Gift of Faith
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What the supernatural gift of Faith is not:
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First of all faith is not simply hoping that
something will happen. Hope is a good thing and we all need to have
hope but the supernatural gift of faith that comes by the Holy
Spirit is not just hoping that good is going to occur although that
is a good trait to have.
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This also is not the saving faith that saves
us from sin and causes us to become a child of God. The gift of
faith is different and works at the will of the Spirit just like all
the other gifts.
It is not just the natural ability
some have when it seems they always have faith. I’m sure their kind
of faith is a gift of God and is special but it is still not the
supernatural manifestation of the gift of faith. The gift of faith is not just how we
believe. We refer to someone’s belief system as their faith. For
instance I am of the Chrisitan faith. That is
okay to call it that for faith is how we believe and what we believe
but that is not the supernatural gift of faith. This is something
entirely different in operation and is not just what we believe all
the time. The gift of faith is not confidence.
Although I want to make it clear that we all need to have confidence
in God at all times and this is something we can develop as we study
the word and grow in grace. The gift of faith though is not what is
referred to when we speak of confidence in the Lord. It is not child like faith. This most
of all should be what we desire to obtain. Simply child like faith
that God means what He says and says what He means. Child like faith
is something we should develop and it is something we can develop
but the gift of faith is not what we refer to as child like faith.
The definition of faith according to the
bible is, “The substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things
not seen with our natural eyes.” It is something we all should develop
and possess as we read the word and communicate with our Father in
Heaven.
The gift of faith though is still a little different. It is the
supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit that places the assurance
of an answer to a certain prayer in our hearts at a certain point in
time. It is similar to the gift of knowledge in that when this occurs we
know ahead of time supernaturally that what we prayed for is going to
happen. This is not guesswork. When we receive this gift of faith at a
certain time, whatever our spirit is saying will happen, and will most
certainly occur.
This kind of faith will bring almost instant results. I believe every
time we see someone miraculously healed instantly, God used someone in
the gift of faith and it may not even be the person who laid hands on
the sick person. Yet it may be them. That gift of faith at the moment
may be in the person who receives the healing. The gift of faith is
different than the gift of healing in that it can concern other answers
to prayer besides physical healing.
We can be praying for a person to be saved and the Holy Spirit will put
this gift of faith into our hearts and we can know for sure that person
will be saved. I’ve had this happen to me before.
This definitely is similar to the gift of miracles and works with that
gift. The gift of faith is supernatural and it may be given to any of us
when needed.
Again I emphasize that the nine gifts of the spirit must not be confused
with natural talents and gifts that also come from God. We may meet
people that seem to always have faith and we may think they have this
gift of faith but not necessarily. The gift will work at the will of the
spirit and it occurs spontaneously and when we do not expect it just
like all the other gifts.
One person may be used one week and another person another week. We just
do not know. This gift cannot be developed but the other kind of faith
can be developed as we grow in the Lord. The supernatural type of gift
is a spontaneous gift that comes at the will of the spirit.
Our part just as with all other nine gifts of the spirit is to be
available and willing to be used of the Holy Spirit so that we are
listening to His voice. If our minds is cluttered by a lot of junk, we
have not been talking to the Lord in prayer and our bibles are getting
dusty on our shelves, we probably will not be used by the spirit in any
of the gifts. If we never see the Holy Spirit working in our midst maybe
this is the reason. It is not God’s fault if we would rather do
everything else.
Examples in the bible.
In 2nd Kings chapter 6 there is the account of the king of Syria sending
many chariots and troops to surround Elijah and his servant. The servant
of Elijah saw them and was afraid. Elijah with the gift of faith told
the servant not to fear because those that were with them (Elijah and the
servant) was a much greater number than the number of the enemy. He then
prayed for the servant’s eyes to be opened and his eyes were open and he
saw the chariots and armies that the Lord had sent to protect them. By the gift of faith Noah built the Ark, knowing what was coming. The children of Israel marching around Jericho was also a gift of faith.
They would have felt silly if they did not have faith that the walls of
Jericho would come down. In the New Testament. We see the gift of faith in action all through the
book of Acts. First the man at the temple that was paralyzed. It was the
gift of faith that caused Peter and John to say to him, Silver and gold
have I none but such as I have give I under thee, in the name of Jesus
Christ, rise up and walk. We see the gift of healing working with faith
at this time. The gift of faith is present when any healing is done but it also works
in other instances when it doesn’t involve healing. It works with
miracles, helps and all other places where it is needed. Another example is when the women who was healed when she touched the
hem of the garment of Jesus. She felt that if she could just touch the
garment, she would be healed. I believe that was the gift of faith
given to her at that moment.
When someone receives the gift of faith at any given moment and a
miracle or healing occurs, we can be assured that it was the will of God
because when something occurs by this means; it is by the will of the
spirit and would not have occurred without the will of the spirit.
There are times when healing occurs and God does things in His mercy and
just because we ask in faith and sometimes when we don’t have any faith
but when the gift of faith is present, it is always the direct will of
God.
So we see that a person who never has much faith as a general rule can
be given the gift of faith at a certain point to time at the will of the
spirit and a person who always has faith may never be used in that gift
although he or she probably will be at some point in time.
Like all other gifts, this one is spontaneous and it a manifestation of
the Holy Spirit. It is not something we work up or plan. It cannot be
developed, although faith can be developed and should be developed as we
continually seek God. The gift of faith is a gift, not something we earn
and we never know when it will occur. Our part like with all other gifts
is to be listening to the Holy Spirit. DC
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