I have been very privileged to have been deeply schooled in the teachings of faith since 1989 - - both in Christian and secular settings (and taught some about faith even as a child). And, it has occurred to me during this time, that the teachers of faith continually struggle with answering the question of why someone’s faith didn’t work in a particular situation; so much so, that new and revised teachings about what it requires of us to have our faith cause something, have sprung up and have made it even more difficult for people to have their faith manifest as substance.
We’ve now entered an age where the teaching of faith has become pronounced in both the secular and Christian circles. So the use of faith for the Christian purposes of Salvation, healing, and prosperity is essentially the same message of faith that is used in the secular circles.
While the workings of faith, I believe, are truly very simple, it seems that we’ve over-complicated the requirements to have our faith materialize in the physical realm. This should not be so. Faith truly is a simple subject. The Law of Faith is as simplistic as the Law of Gravity. The creator of both laws is the same. God created the Law of Gravity, the Law of Relativity, the Law of Love, and the Law of Faith. He didn’t stipulate a lot of requirements in order for these laws to work. They are in place in the Universe, just where He placed them, and they are at work whether we believe in them or not.
I believe that the biggest hindrance to our not seeing the physical results of our faith manifest is that we do not have the faith that what WE say will come to pass. That’s right. I said, “What WE say,” not what God or anyone else says. I’m asserting that the degree to which your faith will work is in direct proportion to the degree in which you are in integrity with your word.
Remember, the Law of Faith is summed up in Mark 11:24 (NKJ) which reads, “…whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” The thing in common in each of the above requirements is YOU. If we understood that our words are as powerful as God’s words were when he created the world, we would not hesitate to use our faith and to manifest great things in our lives. However, we’ve gotten so lackadaisical about the use of our words that we often make promises that we don’t intend to keep. We say things that we don’t mean in order to make others feel good. And, we get really slippery by insinuating our agreement with what others say when we really don’t agree.
All of that amounts to us not being honest with our words. In other words, we’re out of integrity with what we say. If we don’t believe what we are saying on a day-to-day basis, how are we to believe what we say in faith when we’re believing for something?
Are you chronically late? What is your relationship to time? If you promised someone you would call them by a certain time, or that you would pick them up at a certain time, do you call them to inform them that you’re running two minutes late? We don’t hold others to account like that. But, it is what’s required of you if you’re to keep integrity in what you say. If you’re unable to keep a promise, then having integrity that you are your word, would have you contact the person concerned in order to re-promise when you’ll deliver on your word. That’s honoring your word. And when you honor your word, you’re keeping integrity in place!
I truly believe that once we begin to have integrity with our own words, then we will see our faith take hold. Then, what we say will come to pass.
