We’re going to look this month at how to activate faith or "how to turn your faith loose." Before we do that, let’s review some important truths about faith.
First, what is faith? According to Hebrews 11:1, "…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." James Moffatt’s translation of this verse reads, "Now faith means that we are confident of what we hope for, convinced of what we do not see." Here God is telling us what faith is.
There are a number of kinds of faith. Everyone, saved or unsaved alike, has a natural, human faith. The above scripture, however, is talking about a supernatural faith – a faith that believes with the heart rather than believing what our physical senses may tell us. Faith, in other words, is grasping the unrealities of hope and bringing them into the realm of reality.
Now how does faith come? How does faith come for salvation, the baptism in the Holy Ghost, meeting spiritual and material needs, healing, or anything else? Romans 10:17 tells us, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
If you want faith, then study the Holy Word, the Scriptures, which have been given to us. And the truth revealed in the pages of the Bible will produce the most perfect faith in God. Whatever you’re praying for and endeavoring to believe God for, find scriptures that cover your case. And then stand firm.
In Acts chapter 14, we see an example of how faith comes, and of our main subject this month – how to turn your faith loose. This passage talks about the ministry of Saul, or Paul, and Barnabas. During their first missionary journey, persecuted by unbelieving Jews, they fled to the cities of Lystra and Derbe, where we pick up the account.
"And there they preached the gospel. And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked: The same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed. Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on they feet. And he leaped and walked" (Acts 14:7-10).
How did this lifelong cripple receive faith to be healed? By hearing the Gospel preached: “So the faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17).
And how did his healing became real? There are gifts of healings and special manifestations of the Holy Ghost which work as the Spirit wills. But this man wasn’t healed by any of those.
Someone might say, "Paul was an apostle. That’s why this crippled man was healed." No, the man wasn’t healed because Paul was an apostle. He was healed because he had faith! And he received faith from what he heard. “The same HEARD Paul speak” (Acts 14:9).
Now then, notice the end of verse 9: "…he had faith to be healed." This verse says the crippled man had faith to be healed when Paul looked at him. but had his healing become manifest yet? No, he was still sitting there crippled. Why? Because he hadn’t put his faith into action. He hadn’t released his faith. He hadn’t turned his faith loose.
Paul knew the same thing James did. According to James 2:17, "Even so faith, if it hath not WORKS [or actions], is dead, being alone." It’s still faith, but it’s dead. James went on to say, "…prove me to your faith apart from corresponding actions and I will prove mine to you by my actions" (James 2:18, Weymouth).
Notice that Paul, speaking to the crippled man at Lystra, "Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet…" (Acts 14:10). And it says the man leaped and walked. In other words, Paul said, "Act on your faith!" and the man was instantly healed, praise God! You see, faith is revealed or released in word and action.
We see another example of that principle at work in Mark chapter 11. There we read that Jesus was hungry. He saw a fig tree but found thereon nothing but leaves, and cursed it. The next morning, as they passed by the tree, the disciples exclaimed that the tree had dried up from the roots. Notice Jesus’ words, "For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith" (Mark 11:23).
In Acts 14:10 we read that Paul told the crippled man at Lystra, "Stand upright on your feet," and the man stood up. He acted on his faith. In Mark 11:23, Jesus said, "…whosoever shall SAY…" Saying is still action, isn’t it? When you say something, you’re acting.
It’s safe to say that there is no faith or that faith is dead without word or action. "…Prove to me your faith apart from corresponding actions and I will prove mine to you by my actions" (James 2:18, Weymouth).
Our actions and words must remain consistent with God’s Word. I’ve noticed through the years that some people I’ve prayed with get blessed and feel good, and then they run with their feelings. They may have had a great financial need. But after praying and asking God for help, they say, "Oh, praise God, I feel like God heard me! Hallelujah!" and they go off and shout about it.
But so often, the feelings don’t last, and many have no foundation of the Word of God under them. When their feelings change, they change. They are not the same as they were the day before when feelings were high, and they were shouting the victory. For example, the very next day, they might see a friend who asks them how they’re doing.
"Oh, I’ll tell you, it couldn’t be worse," they reply. "It looks like the bank is going to foreclose on us and take our house away. They’re going to take out the telephone. We’re going to lose our car."
But just the day before, they said they believed God heard them! Of course, you’ll get blessed praying and feel good about it. God is going to bless you. But I believe He hears me when I pray because the Word says so, not because of how I feel.
You have to learn to hold steady in the face of apparent defeat and say, "Victory is mine!" I’ve done that many times. (I wouldn’t tell you to do something I haven’t done.) God will not forsake you, whether you feel His presence or not.
People have asked me at times if I needed anything. I’ve answered, "I don’t have a need." They’d say, "You’re lying about it."
No, I wasn’t lying. I was quoting a scripture. "But God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19). Since He supplies all my needs, I don’t have any! You see, believing God’s Word like that brings Him on the scene. It allows Him to work on my behalf.
This isn’t something that works just in an emergency. This is a lifestyle. This is the way you are to live.
Some people say, "The Lord knows what I need. And whatever He send will be fine." That sounds so humble. But when you say that or think that, you’ve moved over to the devil’s territory, and the devil will keep you on the run and defeated!
No. The Bible says, "…whosoever shall say…and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have WHATSOEVER HE SAITH" (Mark 11:23).
Where does man believe? In his heart. And what does he believe? He believes "…that those things which he saith shall come to pass." Those things which he says are words, aren’t they? You see, they haven’t come to pass yet. He believes they shall come to pass.
I’ve said it for more than sixty-five years, and I’m not going to stop saying it now, because it’s still true: If you’re not satisfied with what you have and where you are, then quit believing what you’ve been believing and saying what you’ve been saying. You have created what you have and where you are, for Jesus said, "…He shall have WHATSOEVER HE SAITH."
The Bible says, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" (Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1). Well, we have one witness in Mark 11:23. I don’t know any better witness than Jesus, do you? He said it. But let’s look at some other scriptures.
For instance, notice the same principle of faith in operation in Mark 5:25-34 in the case of the woman with the issue of blood. "And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all the she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. WHEN SHE HEARD OF JESUS, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. FOR SHE SAID, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straighway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus immediately knowing in himself that virtue [the Greek word is "dunamis," translated power throughout the New Testament] had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked around about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth" (Mark 5:25-33).
Now look at Mark 5:34, "And he [Jesus] said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."
Whose faith made her whole? Jesus’ faith? No, her faith made her whole. And since her faith made her whole, your faith can make you whole.
"Yes, but I don’t have any faith!" you might say.
But this woman had faith, and if you find out how she got faith, you can get it too. Look at verse 27: "WHEN SHE HAD HEARD of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment." She got faith "when she had heard." That sounds a whole lot like the crippled man at Lystra in Acts 14:9: "The same HEARD Paul speak…"
Look at verse 28: "FOR SHE SAID, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole." Now read verses 28 and 34 together. "For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole,…and he [Jesus] said unto her, Daughter, THY FAITH hath made thee whole…" (Mark 5:28,34).
What she said was her faith speaking. And what you say is your faith speaking!
In 1949, when I first started out in the field ministry, I used to hold meetings in churches of all sizes. I’d hold two services a day – morning and night – for up to nine weeks at a time in each church. In 1951, a Full Gospel church with 800 to 1,200 people was big. So with meetings lasting a number of weeks, I had time to deal with people.
In the smaller churches, we would minister to the sick by the laying on of hands just on Tuesday and Friday nights. In the larger churches, we might have a healing line every night.
I’d talk individually to each person who came forward. First, I’d preach. Then I’d give an altar call for salvation, rededication, and baptism in the Holy Ghost, and send those who came forward to the prayer room. I’d sit in a chair on the platform. (I’d last longer that way. If you wear yourself out, the anointing lifts and you can’t minister sufficiently.) I’d line people up to lay hands on them for healing, and a certain percentage of them would be healed.
We might have only 10 to 25 people in the line, or in a large church, 50. I’d ask them one by one if they were born again and, if so, what they came for. I’d ask them if they expected to be healed when I laid hands on them. If they replied, "Well, I sure hope so," I’d tell them, "You won’t be."
Since the meetings were to run at least three weeks, when people in smaller churches said things like that, I would tell them, "Don’t get back into the healing line until the week after next." If we were in a larger church, laying hands on people for healing every night, I would tell them, "Don’t come back up for healing at least three nights, and really, longer is even better." In any case, I would tell all of them, "Come to every service you can, School yourself into faith!"
You can school yourself into faith just like you school yourself into unbelief! Do you know how people school themselves into unbelief? They just keep talking it. Your words work the same way with faith.
I would tell them, “When you go home tonight, and you’re getting ready for bed, say, ‘The next time I go down for the laying on of hands for healing, I’ll be healed!’
“Once you’re in bed, after you’ve prayed, the last things before you go to sleep, say, ‘The next time I go down for the laying on of hands for healing, I’ll be healed!’ If you happen to wake up in the night, say that again. The first thing in the morning when you wake up – before you even get out of bed – say, ‘The next time I go down for the laying on of hands for healing, I’ll be healed!’
"Now if you work outside the home, don’t say it out loud on the job. They’ll think you’re nuts, and you would be nuts for talking that way in front of them. They won’t understand it. But say it to yourself. ‘The next time I go down for the laying on of hands for healing, I’ll be healed!’ Say it every time you think of it. If you don’t think of it, you’re not obligated. The next night, do the same thing. Then the next night and the next morning, do the same thing. Keep saying that."
When people did that in my meetings, not one of them failed to receive their healing. And the same approach worked for receiving the baptism in the Holy Ghost. Not a single one failed to receive. It worked a hundred times out of a hundred. God’s Word always works!
I had been teaching along these lines for some time when I learned that there was even more support in the Word for this principle than I realized. Once as I taught in a place located near a Bible school, a professor who taught Greek came to the meeting. I preached that night from Mark chapter 5 about the woman with the issue of blood. After the service he said to me, "Brother Hagin, I saw something tonight I’ve never seen before."
He pulled out his Greek New Testament and said, "As you read the story of that woman, from the Bible, I followed you in the Greet Testament. The King James Version says in verse 28, ‘FOR SHE SAID, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole” (Mark 5:28). Now the Greek word translated said here denotes continuous action. Literally, the translation is, ‘For she kept saying…"
I was more right than I realized! According to the Greek language in which the New Testament was originally written, that part of that verse says, "For she kept saying…" And that’s what I had gotten those people to do. I got them to keep saying. Why? Because Mark 11:23 says, “Whosoever shall say and believe shall have whatsoever he saith.”
Some have said, "Well, I don’t believe it."
I always say, "Fine. Go ahead and do without it." I don’t say that to be mean but to shock them and to see if I can get them to see it. I believe that if I keep saying what I believe in my heart, I’ll have it. That has worked for me since I was healed as a teenager, glory to God, and I’m going to stay with it!
So, to summarize, we activate our faith or turn our faith loose by our actions. And those actions include our words. Once we believe something in our heart, we need to speak it out of our mouth. We need to act on what we believe!
<Reprinted with permission of Kenneth Hagin Ministries, P.O. Box 50126, Tulsa, OK 74150-0126, U.S.A. The Word of Faith, October ©2000>