Speaker: Back to the Basics

Hebrews 2:1 TPT This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.

John 13:34-35 NKJV (34) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (35) By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

• Jesus gave us a COMMANDMENT to love one another.

Romans 5:5 NKJV (5) Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

• We have the love of God on the inside of us!

Natural Human Love vs God-Kind of Love

• Natural human love is selfish.
• The God kind of love is not interested in what I can get but only interested in what I can give.
• This God-kind of love requires corresponding action not just words.

John 3:16 NKJV For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

• Jesus performed the greatest act of love by going to the Cross for us!
• Jesus had to put to death His will and what He wanted so that He could give what God wanted Him to give: His life for us.

Matthew 26:36-39 NKJV Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” (37) And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. (38) Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” (39) He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

• Love will require us to give up what we want for the sake of what someone else needs.

This is what Jesus meant when He told His disciples that they would need to take up their Cross.

Matthew 16:24-25 NKJV Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. (25) For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

1 Corinthians 15:31 NKJV I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Ephesians 5:1-2 NKJV Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. (2) And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

This is the promise of taking up your Cross:

• Every Crucifixion for Jesus is always followed by a glorious resurrection!

Love is a Servant!

• The God kind of love serves others.

Mark 10:42-45 NKJV But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. (43) Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. (44) And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. (45) For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Galatians 5:13 NKJV For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Galatians 4:9 NKJV But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? (same word as “serve” in Galatians 5:13)

The Love Gauge:

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 AMPC Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. (5) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. (6) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. (7) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (8) Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]…

1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

What About Me and My Needs?

Luke 6:38 NKJV Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Galatians 6:7-9 MSG Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!— (8) harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. (9) So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit.

• When you sow love by serving others, God will see to it that you reap a harvest!
• Love always wins!

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Growing in the area of walking in love wouldn’t be complete without putting the greatest of all verses about love into practice. Write down 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 on a 3 x 5 card, and keep it in your Bible.

Read it aloud every day. Then, make it personal:

I am patient. I am kind.

I do not envy.

I do not boast.

I am not proud.

I am not rude.

I am not self-seeking.

I keep no record of the wrongs done to me.

I do not delight in evil but rejoice with the truth.

I never give up, never lose faith, am always hopeful and endure through every circumstance.

I do these things because they are love, which never fails.

Hebrews 2:1 TPT This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.

The Commandment of Love

John 13:34-35 NKJV (34) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (35) By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus gave us a COMMANDMENT to love one another.

They will know we are His disciples if we love one another.

• In the Old Testament, God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on tablets of stone written by the finger of God.

Exodus 31:18 NKJV And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

• The finger of God is the power of God or the Holy Spirit.

Luke 11:19-20 NKJV And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. (20) But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

• God promised He would do the same in this New Covenant, except He would write the commandment on our hearts.

Hebrews 8:10 NKJV FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

• When we were Born Again, the Holy Spirit put this commandment and the supernatural ability to walk in it in us.

Romans 5:5 NKJV (5) Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

This is the love of God; the God-kind of love, not human natural love.

Your Born-Again human spirit wants to love people because that is the nature of God.

We have a potential for great love in us just like we have the potential for great faith in us!

Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

• Notice love is the first fruit that is produced in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The fruit of the spirit is fruit produced from our Born-Again spirit, not the Holy Spirit.

John 15:5 NKJV “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

The fruit is produced because of the life of Christ that is within us.

1 John 3:14a NKJV We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren…

The Blessing of Obedience

Exodus 15:26 NKJV and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

The KJV of these Scriptures would imply that God is the one that puts sickness and disease upon people to punish them. The Hebrew words should have been translated into the permissive sense and not the causative sense.

This verse should read, “I will permit none of the diseases on you which I have permitted on the Egyptians…” There is a vast difference between commission and permission.

Exodus 23:25-26 NKJV “So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. (26) No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.

Deuteronomy 7:11-12 NKJV Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them. (12) “Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers.

Deuteronomy 7:15 NKJV And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

• It was possible for the Old Testament believers to live out their days without sickness and disease and fulfill their days if they obeyed the commandments.

Romans 13:8-10 NKJV Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. (9) For the commandments, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” “YOU SHALL NOT MURDER,” “YOU SHALL NOT STEAL,” “YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS,” “YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” (10) Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Galatians 5:14 NKJV For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

• This commandment fulfills all of the Old Testament commandments meant to curb sin.

Hebrews 8:6 NKJV But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

• We have a better covenant established upon better promises than the Old Covenant.

Would God bless the Children of Israel more than the Church if we obey the commandment that Jesus gave us?

Then, it is possible for us to live our days without sickness and disease and have our days fulfilled and just go home to be with the Lord.

• If you walk in love you have fulfilled the commandment, the blessing of obedience is yours!

You just have to receive the blessing of obedience by faith because you qualify.

• Every step out of love is sin. If this happens repent and RUN back over to love!

Hebrews 2:1 TPT This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.

The Love Commandment

John 13:34-35 NKJV (34) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (35) By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

• Jesus gave us a COMMANDMENT to love one another.

Notice Jesus did not say that people will know that we are His disciples if we have great faith, walk in great power, walk in divine healing, walk in godly prosperity, etc. They will know we are His disciples if we love one another.

Romans 5:5 NKJV (5) Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

• We have a potential for great love in us just like we have the potential for great faith in us!

One of the greatest paradoxes of life is the source of pain and pleasure. Whatever has the potential to bring us the most pleasure always has the potential to bring us the greatest amount of pain if mishandled.

Therefore, we must face and conquer what we fear, and often what has brought us the greatest pain, to find the greatest fulfillment.

• The source of our hurt is not in the relationships.

Healthy Relationships are perfectly designed by God to be a blessing to our lives and not causes of pain.

• The pain comes because of pursuing after and handling relationships apart from God’s way.
• All healthy relationships require work, planning, and godly wisdom.

If we abandon these things, we will have bad experiences everywhere that we go.

What causes us so many problems in our relationships?

The Trap of Offense

Luke 17:1 NKJV  Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!

The word “impossible” could be translated “unthinkable.”

One scholar noted that it could be translated, “It is simply unthinkable that you would allow yourself to dream that you could live this life without an opportunity to become offended.“

• Where there are people, there will be offense, but offense does not have to end in destruction, and years of deep emotional pain.

The only reason that offenses have such a dramatic effect on us is that we try to deal with these offenses in an unscriptural manner. When we reject the Word of God and choose our own views and opinions, we have excluded God and His healing power from that part of our lives. We limit ourselves to our own resources to deal with these things.

Every offense that comes our way has the potential to cause us great pain and harm. But, it is not the offense itself that contains that power.

• The potential for the pain and harm lies in how we respond to the offense.
• There is nothing that anyone says or does to you that can destroy you unless you respond to it in an unbiblical way.

What is an offense?

The word “offense” comes from the Greek word skandalon, from which we get the word scandal.

The word skandalon is the trigger of a trap on which the bait is placed, and which, when touched by the animal, springs and causes it to close causing entrapment.

But in Luke 17:1, Jesus used the word skandalon to warn us about events that happen in life with the potential to trap us. Sometimes Satan baits us with something — drawing us into a trap in which he knows we’ll become offended. When we take the bait in a moment of offense, the trap slams down shut — and like an animal that is trapped in a cage and can’t get out, we suddenly find ourselves caught in a miserable situation, trapped in detrimental and negative emotions!

How do the traps come into our lives?

1. Unexpected behavior.

Rick Renner in Sparkling Gems from the Greek says,

“An offense usually occurs when you see, hear, or experience a behavior that is so different from what you expected and it causes you to falter, totter, and wobble in your soul.

In fact, you are so stunned by what you have observed or by a failed expectation that you lose your footing emotionally. Before you know it, you are dumbfounded and flabbergasted about something. Then your shock turns into disbelief; your disbelief into disappointment; and your disappointment into offense.”

1. Confrontation with the truth.

Perhaps you are confronted with the truth about a situation in your life that you know needs to be dealt with and driven out of your life, but that truth causes you to become offended.

However, the New Testament also uses the word skandalon to refer to a stone or an obstacle that caused one to trip, to stumble, to lose his footing, to waver, to falter, and to fall down. In First Peter 2:8, the word skandalon is used to describe how unbelievers react to the Gospel when they don’t want to hear it or believe it.

1 Peter 2:7-8 NKJV Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE,” (8) and “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

What keeps us from making progress?

1. Hanging on to past offenses
2. Fear of new offenses

Jesus said there is only one way to deal with offenses when they come: “Forgive them.”

Luke 17:3-6 NKJV Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. (4) And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” (5) And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” (6) So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

The disciples wanted to make forgiving offenses some deep spiritual thing that requires this huge amount of faith. Jesus said that it did not and matter of fact rebuked the disciples by saying that if you have faith the size of a grain of a mustard seed, it was enough to get the job done.

What was Jesus saying? 

• Forgiving people is never a problem of faith; it is always a problem of choice.

Failure to forgive is a choice.

We hold on to offenses so that we have a basis for harboring sin in our lives. Offenses justify our gossiping, backbiting, and judgment. We use them to justify our bad attitudes and actions.

We fail to see the destruction of our sin, because we want to get in the last word, because we want to make someone else suffer or make them pay; we choose to hold on to our offense. In doing so, we always destroy ourselves more than we destroy them.

Hebrews 2:1 TPT This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.

Faith Works By Love

Galatians 5:6 TPT When you’re placed into the Anointed One and joined to him, circumcision and religious obligations can benefit you nothing. All that matters now is living in the faith that is activated and brought to perfection by love.

Mark 11:23-26 NKJV For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (24) Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (25) “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. (26) But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

Notice that Jesus added the necessity for us to forgive others right after He teaches on faith and receiving answers to prayer. That is because they are so closely related to one another.

How does God forgive?

There are three parts to forgiveness:

1. The Heart of Forgiveness
2. The Act of Forgiveness – make the relationship right
3. Restoration of the position in the relationship

Let’s see how God operates in forgiveness:

• When Jesus died for us, He died for all.

Romans 5:12,18 NLT (12) When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (18) Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

Hebrews 7:27 NIV Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

Jesus never again has to die, because the price has been paid once and for all. Based on these Scriptures, it is safe to say that in the heart of God, the price has been paid for all men to be saved and forgiven?

• When Jesus died for us, he paid in full the sin debt that we were incapable of paying.

Colossians 2:13-14 ERV You were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave all our sins. (14) Because we broke God’s laws, we owed a debt—a debt that listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us of that debt. He took it away and nailed it to the cross.

• So, in the heart of God, we are forgiven but does that mean we are automatically saved? (in a right standing relationship with Him?)

No. We know from what the Bible teaches that this does not happen. (There is a part that God has played and a part we must play)

1 Timothy 2:4 NKJV God… who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

• We must acknowledge the truth that we are sinners, believe what He did for us, repent and then receive the act of His forgiveness.

Acts 3:19 AMPC So repent (change your mind and purpose); turn around and return [to God], that your sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing (of recovering from the effects of heat, of reviving with fresh air) may come from the presence of the Lord;

Once we repent, believe that Jesus was raised from the dead and make Him the Lord of our lives, we are saved, Born Again and in right relationship with God.

How does God want me to forgive?

Matthew 18:21-35 AMPC Then Peter came up to Him and said, Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? [As many as] up to seven times? (22) Jesus answered him, I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven! [Gen 4:24] (23) Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a human king who wished to settle accounts with his attendants. (24) When he began the accounting, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents [probably about $10,000,000], (25) And because he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and his children and everything that he possessed, and payment to be made. (26) So the attendant fell on his knees, begging him, Have patience with me and I will pay you everything. (27) And his master’s heart was moved with compassion, and he released him and forgave him [cancelling] the debt. (28) But that same attendant, as he went out, found one of his fellow attendants who owed him a hundred denarii [about twenty dollars]; and he caught him by the throat and said, Pay what you owe! (29) So his fellow attendant fell down and begged him earnestly, Give me time, and I will pay you all! (30) But he was unwilling, and he went out and had him put in prison till he should pay the debt. (31) When his fellow attendants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and told everything that had taken place to their master. (32) Then his master called him and said to him, You contemptible and wicked attendant! I forgave and cancelled all that [great] debt of yours because you begged me to. (33) And should you not have had pity and mercy on your fellow attendant, as I had pity and mercy on you? (34) And in wrath his master turned him over to the torturers (the jailers), till he should pay all that he owed. (35) So also My heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart his offenses.

1. In your heart, you begin forgiving by releasing any ill will towards them and wish goodwill to them.

Luke 2:14 NKJV “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

2. With a heart of forgiveness, you release that person from owing you a debt to make things right between you.

Matthew 6:12 NKJV And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

3. This might be something you do many times; but do it until you have fully released the debt.

Matthew 18:21-22 AMPC Then Peter came up to Him and said, Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? [As many as] up to seven times? (22) Jesus answered him, I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven! [Gen 4:24]

4. If and when they come to you and repent, then you extend to them the act of forgiveness and move towards restoring the position of the relationship. (Privileges, Benefits)

Luke 17:4 AMPC And even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and turns to you seven times and says, I repent [I am sorry], you must forgive him (give up resentment and consider the offense as recalled and annulled).

How do I know that he has repented? I will be able to see it in their actions.

Matthew 3:8 NLT Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.

When someone meets the qualifications in that they acknowledge the truth, repent, and then show the fruits of that repentance, then I MUST show them the act of forgiveness. I must restore our relationship and allow them to move forward in our relationship.

5. If they never repent and ask for forgiveness, trust God with the outcome.

Can I hate them? Can I hold malice in my heart towards them? (Malice is the desire to see harm to come to someone because they wronged you.)

Ephesians 4:31 NKJV Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

Romans 12:19 NLT Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the LORD.

But we must come to a place that we trust that God is the only one that can truly settle the score and we let go of that anger and malice and leave justice up to Him.

We must walk in the attitude of forgiveness towards those people, let go of any anger, malice and bitterness towards them and then leave the payback and justice up to God.

The Law of sowing and reaping applies to sowing wrong towards others just like it does money.

Remember, God always wants to show mercy and it is not our place to determine if He is able to do that and when. We let Him determine what is the best course of action for people.

Hebrews 2:1 TPT This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.

• In week four, we looked at Mark 11:23 where Jesus said we could speak to the mountain and if we believed what we would say would come to pass, we could have what we say.

Mark 11:22-24 NKJV (22)  So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. (23)  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (24)  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

The Prayer of Faith

1. Your prayer must be in line with God’s will.

1 John 5:14-15 NKJV (14) Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (15) And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

• • • God’s Word and His will are one in the same.

John 15:7 AMP (7) If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.

The implication of this verse is that your life is so founded on the Word of God, that your will is now being conformed to the will of God.

God has attached Himself to His Word and you will never get Him to do anything apart from His Word.

John 1:1 NKJV (1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

• • • You must have the Word in your heart because there will be a fight that must be waged for what you are praying for.

Notice Jesus used the same thing that we have in our arsenal to defeat the enemy. He did not use something that we don’t have access to.

• • • It may take time for you to receive the answer to your prayer.

Be prepared to stand and fight for what you have prayed and believed for with the Word of God.

• • • If in whatever scripture you are standing on, you have a part to play in obedience, make sure that you are doing your part.

1. When you pray the prayer of faith, believe that you receive the answer at the time that you pray.

Mark 11:22-24 NKJV (22) So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. (23) For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (24) Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

• • • We are to believe that we receive (take hold of) the answer to our prayer.

Don’t try and do your part and God’s part. We don’t have to believe for the manifestation. That is God’s job. We are to believe that we receive!

• • • See yourself in possession of what you’ve asked from and make plans accordingly as if it were already a reality.

(Example of promise from your boss about a pay raise and we will go out and buy something based on that promise BEFORE we have seen one dime of the increase.)

• • • Faith says that God has heard and answered my prayer even when nothing has changed in my circumstances. You cannot wait for the circumstances to change before you start believing that your prayer has been answered; that is not faith.

1. Take control of your thoughts with the power of the Word of God and pull-down thoughts that are contrary to God’s Word.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NKJV (3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. (4) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, (5) casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

Do not accept thoughts of failure and defeat.

Satan will try to keep you in the arena of the mind where he is a master at controlling. You must stay in the arena of faith where he has no control and does not know what to do with that.

• • • Thoughts come by observation, association, and teachings.

Stay away from places and things that do not support your affirmation that God has heard and answered your prayer.

Philippians 4:6-8 NKJV (6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; (7) and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (8) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

1. Fill your mouth with continuous praise and thanksgiving to the Lord that the answer is yours.

Psalms 34:1-4 NKJV I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. (2) My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. (3) Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. (4) I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.

Psalms 103:1-5 NKJV A Psalm Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! (2) Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: (3) Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, (4) Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, (5) Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

1. Don’t undo your Prayer of Faith!

• • • Don’t undo your prayer of faith by words that are contrary to what you have prayed.
    • Don’t keep asking the Lord for the same request. This negates your prayer of faith.

Smith Wigglesworth said, “If you have prayed seven times for any one thing, you prayed six times in unbelief.”

Andrew Murray said, “It is not good taste to ask God for the same thing over and over again.”

Murray also said, “If, when you do pray again, what you’ve prayed for hasn’t materialized, don’t pray for it again in the same way because that would be unbelief. Remind God that you have already asked for it, and what His Word says, and tell Him that you’re expecting it and thank Him for it.”

• • • It is thinking faith thoughts and speaking faith-filled words that lead the heart out of defeat into victory.

Hebrews 2:1 TPT This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.

In our previous lessons we have learned:

• In week one, we learned what faith in God is and how it works by looking at how God interacted with Abraham.
• In week two we looked at how we get faith and that all of us have the same faith potential in what we can believe God for in our lives.
• In week three, we looked at how to put our faith in God’s Word to work beginning with building a capacity for great faith with confessing the Word UNTO faith.

• It is possible to have great faith, little faith, and absentee faith.

Matthew 8:10 NKJV When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

Matthew 16:8 NKJV But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?

Luke 8:25 NKJV But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!”

• Faith is released or put to work by our words and our actions.

The Confession of Faith:

Mark 11:12-14 NKJV (12) Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. (13) And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. (14) In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.

Mark 11:19-24 NKJV (19) When evening had come, He went out of the city. (20) Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. (21) And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” (22) So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. (23) For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (24) Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

1. Jesus spoke to a thing – the fig tree.

Notice that Jesus did not pray about the mountain – He did not ask God to remove the mountain for Him. There is nothing wrong with praying about your mountain, but that is not enough. Speak to your mountain!

Jesus said that we could speak to the mountain in OUR lives, but we don’t have the right to speak to the mountains in the lives of others (except those we have authority over or have their permission – that’s where prayer comes in).

2. Nothing visibly changed with the fig tree where the disciples could see a difference.

Had there been a visible difference, somebody, perhaps Peter would have pointed it out as he later did.

3. Jesus spoke the words and went on His way.

They conduct their business in Jerusalem and that evening, are on their way out of the city and passed by the fig tree. There was still no visible change or else again, the disciples would have said something about it. This did not phase Jesus at all.

Mark 11:20 NKJV Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

4. The next morning, 24 hours later, there is a visible change and Peter pointed it out.

5. The fig tree dried up from the roots.

Notice the fig tree dried up from the roots. This is the same as will happen with anything that we are using our faith on. The moment that you begin attending to the Word of God, the Word goes to work on the root of the problem, not the external things that you can see. If it were to address the leaves only, then the root would still be there and then it could grow back.

Notice that Jesus’ words went to work at the root of the situation and the effect was not immediately visible to the natural eye. The change started at the root (invisible) and then worked its way outward (visible).

Mark 11:21 NKJV And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”

6. Jesus did not quit when He did not see immediate results in the tree.

Jesus was so calm and confident in what He had done, the disciples had forgotten about it. Jesus did not make a big deal about it.

The key is not to quit when you do not see the immediate results. Jesus’ faith was not in what He could see. He believed something else.

Mark 11:23 NKJV For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

7. Jesus said we are to believe that what we say will be done, not believe to see the changes.

Did you notice that Jesus said in verse 23, if a person confesses something “and shall not doubt in his heart” – in other words, if he believes the words he is speaking with his mouth will be done – he will have exactly what he says.

The word “doubt” is from the Greek word diakrinomai, which means to hesitate, to waver, to doubt, or to differ.

In context, Jesus is saying that when a person’s heart doesn’t differ from what his mouth is saying, the combination of his heart and mouth in agreement will always make things happen!

8. This is the biblical concept of “the heart-mouth connection.”

The heart-mouth connection is what got us Born Again.

Romans 10:8-10 NKJV But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): (9) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For instance, if you believe in your heart that Jesus purchased your salvation, and you put your heartfelt faith together with the confession of your mouth, you can literally receive that salvation and make it an eternal fact.

9. God’s power is released when the heart and mouth get into agreement on God’s Word!

Why does this work?

Hebrews 11:3 TPT Faith empowers us to see that the universe was created and beautifully coordinated by the power of God’s words! He spoke and the invisible realm gave birth to all that is seen.

The creation is never greater than the Creator. So, the creation is subject to the Creator. Only that which is part of God, the Creator is permanent. Everything else is subject to change or temporary.

10. Everything in this visible realm was created by the Word of God and therefore is subject (subordinate) to the Word of God.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 TPT We view our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of eternity. We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison, (18) because we don’t focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal.

Temporary (DICTIONARY) – Lasting, existing, or effective for a time only

Those things that are temporary in our lives, are subject to the Word!

Hebrews 2:1 TPT This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.

• In our first lesson we learned what faith in God is and how it works by looking at how God interacted with Abraham.
• In part two we looked at how we get faith and that all of us have the same faith potential in what we can believe God for in our lives.
• In this lesson, we want to begin looking at how to put our faith in God’s Word to work.

• Faith is released or put to work by words and action.
• We need to understand the difference between a confession of God’s Word UNTO faith and a confession OF faith.

With one we are building faith in our hearts and with the other we are speaking God’s Word by faith to change things.

How do you build your capacity for great faith?

Joshua 1:7-9 NKJV (7) Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.  (8)  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.  (9)  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Sometimes we need to speak the Word of God as mentioned in Joshua 1:8 so that we get the Word into our hearts. This is a confession UNTO faith.

• God created us to be able to hear our own words and build a capacity to believe what we say in our hearts.

This is why this is so important:

• If you do not understand the importance of speaking God’s Word, you will never be able to overcome the incredible power of doubt.

Anytime you begin to trust God, the enemy will come at your mind to manipulate your imagination to see your life going different from what God has said.

The best way to get a handle on your thoughts and imagination is through the power of speaking God’s word.

But then there are times when you speak forth your faith and you know that faith is in your heart and that which you have spoken is done in the Name of Jesus!

Philemon 1:4-6 BBE I give praise to God at all times and make prayer for you, (5) Hearing of the love and the faith which you have to the Lord Jesus and to all the saints; (6) That the faith which you have in common with them may be working with power, in the knowledge of every good thing in you, for Christ.

The phrase “working with power” comes from the Greek word “energeo” that we get our English word “energized”.

Paul is letting you know that it is essential for you to have:

1. A knowledge of exactly who you are in Jesus Christ.
2. A knowledge of what Jesus has purchased in your redemption.
3. A knowledge of every good thing that God has placed in you by Jesus Christ.

To make these truths real in your life, you have to put the key in the ignition switch.

• The key is the Word of God.
• The ignition is your mouth.
• The key is turned in the ignition when you open your mouth and start to speak the truth.
• The good things in you are activated and energized the moment you start confessing the truth.
• Turn the key in your ignition and energize these truths until they become truth in you!

Quit talking negatively about yourself and begin to bring what you say into agreement with the truths God has deposited in your life.

• God’s Word says you’re healed, so begin to say you’re healed.
• God’s Word says you have the mind of Christ, so begin to say you have the mind of Christ.
• God’s Word says you’re blessed, so begin to say you’re blessed.

You turn the key in the ignition by getting your mouth in agreement with God’s Word.

And as you start speaking what God says about you, all your potential will start becoming a manifested reality!

God desires for us to get into agreement with Him and say the same thing that He says.

Hebrews 3:1 NKJV Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,

Hebrews 4:14 NKJV Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

The word translated “confession” here is the Greek word “homologia”. This word means “to say the same thing.”

This word “confession” here is not something that one person can say. It means that you repeat something that someone else has already said.

Are our troubles happening here on earth or are they happening in Heaven?

Is Jesus saying anything on earth right now? He is not talking on planet earth right now. He is talking in Heaven at God’s right hand.

Who has the mouth here on earth? We do.

He is talking in Heaven and we have to repeat here on earth what He has already said. He is not going to come down and do it for us. That is not His job. That is our job.

Romans 8:34 NKJV Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

• If you want the Word spoken into your problems here on the earth, then you and I are going to have to speak it.
• We have the assurance that whatever we say from the Word of God over our lives, that Jesus is in Heaven backing us saying the same thing.

Hebrews 2:1 TPT This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.

Hebrews 2:1 TPT This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.

The Basics of Faith

How does faith come?

• We do not pray for more faith.

You cannot pray beyond your faith, and you cannot have faith beyond the Word that you know and have in your heart.

Romans 10:17 NKJV So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

“The Word of God” in this verse is the Greek word “Rhema” as compared to another word in the Greek for the “Word of God” is “Logos”.

In my research I came across a quote from a commentary by Bill Hammon which defines these two words well:

“The logos is the general word of God that communicates his ability to do something, or his general will on a matter while a rhema is the word the Holy Spirit quickens to a specific person for a specific situation. The logos and rhema are always in alignment with one another.”

• Faith arises in our hearts as God’s Word becomes revelation to us as it is revealed to our spirits by the Holy Spirit.
• Faith is in your heart and not in your head.

Romans 10:9-10 NAS95 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; (10) for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Eight Steps to Develop Strong Faith

1. Realize your faith potential.

Romans 12:3 KJV (3) For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

In the context here, Paul is speaking to Born Again people and says God has dealt to every man (believer) the measure of faith.

So, all believers have the same faith potential. This is how God can deal with all mankind equally and fairly. We all start with the same raw material, and it is up to us whether it grows and becomes stronger.

• • • How far we go is totally up to us.
    • We all have an unlimited faith capacity.

2. Receive Jesus as the Developer of Your Faith

Hebrews 12:2 NKJV looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus will become our “Faith Trainer” when we decide to live by faith. He will develop our faith the same way a trainer develops our body. Expect Him to develop our faith every time we put our faith on the line.

3. Give the Word first place and make it final authority.

Proverbs 4:20-22 NKJV My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. (21) Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; (22) For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.

• • • We must build our busy schedule around the Word instead of trying to fit the Word into our busy schedules.
    • We don’t make the Word fit our lifestyle, we adjust our lifestyle to fit the Word of God.

4. Continually feed on the Word.

Matthew 4:4 NKJV But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ “

John Osteen – “If you will put the Word in your heart when you don’t need it, it will be there when you do need it.”

5. Meditate on the Word.

Joshua 1:8 NKJV This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

• • • Meditation is fixing your mind on the Word of God.

Isaiah 26:3 NLT You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!

The Word you meditate on will become the reality you desire!

6. Act on the Word

James 2:26 GNB So then, as the body without the spirit is dead, also faith without actions is dead.

• • • “Let the redeemed say so…” (Ps. 107:2)—whether or not you feel like it.
    • “Let the weak say, I am strong…” (Joel 3:10)

• • • Act as though the Word is absolutely true!

7. Spend time praying in other tongues.

Jude 1:20 AMPC But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the Holy Spirit;

1 Corinthians 14:4 NKJV He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.

Edify (GK) = Enlarging of a house; to augment, enhance and improve (To charge your faith like a battery; faith boost)

8. Continually give God praise.

(Psalms 34:1 NKJV) I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

If you want to enlarge your faith, cultivate a lifestyle of thanksgiving. Praise and thanksgiving are mighty affirmations of faith.

What we do between the time we pray and see the manifestation is crucial. After the “amen” of our prayer, we continue to thank God for the manifestation of the desired result.

(Psalms 67:5-7 NKJV) Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. (6) Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. (7) God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

Jerry Savelle – “The depth of your praise will determine the magnitude of your harvest.”

Hebrews 2:1 TPT This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.

Faith & Hope

Hebrews 11:1 AMP NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

Hope is powerful but it does have some limitations.

Faith and hope do work together and are connected.

• God always builds our hopes before we can begin to operate in faith.

Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. (2) I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. (3) I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Hope (Dictionary) – to look forward to something with desire and reasonable confidence it may happen

• Hope is a positive expectation of something happening in the future.

“I see good coming to me. Something good is going to happen to me this week…”

Faith and hope can be broken down like this:

• Hope is the ability to imagine something good happening to you.

This is where you start. Hope is a blueprint or a model. It is not the building; it is the expectation of the building.

Hope always sees things in the future. You never hope for something that had already happened.

• Faith brings things that you hope for in the future to the reality of now.

Genesis 17:1-5 NKJV When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. (2) And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” (3) Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: (4) “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. (5) No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.

How does faith work?

• Hope is the blueprint. Faith is the construction crew.

Faith is like an invisible construction team; a team that works while you are at home asleep and does not want you watching them work but yet you show up each day and are amazed at how much has gotten done behind the scenes.

• Faith works in the invisible arena where God lives.
• Faith connects me to that which I hope for.

Hope says I will get it someday. Faith says that I have it now. Hope does not connect me to it, but faith is my connection.

Romans 4:18-21 NKJV who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.” (19) And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. (20) He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, (21) and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

• Abraham did not consider his the negative circumstances.

Consider (DICTIONARY) – to think carefully about, to bear in mind; to make allowance for

You may pray, and things get worse instead of better. The news may not always conform to what God has said.

He does not deny it. He refuses to focus on it.

If you look at the natural negatives, you will talk yourself out of the promises that God has made to you.

• You will not be able to stay strong in faith if you continue to look at the natural negatives.

Romans 4:19 NKJV And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

• You and I have the responsibility to convince ourselves to believe what God has already said.

Romans 4:21 NKJV and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

Who was it that fully persuaded Abraham? Did God do it? If that is the case, then all God has to do is persuade everyone that they need to get saved and they would receive it.

Who then persuaded Abraham? Abraham persuaded Abraham.

How did Abraham become fully persuaded?

• Abraham grew stronger in his faith as he gave glory to God.

Romans 4:20 AMPC No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God,

Romans 4:20 TLB But Abraham never doubted. He believed God, for his faith and trust grew ever stronger, and he praised God for this blessing even before it happened.