“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Several years ago, the Father gave me the following information about our walk with Him. Basically He said that it our walk and faith is divided into three areas of growth and power. That each one is separate and one builds upon the other. In other words, our faith is added to, rather than replaced with, the next proceeding level of faith.

An Affirming Faith

I always remember that I always heard it said that if you want a prayer answered quickly, ask a new Christian to pray with you, and ask in prayer what you want. The reason being that God demonstrates His power to a new Christian more readily because He is affirming their faith to them. This is the first level of faith, where God affirms our faith by showing us His power directly when we ask anything of Him or a situation needs His direct intervention.

A Building Faith

Here God showed me that as we walk with Him (mature in our Christianity) that He builds our faith by developing our trust in Him. We may not (and often don’t) see His direct action in answering our prayers or perhaps taking direct intervention immediately in a situation. This is where we learn to trust Him that He has everything in control and that in His time things will change. This develops our faith because we must TRUST Him that He will do what He says and that we TRUST Him that His time for it to get done is the best time.

A Living Faith

As we walk more and more in an affirming and building faith, we come to a point where our faith is a living faith. This means that it is always active in our lives. It is the filter in all that we say, do, think and feel. It becomes so integral to our lives that it is truly the way we actually live—by faith. It builds upon the first two levels to become how we approach everything in our lives. When we reach this level we are walking in the complete power of our faith in God and our walk as Christians.

Hebrews 11:1, covers every aspect of this principle of faith in that:

• Faith is a substance—This affirms our faith because we can mentally touch it, feel it and know that it is there.Faith is an energy/substance—Knowing this affirms the reality of why faith works, on a level that we as humans can understand. We know that hydrogen and oxygen are both substances that we cannot see, just as we cannot see the faith substance. However, we know that when we mix hydrogen and oxygen in the right proportions we get water or hydrogen peroxide, or any number of things, which we can see, and use in our physical world. Likewise, we can understand that if we can mix hydrogen and oxygen in the right way and get tangible results, we can mix faith with our desires in the right way and get tangible results. This knowledge affirms the plausibility (validation or meriting of acceptance) of our faith.

• Faith is what is hoped for—This builds and develops our trust in God for what we pray for and ask of Him. In other words there is an expectation, when we trust God, that He will be active in our lives and provide the things we ask of Him, if it be His will.

• Faith is hope. Hope is that part of faith that initiates and maintains the pattern or mold and the filling of the pattern or mold until it is complete and becomes the actual thing you desire.

• Faith is evidence—This faith is now evidently and actively working in our lives. It provides the proof of God working in our lives and the fruit of our walk of faith in Him. The reality of the actual thing desired is made of faith. Therefore, faith is the evidence (which is whatever was created—it could be health, perfection or an apple) in the same way that water is hydrogen and oxygen. And, the reality of the faith, expressing as what is created, is proof or evidence that Faith exists, even though it cannot be seen with earthly eyes.

 

“And the Lord said, ‘If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might
say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou
planted in the sea; and it should obey you.’” (Luke 17:6)

 

 — Vance Payne