do we learn faith you know I promise this hurts me the sadist but am I was laughing at this the other day you know you know what&#39;s the first thing Jesus did when he wanted the disciples to learn faith it&#39;s a simple thing he said okay I want you to go this is before this story you see he stays he says I want you to go heal the sick and cast out the demons and I want you to take nothing with you no resources whatsoever these people probably had a little bit of money a little bit of said I don&#39;t want you to take a purse no food so he sets them out think about this sa 10-mile journey as they are walking to the next village in the Sun and they have nothing got Jesus I said I have mercy Jesus said I command you not to take anything at all Jesus removed every advantage they had some of them had money the others didn&#39;t some of them maybe came from a wealthier family whatever but Jesus I don&#39;t care what you have this journey I want you to take nothing with you and it&#39;s that journey where you learn faith when you walk they only based on the promise of God I one thing I noticed that over and over again God takes me to a place and no matter what we have accumulated no matter what we have gained a lesson is this he always put you in a situation where you can do nothing without him whatever your situation is if you&#39;re a millionaire he will give a big Kaiba he will give you a billion dollar challenge because if if you have nothing then he will give a different challenge but you will always be living if you listen to the Holy Spirit beyond your capacity because where does God fetch in if you don&#39;t if you live in your within your capacity let&#39;s see if it&#39;s in it&#39;s just you so what do you find is in that journey where God meets your need you see that moment where you think that your faith has not released you what you should have now that&#39;s actually the moment when God is teaching your faith it&#39;s not a failure it&#39;s the way he&#39;s teaching your faith so that oftentimes lot of us believe you come from the prosperity school or world of faith school you feel that you&#39;re lacking but that lack is your training school for the gift of faith because that&#39;s the first lesson do you believe that Jesus disciples you personally or is it some church that study disciple you some program sell whatever posture I know Jesus decide for me personally and if I read this and if it is he was so nice that the first he needed to do puzzles was to remove a reactor advantage that they had okay now when you&#39;re following me I want you to go empty handed with empty pockets if we did that to Peter John could he possibly be doing that with you just possibly if he loves you if you prayed that prayer Jesus I want to follow you I want to learn how you work all that stuff that we probably done what if he actually hurt that stuff and took your price seriously it&#39;s just a thought so so I never could I think I&#39;m quicker than that was that&#39;s wonderful it&#39;s sad I thought the psalmist text yeah so let&#39;s go back to James chapter 2 and verses 17 to 24 so this is James who does God he comes from the Hebrew stock he can&#39;t understand the Gentiles who are complaining about to the Gentiles that you need to see the creep believers come is like we have faith they kind of follow up like Jonah sense we have the internal state of belief and we are fine and then James is saying that&#39;s also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead even the demons believe and tremble so the tree even the demons have an internal state of believe in the sovereignty of God so what James is sort of puzzled by I read them but to confuse up with the teachings of Paul but sort of like he says was not Abraham our Father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar and this abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God but you can see in both Paul&#39;s teaching abraham is justified by faith without doing anything which is true in james his teaching he goes little bit further down the road and he says that how did Abraham express his faith it is a moment when he takes his son to be sacrificed and then he is ready to sacrifice Isaac when God appears and says speaks I said now I know that&#39;s the tested faith and that is the moment when the mountain is removed because you see faith is not just an internal state of mind with kind of part of it is also you&#39;ve been committed to what you believe and if you think about the promises God made to Abraham it make those promises before but that Siegel the promise after that give us nothing that could remove that promise fulfillment of the promise from his life anyway we don&#39;t want to go into legalism but you can see the he proof way of thinking it&#39;s like Hebrew religion is expressed to doing loads of I mean I&#39;ve been spending a lot of time with Muslims and they kind of follow the same thing in the sense they and I look at the Orthodox Jews and Muslims they are externalizing their faith into action so you had a Muslim prayer which has to follow all these certain things and then the Orthodox use prayer but it kind of kind of similar they&#39;re taking a lot form from there so you find that they believe it the way I prove my faith and and not just proof but express my faith is to external action and commitment and they attended obvious um back into interstate with Sufis and them and they begin to contemplate and all that but it&#39;s the same thing so you say I will if I believe I will do something about it no to be honest even the Hebrews are wrong because that way leads to the due to the law so they read the law and they mr. Bates the other bits about the law which swervin Jesus came around he was always talking about the other bits of opposite of like so you read this this way but you know what this is what I mean so they miss the spirit of faith they didn&#39;t have the spirit of faith like we have the spirit of faith but nevertheless I&#39;ve noticed that so many times the Holy Spirit is speaking to me about something over a long period of time as only when I&#39;m in a situation where it&#39;s almost like the testing gets very real and very it&#39;s a point where I have to make a choice do I believe it is promised do I believe in what he has spoken to me about enough she walk on water in a sense it it looks to me this way leads no way I&#39;m gonna sink but like a my phone of my fave - from those learnings one of my favorite things would already said he hasn&#39;t failed me yet think about these lights when they went to gather manna every single day for 40 years they wake up with no food and they have to believe for another day so rather than saying oh it&#39;s not here yet I&#39;m like I&#39;m learn to thank God like I woke up in the morning I say I don&#39;t know I&#39;m gonna pay my bills few months down the line a month down the line whatever but I thank God that I have food in the fridge because he have kept your promise for today give us today our daily bread I thank God most of most days I wake up the food is over there for the evening I have something in the cup so that means the cards cryptochromes gave me to tell you my daily bread I thank God it today my needs have been met rather than saying okay god I can&#39;t see how you will meet money tomorrow well I think God is very Latino sometimes he says my nina mañana have come tomorrow you know but he will meet you on it so i but that&#39;s also another way he&#39;s teaching us faith because if you always get what she want when you wanted immediately that will never build your faith ever because your you will never be you never have the tension between the need and and where you are which is your perception so it&#39;s almost like God God I have to see does this I was walking down the road as like Jesus asked me I had money do you ask me to go without anything it&#39;s like something I didn&#39;t at all Paul and he asked me to go without anything how mad is that it&#39;s just the first lesson he told his disciples when you asked him to go alone the first lesson don&#39;t take anything I will quote relief decisions anyway so let me just move quickly and we&#39;ll have some times I pray adding up it&#39;s but now we talked about faith Greek as faith as sort of to which we sort or believe as an internal set of mind with the creek understanding and jam and hiepro understand that faith is expressed to action and to commitment and actually doing something about it but God&#39;s understanding of faith is it is God who just are believing under doing so it&#39;s all gift so after having yes ladies express to action but it is God who does the believing this God who does to doing it says it is God who father believes is in Jeremiah 1 verses 4 to 5 now the word of the Lord came to me saying before I formed you in the womb I knew you before you were born I consecrated to me I appointed you a prophet to the nation&#39;s we respond to his call so he calls as his belief he&#39;s believing in you when he calls you he&#39;s already believed in you before you were born you look at yourself and wonder how what is he going to do how is he gonna do anything about about anything to me but he&#39;s already believed in you before he called you because that&#39;s why he called you a discard who works out the salvation if Fish officials chapter 2 verses tonight for by grace you have been saved through faith that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest anyone should boast again we respond to his word because he worked our salvation on the cross there was a work for salvation but he was the work he did Jesus did it the work salvation didn&#39;t come without works but he did the work so we&#39;ve done it so he wasn&#39;t it is a free gift to us but he wasn&#39;t a free gift to him it came through the work of Jesus Christ it is Cardinal sanctifies Titus 1 verses 11 to 14 for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and were the last and it goes on so it is the craze of God whose act that sanctifies and teaches us to walk in righteousness again that&#39;s God&#39;s work again it is the God who duster works in us it says in officience for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works so we have been created in Christ Jesus for good works via his work which God prepared beforehand we should walk in them so he has already worked prepared the works beforehand he&#39;s prepared us for the works which he has prepared she has prepared both and it is God who gives us a spirit of faith and as well one of my favorite readings second Corinthians chapter 4 verses 7 to 13 it starts with but we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the actions of the power may be of God and not of us the heart pressed in every sight and you know it goes down is a very depressingly reading in one sense but then he says in verse 13 and since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written I believed and therefore I spoke we also believe in therefore speak so in that pressure that Paul is under and he says but God has given me the spirit of faith and that&#39;s tested faith he&#39;s walked with God and he would be martyred eventually we believe but on that journey he learns something far greater than what any of these most teachers of today can never tell you that means if whatever situation you are God is with you and that faith a spirit of faith it&#39;s been released it releases Holy Spirit so while we&#39;re really talking about here you&#39;re not like the Greeks who measure everything based on up psychological state we are not like like like like the Jews who miss her everything by the external obedience we are the people of God who received the spirit of faith actually does transform our our understanding our internal state of mind as well might as a gift from God is the Holy Spirit and but but he doesn&#39;t leave it there also does the work to us because if the Holy Spirit is living within you if you listen to him at all it&#39;s absolutely no chance that there won&#39;t be works it&#39;s absolutely no chance that there won&#39;t be works but his works and I know this is no legalism this is walking in submission do you have any father to look to your Lord your master to your senior partner Holy Spirit so I have country seasons where for days and days and days up to look like I&#39;ve been bombarded with this Perl unbelief is like literally like cars no can do this for you this is going to go go wrong and and the more missions we&#39;ve done them all but to deal with the party cup that God have gone to new place where I just sort of just don&#39;t even listen to it anymore I&#39;m just concentrating on working with God because if I listen to the enemy I will never do what he would what Jesus asked me to do if I listened to my shortcomings I will never do what were what Jesus asked me to do if I live if I even listen to my old mind I want to you what Jesus called me what do I do I listen to the Word of God and I listen to his holy spirit and I&#39;ve become convinced that he probably is right but so I spent 40 minutes nearly just talking about this because I would propose that number one we just say this and then go number one way because gift of faith is a gift from the Lord how do you activate it it really goes down to you&#39;re like Jesus say this one doesn&#39;t come out without brand father without belaboring fasting it really comes from the place of cultivating a lifestyle of prayer and being immersed in the world as well in the sense that when you pray I spend more time not praying the word and I never in my life because I have run out of press so now I come I can have all my prayers I can I can pray the Bible I read the Bible he says before I found you in the moon above I need you know just free that that thank God about it and this is you to go on is it that it gives my prayers have more more firmer footing than just my mom I know that this is the work of anyway that&#39;s that&#39;s it yeah you want to ask something yeah it&#39;s it is basically very simple is and the data it&#39;s just a problem it doesn&#39;t happen like this most things in your life important things take time I mean think about when a baby is born it takes my son is just it&#39;s now 18 and it took him 18 years that become an adult so it&#39;s mouse things and this is I think the problem we have is that we we we confuse disciples they&#39;ve been growing and maturing with legalism we are at the point now where people genuinely believe that they can receive what God has called promised to them without any relationship with the Word of God with all grace yes it is all grace but the Grace and I&#39;m not talking about salvation here but what happens to you if you don&#39;t obey those promptings that the Holy Spirit gives to you you&#39;re not going to get where he asked you to go simple it&#39;s like Jesus is telling you go this way oh no I&#39;m gonna go this way what&#39;s going to happen in his mercy sometimes you look like the world is round and you get you can might get to the same point to disobedience then you get your opinions but your journey will be completely different so it&#39;s like we have and this is kind of at the heart of the problem we have here is that way how do we walk in I think that answer is relationship and I&#39;m not discipleship in a sense of voice discipleship is obviously the relationship because we have the problem we have is that we are trying to I had this like when I was 18 I read the Bible I had to buy the radical sort of was a conversant but call for discipleship I thought let me read the Bible I see what Jesus has asked me to do and let me do it so we we we think that this average is just reading the Bible and to like in ones we read the Bible and then we pray and we do it no no the surface is following Jesus it&#39;s very personal so it&#39;s your is kind of and that is only possible because of the holy spirit of faith as well so like that that journey that he is taking us is individual and unique because you are individual and unique so there is a comparison point with the scripture my dad scripture is covers all the people in all ages the way God is going to express his plan in your life it&#39;s different and it&#39;s in mind but we can see some similarities because of like they talk about a family resemblance with walk with Jesus we did the same Holy spirt but the way he walks in your life will be different so that&#39;s why litera thinks were one-size-fits-all but there are other areas in a life where your God&#39;s plan for your life is completely unique so that&#39;s what I find is that in my life my faith is tested primarily in the area where where he has give me a prophetic word I have a prophetic ministry that&#39;s how God is Custis so he&#39;s testing it am i faithful to like basically about situations where over and over and over again where you know they know what I don&#39;t know how I&#39;m gonna get you this and but I do know that this is what you asked me to do and it looks impossible to me and then I say what&#39;s the worst thing that could happen and say actually let&#39;s leave this day and let&#39;s not turn away from the Lord from the way that Lord show me and then even if I did get it wrong they all knows that so it&#39;s it&#39;s it&#39;s a you if God asks you to what would were the vision you have if God&#39;s asking you to move this mountain he will build the program for you in relationship to the mountain in a sense so I have not been asked to move like we all will have our mountains what&#39;s the mountain goddess ask you to move and it&#39;s your faith journey it&#39;s oftentimes in their relationship to that mountain no another mountain in somebody else&#39;s life so I find that faithless released in my life for certain things in relation to the revelation that God has given to me but as we see like with Abraham God speaks to him and then he makes the journey just a moment when he actually is ready to give his all to what God has promised he&#39;s kind of obtained because he&#39;s deciding that if God has promised that I will have Nations to Isaac then even when I bring him to the altar somehow I will have family to Isaac which means that maybe God will resurrect him from the dead that&#39;s extreme faith I&#39;ve got it daddy this is an extreme example of faith and that indeed we are meant to this kind of things today but have you say that I think God visits those things in their life from time to time which we would never consider to be our idols so I don&#39;t have much more to say about it but I just want to pray if anybody have any questions at the appetizer we&#39;ve only ten minutes but I think what I&#39;m trying to say that but it&#39;s after the beginning I think because our creeks sort of Western background we most of us we are trying to message the wrong thing where we&#39;re measuring faith so I get this like let&#39;s say for example I had months and months when we started working in the Middle East I had months and months vary throughout have days where 810 hours my mind would just be continually bombarded with all sorts of attacks so what that was in the middle of a time way I was doing something the moment you know my computer&#39;s broke down all sorts of things happened I had to I remember I had I was typesetting these books hidden into Arabic act month of relentless pain here because I&#39;m saying normally I&#39;ve got like this the holes beside this is not natural and I said okay popped another painkiller for a month the moment I released that file one month of pain to Spanish he was and then I had to touch those files again same thing happened and I for another week okay thank God we have moved on and I&#39;m doing the same thing again but I think we want that Pacha program sort of so we don&#39;t go to those things but between then and now the amount of Prayer like I was asking God this question maybe I&#39;m not answering my own question here I was asking God why do you call me to an amped-up this is not boasting because this is not me why do you wake me up every night Trillo cook for a couple to pray for a couple of hours I want to sleep so me I am telling God I went to sleep and he says no your lack of sleep so he stopped me praying anymore so me praying anymore is the Holy sprit because I&#39;m resisting the Holy Spirit but if he kicks your backside we pray and then I realized as we were doing this I would go to like in the morning something would happen and like that prayer time would give me that ability to make the right decision for the projects and that I would have to I would have the answer question would come a problem would come when I would in 10 minutes I would solve it because the bachelor was not dealing with my mind by this a spiritual battle so I thought okay if that&#39;s the way God you want to do this work as long as you wake me up I will actually didn&#39;t have really a choice to you do so I&#39;m trying to say so I&#39;ve been in this journey for last two years where you realize that the amount of prayer you put into that&#39;s a counter you working isn&#39;t this isn&#39;t this you who are supposed to do it all why am i praying so much why is SMS wrestling what is going on and I go back into this race I&#39;m realize actually yeah maybe we are wrestling with principalities maybe there is a place where you don&#39;t receive what you receive by Evan Lewis he was was a senior minister of this house before colony he said you&#39;ll only pray for something three times because that&#39;s what Paul did and so like if you didn&#39;t receive it at times you&#39;ve just like okay I didn&#39;t make your point but that I see if you don&#39;t mix faith into your prayers then but actually when Paul prayed for three times I don&#39;t think he just prayed once it&#39;s like okay God at least I think what Paul is talking was intensive periods of seeking the Lord so this whole idea that comes from them because again going back to sort of the prayer there are situations where God releases healing just like that but that spiritual lifestyle that&#39;s happening behind is what you see somebody maybe with pray for something on stage and that&#39;s what you see if it&#39;s real that&#39;s not what happened that&#39;s what you see if it&#39;s real then this person would have thought the Lord it didn&#39;t just turn up and say you know what that&#39;s not the way it works sometimes it can happen up child price for somebody and I know we do have faith etc but by and large over a long period of time if you want to have a ministry no sister one random happening with God is meeting somebody&#39;s need by because something else break for that person and you just happened to be on the site so often like I have healing stories but I&#39;m so humbled by the fact that I know that most of those healing stories somebody prayed for this person for 10 years 5 years 2 years 3 months I happened to be on site I just sort of randomly say the words but it&#39;s not Maya prayers that are being a sorcery you should always be humble when God is using us in most cases when amazing things have happened in my life is a back story somebody else&#39;s brain somewhere so I don&#39;t try to explain how God works to that but this way but what Jesus says this one doesn&#39;t come out without Brandon fasting and I first we see he&#39;s not praying at that moment in that moment he says commanding but so the prayer has happened before so that is the way the primary way is prayer but it&#39;s not just prayer because if you don&#39;t have the word in your life you were praying for funny things so you want to feed your prayer with the Word of God because then half of the prayers you like like you pray for a long time God freaking out and say how we gonna pay our bills on different things you know we goddess chalasis we done things that are beyond our ability financially in our family I could write a book about them alone but they always let us such as where I feel I&#39;m in luck in the shortage and then I&#39;d realize that most of the time I&#39;m praying for what he&#39;s already promised when I take the book he&#39;s saying don&#39;t worry do not be anxious do not fear I&#39;ll meet your need so I&#39;m praying for what he&#39;s already promised but that&#39;s the moment when you take him to apply faith so I&#39;m you begin to read that Scripture rather than asking for what he&#39;s already promised to give to you you begin to thank God what he is promised and you say God help my unbelief because I don&#39;t believe what you&#39;re telling me can you see it&#39;s like that&#39;s why the Word of God is so important because I spent probably yes praying for things that he&#39;s already promised it was bother to read the Bible I have just thank God I moved on the other things and so anyway let&#39;s just pray briefly I take it most of your time but I hope that it&#39;s been useful I have your father witnessed here before your word and marveling at your word marveling at were cheated marveling at what your disciples did and also learning hopefully from their mistakes father I parrot age 100 meters through would always hold the Word of God dear and precious father I pray that as we read your word faith would be released you just pray for that release of the spirit of faith today father father we pray that you would not be measuring the wrong things and I will be measuring what you&#39;ve asked us to measure Lord according to your word her father seems to mean also the time you&#39;re asking us about our intentions you&#39;re asking us about what we have actually done and we know that&#39;s also your gift father we just pray that that spirit of faith has also spirit of obedience spirit of submitting to your will father that partnership and he called us to walk in the Holy Spirit would be released onto us afresh validus press for press sensitivity to your holy spirit in this room first sensitivity your commands fresh sensitivity to your ways fresh sensitivity to your word fresh sensitivity our promptings but because our faith is just a response to you and we come to you this morning with submit G father father which every school we are on whichever class be on in the school of fate today father I pray today father and this word has just been shared would provide at least and as for partial answer to their needs today in the name of Jesus I pray that you would teach each one of us to fight the right way fight the right way in our lives today father to fight the right battle father I can see the enemy I think that them I&#39;m sorry I&#39;m going to switch it off battle see how do you write how do you fight the wrong battle your life is when you&#39;re focused on what God has not called you to be focused on it doesn&#39;t mean I&#39;m doing I&#39;m doing so I am doing doctoral research in a university completely secular I&#39;m not saying that you test is all about the Bible school all about reading the Bible but what is the fight a God has called you to be in what other words he has broken over life but the enemy has an amazing ability to distract you divert your attention you&#39;re wasting your time on things which are not really relevant sometimes they&#39;re things that God has already promised to release into your life sometimes it&#39;s just a wrong way so I always say this do you everybody when I get to heaven Jesus doesn&#39;t say I will never have this I would lose this conversation if I say she just said why didn&#39;t do this and I say my pastor or somebody as telogen convinced me enough to do it and then said Jesus says what did I say we will be just by his words not by the words of me not by the words of of anybody on earth ah judgment will be based on the words of Jesus so if the words of Jesus are not central in your life you might be in trouble I don&#39;t think I&#39;ve been jumping the Last Judgement even to be honest but in a sense you might be wasting your time because if what he told us is not important to us do we truly love him it doesn&#39;t mean that we can deliver it which is another ballgame because TV this is not calling us under the law because he has finished her work it&#39;s given us His Holy Spirit but if we don&#39;t live in a relationship to the words of Jesus so I parry or decree I go back on the Sermon on the Mount that&#39;s what Jesus said it doesn&#39;t mean it&#39;s the law but if I would recommend every Minister to read to summoned amount at least once once it was in the courtrooms I&#39;m glad see what she is saying because it&#39;s you know when we talk about we say make disciples they focus on make a commanded us to go and make disciples and what does it mean just teach them to keep all that Jesus asked them to do the cycle ship is not just about let me make the service unless we make disciples who are and we&#39;re teaching them to do what Jesus told us to do and actually making disciples for Jesus making disciples for something else so I go back there and I am I am challenged challenged every single time were examined about I become very small and my god comes great and you take you to a place of humility where you read it&#39;s the program of Jesus this is how far I am but let me at least try to read divert my life towards what he says because if I&#39;m not I&#39;m not really taking him seriously that&#39;s the problem with the Western Church because we are scared of the words of Jesus because we think that beat up his legalism but that he never left us alone with those words he walks with us so that&#39;s it for today I think that&#39;s FN

Transcript for:Receiving a Gift of Faith

Transcript for:
Receiving a Gift of Faith