The 4 Building Blocks of Faith: Your Ultimate Step-by-Step Tool

Every mechanical device has components that must fit together and work together in order to do the task it was created to do.

While the number of components may vary, there is one factor that is consistent. Each component must work as designed to coordinate with the other components for the device to work properly. From a complicated item, like a space station, to a simple device, like the stapler sitting on your desk, every object, regardless of its complexity, can malfunction if one part is missing or doesn’t function correctly.

So it is with faith. Faith has four basic components as described in the Word with each being essential for faith to function. I call them the four building blocks of faith.

I recognize that most of the concepts in the Four Building Blocks of Faith have at least been mentioned earlier, but because they are such important concepts, they are discussed here again so that all of the information is together in a concise teaching format on faith.

Building Block #1 - You must know that God cannot lie.

During the early years of my ministry, I attended a meeting of 300 Christian leaders who gathered from around the world. I was young and not well-known, but the meeting was at a convention center near my ministry. Because of my friendship with a few ministers who were attending, I was invited even though this meeting was not advertised or open to the public. The purpose was to share the Word of God on an apostolic level. I was greatly honored to even be in the room with these great men of God.

Early one day before the morning meeting, I got on the elevator and to my amazement one of my great heroes of the faith, Dr. T.L. Osborn, was the only person in the elevator. He was the featured speaker for the morning session as well as the evening session. Either the elevator quit working or time was suspended, because in that short God-moment in the elevator, Dr. Osborn shared with me what God had put on his heart. He imparted to me two truths that changed my life and ministry forever.

He told me the title of his morning message was God Cannot Lie, and the text for this message was Titus 1:2 and Hebrews 6:18. Then he shared with me his title for the evening message. It was entitled Satan is a Liar. His text for that message was going to be John 8:44 where Jesus stated clearly that Satan was a liar and there was no truth in him.

During this time, digital media was not yet available so everything was recorded on reel-to-reel or cassette tapes. I took those two sermons and listened to them over and over again.

That was when I began to realize that the teaching that God cannot lie is a foundational truth that is required for faith. Without this understanding, faith can never be attained.

If it is possible that one word spoken from the mouth of God could be untrue, then every word spoken by Him would be in question. In other words, to walk in the power of God with faith, you must believe unconditionally that every word of God is true and not up for debate or to be questioned, but it must be accepted immediately and assuredly. This is the first building block of faith.

Building Block # 2 - You must know the Word of God.

Once you have established in your heart the unwavering reality that you do believe God’s Word, the next step is to know what God says. There are those who say they believe God and believe what He has said in His Word, but they have not actually read the Holy Bible in its entirety, not even once. Sadly, many church-attending Christians only have a few scriptures they live by and sometimes these are even taken out of context. The bottom line is this: if you are committed to believing what someone says, you must know what that someone said.

In the book of Hosea, God said that His people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). This knowledge is not referring to world events or to secular scholastic studies, but to the knowledge of His Word. Paul the apostle encouraged the church to study in order to show themselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15). God’s Word is not to be a casual document glanced over or only understood by reading a paraphrased review, but God’s Word should be meditated on so the Holy Spirit can reveal to you the depth of the heart of God.

Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. This one passage is the only passage in the entire Bible that clearly tells us how faith comes. Faith does not come by hearing the news. Faith does not come from a testimony. Testimonies can bring encouragement and be uplifting, but faith only comes when the Word of God is revealed in the heart. Someone may say, “But I’ve heard testimonies that build my faith.” This is possible, but only when the testimony contains the Word of God, because it is the Word of God within the testimony that builds faith. The testimony itself only brings encouragement. How do I know this? Because I believe the Word, and the Word says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Building Block #3 - You must speak His Word.

When God created man, He created man in His own likeness and His own image. Image has to do with appearance, while likeness refers to resemblance of action. In other words, God created mankind to look like and act like Him. While we are not created to be God, as His children we are told to imitate Him (Ephesians 5:1). God created the universe by speaking it into existence. God said, “Let there be light,” (Genesis 1:3) and there was light.

The Hebrew word for let there be light is or which is literally rendered light be or light is. When God stepped into the darkness, He proclaimed that the light was when it wasn’t. He proclaimed what He wanted to exist as though it did exist. By doing this, what wasn’t visible became visible, and there was light. The Bible says it this way: “He calls those things that do not exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17). He knew that when He spoke, He would have whatever He said. God is a faith God. Likewise, we are to be faith people who call things that do not exist as though they did.

When Jesus was talking to His disciples in Mark 11:22, He told them to have faith in God, or we could say to have the Godkind of faith. Then He went on to tell them that if they would speak to the mountain and believe in their heart that what they said would come to pass, they would have whatever they said.

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says (Mark 11:23).

In my life I’ve heard hundreds of sermons on this passage, and most theologians have taught that faith is believing that when you speak to the mountain, the mountain will be moved. But look closely at what Jesus actually said. He said, “If you speak to the mountain and believe that the words you say will come to pass, then you will have whatever you say.” The mountain being moved into the sea is the result of believing in the power of your words spoken in faith.

Your words enter the spirit realm. When the Hebrews were in the wilderness, they grumbled about Moses while they were in their tents. The Bible says that their words entered God’s presence and made Him angry (Deuteronomy 1:34).

Most Christians do not realize the power of the words they speak, but even though the power may be unrecognized, it is still there. That’s why Jesus cautioned the Pharisees to be watchful of every word they spoke, whether it was intentional or not and whether they gave it any meaning or not. He called those “idle words” and said that men would have to give account for every word in the day of judgment. He also said they would be justified or condemned by those very words (Matthew 12:36-37).

Faith knows and believes God’s Word so strongly that everything that is spoken aligns itself with the belief in the heart. When we know and believe that God’s Word is true, then from our heart we speak as though it is already accomplished, even though we may not see the full manifestation with our eyes. Again, if God’s Word says one thing and we see something else, our words must align with God’s promise instead of with the circumstances.

Proverbs 6:2 says that we are snared by the words of our mouth. Too often, Christians are tempted to speak what they see. When they see a circumstance that looks bad or when they hear a bad report, they casually speak what they’ve seen or repeat what they’ve heard. Sadly, too many Christians have become so dulled by the world that the promises of God seem like wishful thinking rather than an established truth.

I’ve often heard the phrase, “I just speak it the way I see it.” While that may sound logical and like you’re speaking truth, in reality, it’s only the facts of the circumstance being spoken. The truth of God, spoken by faith, can change the circumstances and make the visible facts irrelevant.

Imagine if God had used this line of thinking when He stepped into the darkness. Instead of saying, “Let there be light,” He would have said, “Oh my goodness, it’s dark,” and the result would have been darkness instead of light. God received what He spoke because He calls things that be not as though they were (Romans 4:17 KJV). We as His children created in His image and likeness are to imitate Him (Ephesians 5:1). So we must call things that be not as though they are, also.

Through the years, I have had people approach me to tell me that while they were standing in faith, they were calling those things that be not as though they were. I remember asking a man, “If you’re calling those things that be not as though they are, then what is your confession?” This man, who had sickness in his body, responded, “My confession is, ‘I am not sick.’” He was shocked when I told him his so-called faith confession was not a confession of faith, but rather a statement of denial.

While he thought he was calling the thing that was not as though it was, in reality he was calling the thing that was as though it was not. Instead of proclaiming that he was healed (faith), he was doing exactly the opposite by saying he was not sick (denial).

We are to call into existence the promise we have been given which is faith. Our proclamation that the attack has not come or that we do not see a problem is denial. This one thing alone is a very subtle attempt by the enemy to confuse our speech to make people believe they are confessing the promise, when they actually are not. Denying the problem is not the same as confessing the promise.

Jesus clearly told us to speak to the mountain and believe in our heart. If you see a mountain in your path, don’t stand there and say, “There is no mountain in my path!” That line of thinking will hinder you from speaking to the mountain and taking the authority that you have been given. After all, how can you speak to a mountain that you are confessing isn’t there?

Building Block #4 - You must act on His Word.

In his letter to the church, James, the brother of Jesus, gave instructions on how faith works. He told them very clearly that faith without works is dead (James 2:26). In other words, faith must be living and active. Throughout my life, I have encountered many people who say one thing but do something else. In order for faith to function, our actions must reflect the belief in our heart and our confessions.

The work of faith is revealed in our daily lives through the fruit of the Spirit. If we truly believe the Word of God, our lives will be overflowing with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). When our relationships with our friends, family, and neighbors are founded on the fruit of the Spirit, then the work of faith is fully mature in our lives. As a result, we will find joy in giving as well as thinking of others more highly than ourselves. The ultimate work of faith is the manifestation of godly love in our lives.

Your Hope is Your Rope

When you feel like you’re falling with no way out of your situation, you desperately look for something to hold onto, something you can grasp that will sustain you and keep you from destruction until you can find firm footing on which to stand.

Your hope is the rope that you cling to when you are falling. Your hope appears as you believe in the promise that God has given you. As you’re holding onto the rope of hope, dangling above the destruction, you must continue to believe and speak God’s promise. As you do, building blocks of faith are being put together inches below your feet.

As you continue without wavering in your belief and confession while holding onto your rope (hope), the foundation continues to be built. At some point the building blocks of faith will touch your feet and you will be able to walk in the deliverance God has provided.

First comes knowing without seeing, but as you continue to hold onto your hope, it develops into knowing and seeing. Faith is the substance you experience by walking on what in the beginning you couldn’t see, because it wasn’t there. But through your confession of hope, it becomes the visible substance of your deliverance.