How You Believe Matters

Romans 10:8 tells us that the word of salvation is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach. Verses 9-10, also place much emphasis on the heart, that is, the human spirit, because you believe with your spirit.

Your spirit makes contact with God. That’s the reason believing is very important. Faith is not a response of the brain or of the mind; it’s the response of the human spirit to the Word of God.

Recall the encounter between the Lord Jesus and the man with the withered arm; Jesus called him forth while He was teaching in the synagogue and said, "… Stretch forth thy hand…" (Matthew 12:13).

How could he have done it when he had a withered arm? Read the concluding part of the verse: "…And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other." How did that happen? That was faith.

What is faith? Faith is the response of the human spirit to the Word of God. The man heard Jesus in his spirit and acted upon His infallible Word, from within!

Understand that if he had acted from his mind, he would have said, "Well, you know my hand is withered. I can’t do that." But his spirit took a hold of the instruction and responded accordingly.

We find a similar example in Mark 2:11. Here, Jesus said to a man who was lame, "…Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house." The man acted on the Word and got a miracle. There’s no way he could have gotten up if he didn’t respond from his spirit.

Understand this: the man’s spirit wasn’t crippled; it was his body that was afflicted with palsy. Thank God He didn’t argue, but acted from his spirit on the Master’s instruction.

Mark 2:12 tells us that while the people watched, the man got up, picked up his mat, and hurried away. They were all completely amazed and praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

I’ve seen people struggle with faith, trying to help somebody stand, stretch forth his hand, or to open his eyes when he couldn’t open them.

What they didn’t realize was that they were working from the outside; that doesn’t work. The response from your spirit, not your mind, or physical body, is what produces result.

Once you can believe the Word with your heart and voice it out with your mouth, it’ll produce result. That’s what Jesus said in Mark 11:23.

Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions (Psalm 107:19-20).

Someone says “I’ve been praying to God to help me out of my situation, but nothing has changed!” Well, it’s your responsibility, not God’s to effect a change in that situation by proclaiming the Word of faith.

God’s responsibility is to send you His Word; His Word is the ingredient you require for change. The Bible says in Psalm 107:20, “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”

God saves, heals, transforms and delivers through His Word. His Word is dependable, and you can apply it to every circumstance of life.

No matter how terrible your condition may look, God’s Word can work for you and bring about the change you need. Even if you wanted things to go from good to better or better to best, God’s Word can still work for you.

The Bible says, “For the word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing and effective]…” (Hebrews 4:12 AMP).

That means God’s Word has the inherent power to cause the required change in your circumstance. When you receive the Word into your spirit, it produces in your life what it talks about. For example, if you receive God’s Word on healing and act on it, it’ll produce healing in you; in the same way, your finances will be improved when you act on God’s Word concerning your finances.

Never become scared or discouraged by the enormity of any challenge. Don’t surrender to a life of fear, failure and complaints. Rather, devote quality time to studying God’s Word, especially in the area where you require a change. But don’t stop there; meditate on the Word and speak faith-filled words and everything about you will catapult to excellence.

The importance of your human spirit can’t be over emphasised, because it’s your spirit that makes contact with God.

According to Romans 10:9-10, you believe with your spirit (your heart); that’s the reason believing is so important. You see, faith is not a responseof your mind or brain; it’s the response of your spirit to the Word of God.

In Mark 2:11, we find an example of a response of faith. Jesus said to a man who was lame, “…Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” The man acted on the Word immediately and got a miracle. But he was lame, how could he have gotten up?

Understand this: it was the man’s body, not his spirit, that was crippled. So the only way he could have gotten up was if he responded from his spirit. Thank God he didn’t argue, but acted from his spirit on the Master’s instruction, and we can be inspired by his testimony today.

Some people struggle with faith, trying to receive something from God. What they don’t realise is that they’re working from the outside, and that just won’t cut it. What will produce the result is the response from your spirit, not your mind or physical body.

Once you can believe the Word with your heart and voice it out with your mouth, it’ll produce results. That’s what Jesus meant in Mark 11:23: “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.”