Faith comes by seeing - seeing the works of God and discerning His heart in what He has done - and seeing sets the stage for God to do more.

I've deliberately paraphrased the familiar words of Romans 10, which begin, "Faith comes by hearing…"  For many of us, the teaching in Romans 10 has been a good foundation for our walk of faith.

But we have reached a plateau. We may have gone as far as these words can take us, not because we've been so diligent to act on Romans 10 but because we've become rigid and traditional in our understanding of the passage.

I spent at least twenty years pressing into faith as hard as I could.  I learned a lot, saw a lot of answers to prayer, and tasted the authority of making a declaration of faith.

But something was missing.

Jesus said all things are possible to those who believe. But often, the greatest miracles fell into the laps of people who apparently had no faith at all.  By contrast, there are many people who did all the right things in faith - they prayed, they stood on the word, they confessed the right things, they rebuked the right demons - and nothing happened.

I began to suspect that either Jesus didn't know what He was talking about, or we don't know what faith is.

About ten years ago, I decided to put faith on the back burner.  I laid my questions on the altar.  I knew I had a certain amount of faith that would work automatically without my thinking about it.  I took a break from faith, so I could learn what it is.

Here is what I've learned.

 
Faith Comes By Hearing

Let's start with Romans 10:17.  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word - the rhema or spoken word of God. 

There is a level of faith that can begin just by reading scripture.  But many have contrasted head-knowledge with heart-knowledge.  Head-knowledge is dead, dry theology.  Heart-knowledge comes through a relationship with God.

To grow in faith, we must grow in heart-knowledge.  And this is where the rhema word comes in.  It's not enough to study the scripture; we must open our hearts to the Holy Spirit and let Him give us revelation in what we have studied.

God can give us a rhema word when we're parking the car, brushing our teeth, or buying groceries - He can speak anywhere and at any time.  But those of us who want to hear from Him more often learn to listen when we pray and worship.  And we learn to set time aside to wait on God, soaking in His presence.

Isaiah 50:4 says of Jesus that the Father"awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned."  Jesus cultivated a hearing ear, and the Father directed Him daily.

How does God speak?  Sometimes we hear a voice; sometimes we recall a scripture; sometimes a subtle impression brushes our minds, and we can quote it because it came to us in words.  It can be intense or low-key, but it's a rhema word from God.

We've been on the right track, listening for God's voice.  If we've made a mistake, it's in being too narrow in our understanding of God's voice.  I've been posting an online school of the Spirit this year (see www.gospelsmith.com) and have often written about what I call God's non-verbals.


Faith Comes By Feeling

We often say, "I walk by faith and not by feeling."

Many of us have learned to think of faith and feelings as opposites.  We've had to learn to read the Bible or pray or worship when we didn't feel like it.  We have grown suspicious of our feelings because they often try to steer us away from God's will.

As a result, many of us have developed a dry and sterile walk of faith.  Faith works by love, but because we don't trust our feelings we don't allow ourselves to feel much love.

But Jesus' first revival, which broke out when He spoke to the woman at the well, began because He "needed to" go through Samaria.  What was this need?  The Bible doesn't say He had a rhema word telling him to choose that route.  Yet a feeling of some sort compelled Him.

Again, when He multiplied the loaves and fishes, he was "moved with compassion."  This wasn't what we would call a rhema word; nothing in scripture says He heard a voice telling Him what to do.

But the need to go through Samaria and the compassion that moved Him to feed the multitude were very real communications from heaven.  Jesus' faith for doing these things didn't come from hearing a rhema word.  Even so, He heard God speaking - without words.

Perhaps you can think of times when you have had an indefinable knowing that you should be somewhere, and your acting on it led to a divine appointment.  If so, you have already tasted how these non-verbals work.

But if the church has overruled these impressions, we can't honestly say we have disobeyed God.  We haven't deliberately rebelled against what He has told us.  We have simply been numb to one of His ways of communication, and will never know what we have missed.

Faith comes by hearing, but hearing often includes feeling.  If the only feelings you have ever tasted have tugged you away from God's will, it's time to ask God to sanctify your feelings so He can awaken your spiritual senses and empower you to follow Him.


Faith Comes By Seeing

II Corinthians 5:7 says, "We walk by faith, not by sight."  We have taken this verse to mean that if we have faith, we shouldn't ever have to see anything.  The overall tenor of scripture however suggests just the opposite:  if we really have faith, we will see God work.

Our teachings about faith may have given the visible world a bad rap, but we need to learn the importance of seeing.  All Israel saw the miracles God worked as He led them out of Egypt and through the wilderness, but they failed to see past the works and to discern His heart.  As a result, they did not trust Him and they did not enter the promised land.

Jesus' disciples likewise saw the miracles of the loaves and fishes but failed to discern God's heart.  In Mark 8:17-18 He asked, "Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?"

The problem wasn't that what they had seen was hindering their faith.  They had seen God do great things, but their faith had failed to interpret what they had seen:  if God had met one need, He would meet others.

The Israelites in Moses' generation received one lesson of faith after another.  Again and again, they faced visible problems, called on the invisible God, and watched Him bring a visible answer.  The first few times they complained, and He graciously ignored their murmuring and did good things for them anyway. 
But as they repeated the cycle, He was waiting for someone to say, "Last time we had a need, we prayed and God answered.  This time, let's praise God instead of complaining, and watch to see what He will do."

God waited and waited.  The desired response never came.  But Moses' generation could not say they hadn't seen God do great things.  First they had watched God bring the ten plagues to Egypt, then they had crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, then God had healed the waters at Marah…

In spite of seeing these and other graces, they persistently focused not on what God was doing for them, but on their problems.

The early church by contrast became a church of miracle-workers.  Why?  Because they had seen Jesus.  As they watched His works again and again and allowed Him to disciple them, they too learned to do His works.  They entered the promised land.

Seeing is part of God's training program.  You are meant to see God's power displayed in the earth.  When you do, you need to look past what God has done and see the heart of Him who is ready to do it again.

But what if you haven't seen an answer to prayer, a miracle of healing, or one of God's promises fulfilled?  Begin by walking by faith, and not by sight.  Let scripture help you identify several things you can pray for.  Pray repeatedly, asking for these same things every day until you receive them.  Before long, you will have a firsthand testimony as you see God's works in your life.


Trained By The Holy Spirit

What have you seen God do?  Get in the habit of testifying about it.  Don't hide your light under a bushel. 
But again, it comes back to hearing God's voice - and this may happen through His non-verbals.  Take time to linger in His presence.  Put time aside to soak, being still before Him and letting Him touch your heart in silence or as you listen to worship music.  Ask Him to breathe life into your spiritual senses.

Ezekiel prophesied that God would replace our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh - He will make us tender and sensitive to Him.  And the writer to the Hebrews warned us to hear God's voice, not hardening our hearts.

His voice may come with a rhema word.  It may be a feeling that we simply have to be somewhere, though we don't know why; it may be compassion.  Or we may see a vision, or see God's works and then look past what He has done to see His heart.

But it's time for tender-hearted faith.  There remains a rest for the people of God.

September 23 to October 23 -- Charlotte NC and surrounding region.  Connecting with other ministries, and working on a book.

October 4-5 -- The Lord's Table in Goldsboro, NC. Saturday men's breakfast, main service on Sunday morning, and young adults Sunday afternoon.

October 12 - Neal & Joyce Parsons' church in Candor, NC. They have been using the online school of the Spirit.