7 Keys to Faith That Gets Results

Why does there seem to be a gap between what we say we believe and what we actually see?

Why does the supernatural promised to us sometimes seem so elusive? What is this thing we call faith?

It is essential that we define faith correctly. A wrong definition can cause a misappropriation or misapplication of the thing defined. Let me begin with what faith is not. Faith is not something I do to move God. God moved two thousand years ago… His work is a finished work (John 19:40; Ephesians 1:22– 23; 2 Peter 1:3). I Am not waiting on God; God is waiting on me!

One of the biggest problems of New Covenant Christianity is that we are New Covenant believers living in Old Covenant practices. In the Old Covenant, people did things to move God. In the New Covenant, we reinforce by faith what Jesus has already done.

Faith is also not an intellectual agreement or the assent to true facts. Instead, faith is a heart thing (Romans 10:9–10). Faith is not mentally assenting to what is said to be true.

So…what is faith? For years, I defined faith like this: Faith is the principle whereby man taps into the creative power of God, which can transform situations, conditions, and circumstances in the natural realm. Faith is that quality that allows a person to tap into the unseen resources of the Kingdom of God. It acquires everything the finished work of Jesus Christ has provided. Faith is the power of the Gospel that provides the fullness of the Gospel in salvation.

Look at Romans 1:16–17: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed” (NIV). This is by faith to faith. What first strikes me about this is that it is Paul who is saying, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.” There is no indication that Paul has ever been ashamed of the Gospel. Why would he make such a comment? It is because others came behind Paul’s teaching and were distorting his definition of the “Gospel.” The word Gospel means “good news” (Strong’s G2097, G2098) … or as one scholar put it, the nearly-too-good-to-be-true news. The Gospel is such good news that it is hard to believe it is actually true. It is the Gospel of “salvation.” This term saved does not just mean that we get to go to heaven someday. The concept of salvation means “to save, heal, health, deliver, protect, to do well (prosper), to make whole” (Strong’s G4991). One expositor suggests it means or depicts someone or something on the verge of death, but then is resuscitated or revived.8 Salvation is an all-encompassing concept that affords a believer wholeness in body, soul, and spirit. If allowed to fully express itself, it is the author of revival.

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with leaders around the world about the conspicuous lack of the expression of faith in the Body of Christ. While in concept it may seem like a basic to veterans in the Church, there is something missing among God’s people. I do not care if you have got every verse on “faith” underlined in your Bible until it looks like a coloring book. There are countless believers who are living beneath their privileges. It is time for breakthrough! It is time for the Gospel to fully express itself in revival!

How does the Gospel that is the power of God unto salvation come? It is by faith to faith. It begins in faith and culminates in our living out faith. This is why it is important to properly understand what faith is. I came to realize this definition that I used for years only told people what faith does, not what faith is. The word faith is primarily “trust, trustworthy, trustful, or persuasion” (Strong’s G4100, G4102). Faith trusts the trustworthiness of God.

What does this mean practically for us? We must trust the character and motive of God.

In the simplest way I can communicate this, it means, I trust in the:

• Character of God: God’s character is such that He cannot lie (Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:2). In fact, it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18). If God said (says) it, that settles it. I simply need to trust that is true.

• Motive of God: His motive is love…pure and simple! In fact, God does not just love; He is love (1 John 4:16). He cannot do anything other than love. He always has your best in mind. (I wish there was space to fully explain this!) Simply, trust that it is true.

If you believe this, it makes faith easy. God says it, and that settles it…and He has got my best in mind. Now, my response is to understand His promises and appropriated by faith and patience (Hebrews 6:12). It is interesting that the writer of Hebrews says we receive His promises by trusting His character and His motives with patience. This would imply some manifestations of the Kingdom of God come immediately, and others come over a period of time… I simply stand trusting Him through the persuasion of my heart.

It is essential that we define faith correctly. A wrong definition can cause a misunderstanding or misappropriation of God’s Kingdom operation. So let us apply this definition to how God defines faith in Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (NKJV). So, Hebrews 11 tells us what faith is:

1. Now

I have heard lots of people say, faith is “now.” If it is not “now,” then it is not faith. This word in Greek is simply a conjunction that means “now, but, moreover, or since then” (Strong’s G1161). It connects us to Hebrews 10:39: “But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved” (NIV). Since that is true, what is faith?

2. Faith

Since I will not be dissuaded in my pursuit of God, I trust in the character and motive of God. I know we have previously gone through this, but do not gloss over it. Do not settle for intellectual agreement. Let this get down in your heart. I trust what God says; He cannot lie. I know He has my best in mind.

3. Substance

This word means “tangible, reality, foundation, substructure, title deed, substance, substantiates, assurance, inventory” (Strong’s G51287). Faith is not ethereal; it is substantive. Faith is the undergirding of the finished work of Christ for you. It is the title deed. I might not be able to see it presently, but it is proof of what I possess. If I have the title deed to a piece of land in Florida and I am in Oklahoma, it is proof of what I own. Faith is an inventory. Inventory is a detailed listing of one’s possessions. It is estimated that the Word of God contains over seven thousand promises that are our possession by grace. It is this inventory that creates an expectation in us. Expectation creates a corresponding action (James 2:14) to appropriate what is ours. It also means substantiates. The idea of substantiates is “to establish evidence, to prove, verify, assurance, to give substantial form, to make real” (Strong’s G5285).

4. Things

The term used here is the Greek term pragma. It means “a thing already done or previously accomplished fact.” There is an inventory with my name written on it of what God has already accomplished by grace. Wow! Things has to do with what the finished work has provided for me.

5. Hoped For

Obviously, hope means “anticipated or expected (anxious anticipation, earnest expectation)” (Strong’s G1679). There is in Scripture what I call the Law of Expectation. This law says that what you believe in your heart with expectation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many psychologists suggest that 85 percent of our actions are the result of our expectations. What we are willing to do, or not to do, is based on our expectation of the results. Faith is an inventory of things already done (on our behalf), which creates an earnest expectation that results in a corresponding action. For instance, if you are expecting a baby, you will create a nursery. If you are expecting company, you will clean your house. If you are expecting money, you will think about what you can buy or where you can give it away. Expectation gives way to preparation, which results in a corresponding action.

6. Evidence

This word means “confident of, being evident of proof, making easy to see, clear, obvious, to persuade” (Strong’s 1650). For years, I overlooked this part of the definition. But here is the key to help unlock faith: You will always believe where there is the most evidence for you. For instance, if you focus on the evidence of your circumstance, that is what you will believe. If you focus on the doctor’s report (evidence), it will most likely produce fear. If you focus on God’s Word and its promises of healing (evidence), it will create faith. Faith is based on evidence. What is true to you is based on where there is the most evidence. Please note that other people’s evidence may affect you momentarily, but you must gather your own evidence to be persuaded. If you focus on God’s evidence in such a way that you cannot believe anything else, then that evidence will influence you. You persuade your heart through the study and meditation of God’s Word (Psalm 1:1–3; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 119:11; Proverbs 7:1–3; Proverbs 3:1–6).

7. Unseen

Now notice where you gather evidence … it is of “things unseen.” The evidence for the manifestation of God comes from the unseen finished work of Jesus Christ, placed in the Kingdom of God by grace (unmerited by you) to access by faith. Therefore, the evidence of the unseen is in competition with the seen. It is easier to believe what you see than what you do not see. That is why it is essential to practice unseen evidence daily. Wherever there is the most evidence, that is what you will believe. When what you see in the unseen is more real than the seen, the unseen will dominate the seen… and Jesus will come on the scene.

The writer of Hebrews amplifies this definition of faith in verse 3: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Now, notice it does not say these things were made from things that do not exist, but from things (already done) from the invisible.