Your Personal Faith

By Troy J. Edwards

And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. (Mark 5:25-34).

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. (1 Cor. 2:5).

One night after teaching a Bible class at the church I attended, I several people approached to me to ask some questions. One man asked, "If I pray for a sinner will that sinner get healed by my faith or will the person have to have faith for his or her self?"

Before I could answer the question another couple that was beside me blurted out, "It's not your faith that gets people healed, it's God that does the healing." I turned around and quietly explained to them that faith is involved in the healing process with one exception, the gifts of healing being in operation (When the gifts of healing are being manifested the recipient need not have faith). I then turned back to the first man to answer his question.

We are often caught up in using "theologically correct" terminology in our Christian circles. Semantics too often plays a heavy part in how we judge the beliefs of others. We do these things to the detriment of missing the Spirit of God. Far too often if the Holy Spirit is not moving according to our theological terms we often assume that it is another spirit.

Whenever I have the opportunity to teach on faith I usually begin by teaching that God is the object of our faith (Acts 27:25; Psalms 89:33). There has been an expression used in the Faith Movement (which I consider myself a part) that says "have faith in your own faith." I have never disagreed with this statement. What the man of God is trying to say in so many words is, "Get into the Word of God for yourself, build your own faith and prayer life, and stop depending on others to do your praying and believing for you."

Lazy Christians too often rely on the minister to pray and trust God for the their healing or other physical needs. They never attempt to develop a relationship with God for themselves. They are constantly depending on someone else to have faith in God for them. Basically, they have faith in some other person's faith and are not trusting God for themselves. It reminds me of the kids who always rely on their older brother to, "ask Mom if we can have some cookies," or "Ask Dad if we can go outside to play." Instead of this child approaching their parents on their own, they depend on one of their siblings to ask for them.

Each Christian has been distributed a measure of faith by the Holy Spirit when he or she received the new birth (Rom. 12:3). The lesson that every Christian must learn is to develop that measure of faith that they received (Matt. 9:29). This is what is meant by "having faith in your faith."

E.W. Kenyon, who along with Faith teacher Kenneth Hagin, has been severely criticized for making this statement. However, Kenyon did not make this statement without an explanation of exactly what he meant. In his book, "The Two Kinds of Faith," Kenyon says, "Faith in your faith is th law of success in the realm of the spirit.....As the Word gains the ascendancy, there will be an unconscious faith in your own ability to trust Him. You will trust Him utterly, you will go to the limit of His Word. Faith is a problem only when we do not know the Lord and we do not know the Word."[1]

So we see that when Kenyon and other faith teacher's statements are taken within context then we have no problems ascertaining the orthodoxy of them. It is only when we pull such statements out of context that they begin to sound heretical.

Nevertheless, I caution against using such a statement unless it is explained fully. Too many Christians have taken a statement made by a faith teacher and have taken it to dangerous extremes that the teacher himself never intended. Due to these extremes extracted from the otherwise legitimate faith message so many have forgotten the object of their faith, Jesus Himself. Many years ago I read a book by a great man of faith, the late John Osteen. In this book, Pastor Osteen was dismayed that there were some who preached on faith and did not once mention God in their message.

I have personally witnessed some arrogants in Christians who make boastful statements such as "My faith got me this." or "I used my faith and got that house." These "testimonies" are glorifying the testifier and not the One in whom they were to have placed their faith in.

God receives no credit when we make such statements. Such testimonies glorify faith rather than it's object, God Himself. They are giving praise to their own ability to obtain blessings and not glorifying the blesser who bestowed it upon them. It is not only the statements that are made but also the attitude in which they are made.

Not everyone who makes the statements I have mentioned are attempting to glorify themselves. I have heard others who have made the same statements but within the same sentence proclaimed, "God really blessed me, praise God." My criticism is not aimed at these sincere Christians. They recognized that it was their personal faith that God honored. They recognized that God faith is what pleases God (Heb. 11:6). The ones I am criticizing are those who believe that faith and confession are magic formulas to get their heart's desires.

God acknowledges personal faith. A number of times, when someone was healed delivered, or saved through Jesus ministry, He gave credit to their faith. He told them that it was their faith that enabled them to receive the blessing (Mark 10:52; Luke 7:50; 17:19; 18:8). Therefore, when we say "my faith," we should concern ourselves with exactly what or who are we having faith in.

Faith must have an object. When it comes to the blessings of God one cannot put his faith in himself, his pastor or his favorite Bible teacher. As we read 1 Cor. 2:5, we see that Paul did not want the Corinthians to put their faith in his or any other man's wisdom. He wanted them to have faith in the power of God. You cannot seperate God from His power because He is all powerful. If you put your God given faith in anyone else besides God you are sure to be defeated in life. It's a guarantee.

In Mark 5:25-34 we learn several lessons about using the personal faith that God has given us. One of the first lessons we can learn is to acknowledge our problem. This woman, though she went to the physicians first, did recognize that she had a problem. Let us look at verses 25 and 26 of this chapter:

And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse (vv. 25, 26)

This woman knew that there was a problem in her life. Many Christian also recognize that they have problems. However, too many Christians have seem to believe that the message of faith means denying the problem you desire to overcome. No wonder some critics seem to equate the Faith message with that of the "mind science" teachings. So many Faith people attempt to deny that they even have a problem. Instead of acknowledging their problem (sickness, lack of finances, troubled marriage, etc.), they go right in to their so called "faith confession," thinking that this will make the problem go away.

If this person is asked, "Are you sick?" They will say, "No, I'm not sick, I'm healed." Yet the person is lying on the bed coughing, weezing, and blowing their noses. This is not faith. Faith does not deny physical reality. FAITH RECOGNIZES THAT THE WORD OF GOD OVERRIDES PHYSICAL REALITY (Heb. 11:1; Rom. 4:11-25; 2 Cor. 4:18; 5:7). For example, if we are sick, and we know that the Bible tells us that healing belongs to us (1 Pet. 2:24; Matt. 8:17; Isa. 53:4-5) then we will pray accordingly: "Father, I am being attacked with sickness but your Word promises me healing. I ask you for it and I thank you for it in Jesus name, amen." Then when someone asks, "Are you sick?" then your proper confession should be, "Yes, I am sick (from a physical standpoint), but I have already prayed and claimed the promise of the scriptures so by faith I believe that I am healed."

One need not emulate me word for word in making the above confession. We must all be led by the Spirit of God when testifying to others concerning our faith in God's promises. Nonetheless, we should be careful that we do not lie about our circumstances, in the false belief that we are making a "faith confession." Denying our circumstances will not get us healed any quicker. Acknowledge the problem to God, and then trust Him for the deliverance.

One more extra tidbit of information that we find in this passage of scripture: We put our trust in God and not medical science. I will never tell a Christian not to see a doctor nor to ever take medicine. That is between each individual and God. However, I will tell you to trust God for the healing and not the doctor or medicine. Doctors are wonderful but as we can see in this case, they do not possess perfect knowledge. Let us put God first and receive our blessings.

There are other vital truths to be extracted from Mark 5:25-34. Verse 27 teaches us the importance of listening to the Word of God. It is by hearing that we receive the faith to claim our what belongs to us:

When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. (v. 27).

In order for faith to be developed, one must hear something. The scriptures teach us how we can appropriate faith: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom. 10:17). This can come through the preaching and teaching of the Word and meditating upon the Word of God ourselves (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2). Remember this, FAITH WILL NOT WORK APART FROM THE WORD OF GOD.

Hearing is very important to the operation of your personal faith. When the Bible talks about "hearing" it is not just talking about listening to something one time. Just because we listened to someone teach the Word of God or read the Bible for ourselves does not mean we necessarily "heard" according to Romans 10:17.

The attitude we take in "hearing" makes all of the difference. We must hear with the attitude of believing that it is for us. We must "hear" as though it can mean the difference between life and death. We must hear not with our flesh but with our spiritual ear (Matt. 11:15; 13:9-16, 43). We must allow our "hearing" to penetrate the depths of our inner man so that after we have heard, there will be no doubt that the thing which was spoken is our's to receive.

This woman obviously heard about the healing ministry of Jesus. She knew that He was full of the Holy Spirit and power (Acts 10:38). She was determined to receive healing whether Jesus laid hands on her or she just touched His clothes. This woman demonstrated true faith. However, in order for her to have this faith she had to hear something.

God's Word is full of promises for the believer. We should study God's Word as though it was a personal letter from our Father to us individually. We should make those promises personal in our lives. Then we will have no problem trusting God to supply our needs.

Once we have heard then we must take the next step that this woman took which was to make the proper confession concerning that which she had heard. If we have truly heard the Word and we have allowed it to penetrate our innermost being then it will lead to speaking:

For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. (v. 28)

This woman spoke confidently. Notice that this woman said something. The words of her mouth lined up with the faith in her heart. Notice she did not say, "I might be made whole" or "I hope to made whole." She had confidence that when she took the action necessary, God would meet her need. Faith in God will lead to proper speaking. We cannot say that we are believing God if our mouths are speaking contrary to His Word.

We have stated in this lesson that we are never to deny our circumstances but acknowledge them. However, on the other side of that coin we are never to magnify our circumstances above the Word of God. We have already shown the reader an example of a confession that neither denies our circumstances or puts God's Word in second place. As we allow the Word of God to become rooted in our hearts we will learn to make the proper confession. Whatever is in our hearts will come out of our mouths (Matt. 12:34-35).

When we confess the Word then we should not try to make something happen. This is the mistake that too many people make. They either think that confession is the magic formula that makes things appear or they try to make it happen themselves. For example someone may confess, "My God supplies all of my needs according to His riches and glory through Christ Jesus." Yet, this same individual will go out and borrow the money without any direction or leading from God. The best thing to do is to leave the results to God. Look at verse 29:

And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague (v.29)

As we continue to see from our Biblical example, God can do a much better job of manifesting the results of our faith in the physical than we ever could. It may be our faith that influenced God to move but we must remember this, GOD DOES THE MOVING. Our faith is simply the motivating factor as far as God is concerned. That is why we cannot become prideful when it comes to living by faith. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5).

For example, the person who says, "My faith did this or that." is not really honoring God. They are bragging about how much faith they have. I would rather say, "God did this for me," Than to brag about my faith. Then I will know for sure that God will move again when there is another need in my life.

In teaching the above we do not want to go to other extreme in thinking that God requires nothing of us. There is a part that the Believer plays in receiving from God. God requires some action to be taken on our part if we expect Him to do what He has promised:

And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? (v. 30)

Jesus recognized that some power had gone out of Him. Why did this power go out of Him? Because someone had touched Him. If no one had ever touched Him with the touch of faith then He would never had asked the question. Allow me to throw in another piece of information: Many theologians believe that Jesus possessed all of His divine attributes while here on earth such as omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. However, if this were true He would not have needed to ask this question. All the wonderful works that Jesus did were done through the power of the Holy Spirit while He walked the earth (Acts 10:38).

Though He was and is God, He stripped Himself of His Godly attributes while on earth and walked as a man just like you and I (Phil. 2:6-8). In this case we see that Jesus did not have his omniscience (all knowledge) while He walked upon the earth. This should encourage us to know that we can be conformed to His image and do the same works that He did (John 14:12).

The woman with the issue of blood took all of the proper steps: she acknowledged her problem, she heard the solution to her problem, she confessed the word concerning her solution, she put the results of her faith in the hands of God. Yet, this was not enough. She also needed to take the proper action required.

God may require different acts of faith for each individual in order to see the fulfillment of His promise. He may require some to get off of the sickbed, or run, or just fulfill the condition that is attached to some promise in scripture. Yet there must be some action to our faith as this woman displayed. Many people have dead faith because there is no action. Some people have actions with no faith. They are both dead (James 2:20; Heb. 6:1). In this same passage of scripture we see some examples of dead faith:

And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? (v. 31)

There was a multitude thronging Jesus. Many were touching Him. Yet only one individual received something. Why is this? It is because the others had dead actions. This woman did not wait for personal recognition from the servant of God. She went for all that she knew. As we mentioned earlier, we often want the preacher to have faith for us. We must be as the woman who had the issue of blood and live by our own personal faith [in God] and not someone else's.

The crowd that was thronging Jesus was simply looking for the spectacular. They were the type of people who were fascinated by seeing things happen. There is nothing wrong with wanting to see God move in the miraculous except watching dynamic displays of God's power does not draw us any closer to God than we were before. If we desire to only see spectacular moves of God then we will certainly miss the supernatural touch of God upon our lives. The woman with the issue of blood was not looking for a show. She was expecting to receive. And she most certainly did.

We can see from Mark 5 a characteristic of this woman that distinguishes her from the rest of the people in the crowd. This characteristic had a major part to play in her personal faith. She had an awe and a reverence for God:

And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. (vv. 32-33)

Your personal faith should be accompanied with a fear or a reverence for God. The scripture tells us that we should come boldly before the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16). However, this is with boldness, not ARROGANCE.

God does not want us to be afraid of Him as we approach His throne to receive His mercy and grace. The woman was certainly bold in the fact that she dared to move her way through a thronging crowd to receive her healing. Yet after she received her blessing she did not forget who she was dealing with as many of us do. She was dealing with God Himself.

Many of us feel that we can talk to God disrespectfully. This should not be done. He is our Father. I did not have the most perfect parents in the world yet I respected them. I did not talk to them in just any manner for fear of discipline. When I received something from them it was always with an attitude of gratitude.

As important as it is to have knowledge of faith, it is equally important to know the fear of the Lord. I do not believe in a true heart faith that is not accompanied with a true reverence for God. The crowd that was thronging Jesus had no reverence for Him or they would not have been thronging Him. They would have known who they were dealing with.

If desire that our faith will work, we will have to be as this woman and have a fear of God. Once we have fulfilled all of the conditions as this woman did then we can expect to receive this personal acknowledgement from Jesus Himself:

And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. (v. 34)

The last lesson that we should learn here is LET GOD BRAG ABOUT OUR FAITH, NOT US! It is not necessary for us to tell others, "My faith did this or my faith did that." Let God do that for you. You glorify God by giving Him the credit for the blessings received. He, on the other hand will confess before men, devil, and angels how your faith in Himself saw you through.

God will not move apart from your faith. It is necessary for you to have your own personal faith. But your faith must be in the power of God.

A summary of the lessons we have learned: acknowledge the problem, hear the word, confess the word, leave the results in God's hands, take the actions required, make sure that we are not having dead faith or dead actions, have a fear of God, and lastly, let God acknowledge our faith.

Being a doer of God's Word and following the many examples that the Holy Spirit has given us in scripture will enable us to live victorious lives for Christ Jesus. Amen.

Notes

1. Kenyon, E.W. The Two Kinds of Faith (Lynnwood, WA: Kemyon's Gospel Publishing Society, 1969) p. 36

E-mail: victoryword@yahoo.com

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