CHRISTIAN FAMILY CHURCH INTERNATIONAL
M A U R I T I U S
Growth spiritual
3 Not to Receive Something from God Through Prayer
1. What importance does the Bible give to Faith?
Before understanding what faith is and how to grow it, we must establish how important it is;
Romans 1:17
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and injustice of men who unjustly hold the truth captive, (KJV)
Romans 3:22
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. There is no distinction. (KJV)
Romans 5:1
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (KJV)
Romans 5:2
To whom we owe access by faith to this grace, in which we stand firm, and we glory in the hope of
glory of God. (KJV)
Romans 11:2
God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what Scripture says about Elijah, how he addresses this
complaint against Israel. (KJV)
Romans 14:23
But he who has doubts about what he eats is doomed, because he does not act out of conviction. Anything that is not the product of a
conviction is sin. (KJV)
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith and not by sight. (KJV)
Galatians 3:25
Faith having come, we are no longer under this pedagogue. (KJV)
2. Does everyone have the faith ?
Many feel that they have no faith or that when God distributed faith, they only received the leftovers. God says in His Word that we have
all faith.
Romans 12:3
By the grace that has been given to me, I say to each one of you not to think too highly of yourself, but to put on feelings
modest, according to the measure of faith that God has bestowed on each one. (KJV)
God says in His Word that we all have faith. The Word of God gives a measure for the smallest amount of faith that a human being can
receive and declares that with this smaller measure “NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU”.
Matthew 17:20
It is because of your unbelief, Jesus told them. Truly I tell you, if you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this
mountain: Move from here, and she would move; nothing would be impossible for you. (KJV)
3. The three steps to receiving from God, learned through the life of Abraham
Genesis 12:1-4
The LORD said to Abram, Depart from your country, from your fatherland, and from your father's house, into the land which I will show you. I will make you a
great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a source of blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse
those who will curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed in you. Abram departed, as the Lord had told him, and Lot departed with
him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he came out of Haran. (KJV)
The Lord told Abram I would make you become the Father of a great nation. God himself exercises faith in Abram's life. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you become a blessing to others.
To be in faith means to be obedient
Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
It would take a miracle for a couple in their seventies to have a baby. Praise be to God! He is a God of Miracles! Notice clearly – God told Abram he would have children when he was 75 years old.
Now approximately 8 years later God appeared again to Abram
Genesis 15:5
And after leading him out, he said: Look up to the sky, and count the stars, if you can count them. And he said unto him, Such shall be thy
posterity.(KJV)
'Sera is in the future, Issac wasn't even born. Science has confirmed that we cannot count more than 2000 stars with the human eye. Here we
see God give Abram a picture of a completed project. Abram believed the Lord and God declared him righteous because of his faith.
Faith only came to Abram AFTER he heard God say: “Your descendants will be like the stars in the sky”. A. What is Faith? Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is a firm assurance of things hoped for, a demonstration of things not seen. (KJV)
Faith and believing are not the same thing. Believing comes from thought (mental)
and is not a synonym for Faith, for faith comes from the heart.
B. How does Faith come and how do we grow it?
Romans 10:17
So faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes from the word of Christ. (KJV)
'Come'- is present tense;
'Hear' is present tense. Faith will only come and grow by continuing to hear the Word of God.
The content of your faith is equal to the content of your word.
STEP N0 1 : Find a scripture where God says you can have the things you desire.
If faith comes by the Word of God, we must understand that without scripture you cannot receive or exercise faith. You must receive
writing that promises what you desire. Healing comes by faith, faith comes through the Word, so you need a scripture (a
promise).
How do I know if God wants me to have what I ask for? “The will of God is His Word”
1 John 5:14
We have with him this assurance, that if we ask something according to his will, he listens to us. (KJV)
STEP N0 2 : Pray and receive the thing you prayed for
The world that does not believe says “seeing is believing”. They can't see it, so they don't believe it. The Word of God teaches us otherwise.
“to believe is to see”. It is not presumptuous or ridiculous to believe and receive before seeing, it is Faith.
Mark 11:24
This is why I say to you: whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and you will see it fulfilled. (KJV)
Three times are identified in the scriptures above, past, present and future. Our part is to ask and receive, that of God is “aura”.
If you truly believe that you have received what you asked from God in your prayers, you will ask for it no more.
NEVER resume your prayer!
Abram followed these initial steps; He received the Word of the Lord and then believed it. The Bible said he had faith and God said so
as fair. However we will now see that applying steps one and two without applying step three is not enough to see the
physical manifestation.
Genesis 17:1, 5
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty. Walk in front of my
face, and have integrity. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you infinitely. Abram fell on his face; and God spoke to him, saying
This is my covenant, which I make with you. You will become the father of a multitude of nations. You will no longer be called Abram; but your name will be
Abraham, for I have made you the father of many nations. (KJV)
Although Abram heard and believed the Word that God gave, Isaac was not yet born, God had to help Abram exercise his faith, so He changed
his name from Abram to Abraham. The third key to faith had to be applied. God helped Abram to make a positive confession about his life,
changing his name because – The name 'ABRAHAM' means – “FATHER OF MANY” OR “FATHER OF MANY NATIONS”.
Here we see that God forced Abraham to speak what God had promised him years of that. When Abraham introduced himself, he said
now, “Father of many nations.” This compelled Abraham to confess the promise of God. Even at the advanced age of 99! Many
must have thought he was crazy but he kept choosing the promise over the circumstances.
Even though Abraham had God's promise and received it, Isaac was not yet born.
Living faith has a voice, you can't just read about it, you have to APPLY faith. This is why God changed Abram's name
in Abraham. God wanted Abraham to confess that he was 'THE FATHER OF MANY NATIONS'. Faith comes from the heart. How can I know
if I have faith in my heart? A person can determine whether or not he has faith. In his heart, by his words spoken in the right
times like in the bad.
Matthew 12:34
Races of vipers, how could you say good things, wicked as you are? For it is from the abundance of the heart that the
mouth speaks. (KJV)
STEP N0 3 : Confess with your mouth "I believe I have it now".
Tell others what God has done for you. Confession is faith in action. The action of faith is a thing of the mouth. The instruction is
simple – Tell others. That's what God made Abraham do – Confess.
Mark 11:23
I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, Get away from there and throw yourself into the sea, and if he does not doubt in his heart, but believes
let what he says come to pass, he will see it come to pass. (KJV)
In the scripture above, 'Believe' is mentioned only once and 'said' is mentioned three times. So we have to SAY three times more than
to believe. Faith tells the mountain to withdraw. Jesus says here “you shall SAY”.
Numbers 14:28
Tell them: I am alive! says the LORD, I will do to you as you have spoken in my ears. (KJV)
Christians who truly understand the faith are very careful in what they say in all situations. Many people believe
but do not sufficiently confess what they believe.
So what happened when Abraham began to confess God's promise?
Genesis 21:2
Sarah became pregnant, and she bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time that God had told him about. (KJV)
Genesis 21:5
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. And Sarah said, God has made me a laughing stock; anyone who finds out will laugh at me
(KJV) says that Abraham was a hundred years old when his Son Isaac was born.
24 years before, God gives the promise to Abraham. When Abraham was 75, God told him he would have many children – and Abraham
believed in God (Gen 15:6 Abram trusted in the Lord, who imputed it to him for righteousness. (KJV)). When Abraham was 99 years old, his wife Sarah
did not have still not given birth to Isaac. It was then that God changed his name to Abraham and he began to confess that he was the Father of
many nations. For three months, Abraham not only believed in God, but he also went everywhere declaring what God had done. While
At this time the creative power of God was working and bringing life to Abraham and Sarah.
Three months later Sarah became pregnant and nine months later, when Abraham was 100 years old, Isaac was born.
AFTER Abraham's heart was fully persuaded, THE NEXT TIME he confessed 'I am the father of many nations', the
God's creative power went into action, and Isaac was conceived in Sarah's womb.
The best way for others to know you have something is to tell them. Be specific.
Romans 4:19
And, without weakening in faith, he did not consider that his body was already worn out, since he was nearly a hundred years old, and that Sarah was no longer fit.
to have children. (KJV)
God could not have revived the old dying bodies of Abraham and Sarah, if they had not put their faith into action. God will not
what you believe but what you say.
James 1:7
Let such a man not imagine that he will receive anything from the Lord. (KJV)
Because God cannot go against His word, GOD HAD TO TEACH ABRAHAM HOW TO USE FAITH BEFORE BRINGING ISAAC IN .
4. Recap
1. Faith Scripture -
Romans 10:17
So faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes from the word of Christ. (KJV)
2. Praying and receiving –
Mark 11:2
This is why I say to you: whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and you will see it fulfilled. (KJV)
3. Confess what you have already received –
Romans 4:17
I have made you the father of many nations. He is our father before the one in whom he believed, God, who gives life to the dead, and who calls
things that are not as if they were. (KJV) “God calls things that are not as if they were”. We walk by the
faith and not by sight.
Did God lie when he said that? NO, when God says something, that thing is created automatically.
John 16;23-24
On that day, you will no longer ask me about anything. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatever you ask the Father, he will give it to you in
my name. So far you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you shall receive, so that your joy may be perfect. (KJV)
Mark 11:23, 24
I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, Get away from there and throw yourself into the sea, and if he does not doubt in his heart, but believes let what he says come to pass, he will see it come to pass. Therefore I say to you: Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and you will see it come to pass. (KJV)
John 16:23, 24
On that day, you will no longer ask me about anything. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatever you ask the Father, he will give it to you in my name. So far you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you shall receive, so that your joy may be perfect. (KJV)
If God doesn't give you what you asked for, He has something better to give you.