The Force Of Faith
Part Two.  The Origin Of Faith.
Installment Eight.
By Phil Scovell.



COMMENTS.

     We are still discussing The Operation Of Faith.  We started
with the concept of Say It and I will continue focusing on this
aspect of faith in this installment.

A.  Say It Continued.

     Jesus explained, and illustrated, to His disciples that for
faith to work, they would have to begin speaking to things.
That's right; to things.  Speaking to such things such as people,
circumstances, situations, events, and even your own body, if
necessary, would become a new way of life for his disciples.

     Most people feel uncomfortable doing this sort of thing but
Jesus did it.  He spoke to trees, sick people, demons, and even
dead people.  It doesn't get any weirder than talking to dead
people but Jesus didn't care how weird others thought it was nor
should we.

Illustration.

     I had a 110 pound golden retriever many years ago when my
kids were little.  Raleigh was a great dog.  He loved to be a part
of everything the kids were doing.

     When it came to playing ball, he had a trick he liked to play
on the kids.  Once he got the rubber ball away from them, he would
half swallow the ball.  The kids, unafraid, would jam their hand
down his throat trying to pull the ball free but Raleigh would
just swallow the ball even more.

     One day, my daughter, Gretchen, was playing with Raleigh in
my office as I typed on the computer.  Finally Raleigh pulled his
famous, let's swallow the ball, trick.  My daughter tried getting
the ball away from him but he just swallowed more of the ball.

     Finally, my daughter came over to my desk and said, "Dad,
tell Raleigh to give me the ball."

     I said, "You can tell him."

     "No," she protested.  "He won't listen to me when I yell at
him."

     "Sure he will," I assured her.  "Just yell at him and tell
him to drop the ball."

     She walked back to where Raleigh was standing and yelled,
"Raleigh!  Drop the ball."

     Walking back to the desk, she said, "It didn't work.  You
tell him, dad."

     Turning around in my chair and using my Baptist preaching
voice, I yelled "Raleigh!  Drop the ball," at about 500 decibels.
He dropped the ball and Gretchen picked it up and continued
playing ball with her dog.

     What made the difference?  Authority and the idea that I knew
he would do what I told him to do about the ball.  "But what if he
would not have obeyed you?" someone may ask.  He tried that a
couple of times so I just got up, went over, and pried the ball
out of his jaws and gave it to the kids.  My point is, however,
when I yelled at Raleigh to cough up the ball, I believed he would
obey me.  My daughter already believe he wouldn't obey her so he
didn't.  When it comes to the application of faith, its
effectiveness is directly proportional to how willing we are to
follow through in exercising our authority.

Question.  How far are you willing to go to get what is already
rightfully yours?

     Many years ago, I began to pray and ask the Lord how faith
worked.  Eventually, He answered me and said, "Do it like my Son
did."

Ephesians 5:1
Be ye therefore FOLLOWERS of God as dear children.

     The Greek word for FOLLOWERS is where we get our English
word MIMIC as in TO Imitate.  Mimics, or imitators, of God?
That's what it literally says.

Question.  How do we do that?

Answer.  We do it like Jesus did.  He spoke to trees, dead people
in funeral processions, dead people who had been buried four days,
to sick people miles away which He could not physically see at
the time, the lame, the blind, lepers, to storms, to fish, and
even to demons.  How much more evidence do we need to be followers
of Jesus?

     The Greek word for DEAR CHILDREN literally means His favorite
son or daughter.  As a father of three and grandfather of six, it
does not mean I pick one over the other, because I love them all
equally the same.  My two five year old grandsons come home from
kindergarten every day and after lunch, as they play throughout
the afternoon, they are always asking grandma and grandpa for a
snack.  They keep asking, too, because they know we will
eventually give in.  Yes, we love them but we give in because we
know it makes them happy.  Did you know that God wants you to be
happy?  He has already given us all that He has and is waiting for
us to ask as his favorite son or daughter.  I'll be addressing
other passages of Scripture which confirm His willingness to give
to us in other installments.

Question.  How long do we Say it, or Confess it, or Vocalize it?

Answer.  Until we receive what we want.

Note.  I will be proving, shortly, that Jesus Himself confirmed He
wants us to pray and ask Him for the things we want and not
according to His will as most of us believe.

Warning.  If you do not know god's will concerning the request,
or petition, you are about to make, you will not receive the
answer to your prayer.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION.

     What did God use to create the universe?  What did Jesus use
upon earth when He spoke to inanimate objects?  If you said,
words, you would be correct.  What do you use?  If you use His
Words, He made some pretty big promises about what He would do
which we will learn more about in subsequent installments.

Conclusion.

     Try not to second guess what you think I am going to say
about faith or prayer until you have read all I have written in
these notes and outlines.  If you do, you will become more
confused about what faith is and how it works.  Allow the Holy
Spirit to put all this information together for you
systematically.  then it will make sense and then it will work in
the name of Jesus.

     Keep these six things in mind.

One.  Know the Word of God.
Two.  Don't give up once you start.
Three.  Call and ask others to pray in agreement.
Four.  This isn't something we just try to see if it will work.
If you don't believe it before you start, it won't work.
Five.  Things will seem to get worse when you begin to Say It.
Six.  Don't forsake your own personal spiritual responsibilities.

End Of Installment Eight