Series: Truth, Judgment and Eternity Exodus 14:10-22 What is Faith? Series: Truth, Judgment and Eternity Exodus 14:10-22 PRAY There has been so much teaching on faith over the years that many of us have concluded that faith is so profound and so elusive, who can possibly have it. In this sermon I will attempt here to simplify what I believe faith is.

Obedience When God parted the Red Sea, did Moses have faith? Did Moses just decide to have faith to part the sea and then command it? Moses had faith that God would deliver Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, but I believe he did not have any idea how God would perform the deliverance. But God had an idea and He said to Moses, “Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.” (Exodus 14:16) Now Moses didn’t get told this until he came to the Sea. Moses obeyed this clear command from God and it was done for him. Moses obeyed and it was called faith.

Faith by God’s Will I John 5:14-15 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." Moses was told by God to lift up his rod and the Red Sea would part, so the faith of Moses was in line with God’s will. Moses did not make the decision to part the Red Sea and then try to muster faith to do it. It is written that Moses cried out to God in prayer. This was no ordinary prayer, this was desperate prayer, as the Egyptian army was on their tail.

Mustard Seed Matthew 17:20 He replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” When God told Moses to raise the staff, a mustard seeds worth of faith was placed in the heart of Moses. He then confidently stretched out his hand over the Red Sea and in response, God sent a strong east wind that blew back the water all night long until the ground was dry enough to walk on. The Lord glorified Himself by parting the Red Sea and all Moses had to do was be obedient and do the simple act of holding up his staff. The challenge and point to be made here is, do we know God that well that we could speak to Him like Moses could and be able to hear His voice just as clearly?

Faith by Relationship If we have faith enough to believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour, without seeing Him, then we have a mustard seeds worth of faith. It is written in Matthew 21:21, that with a mustard seeds worth of faith we could say to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea,” and it would be done for us. But, the angels of Heaven (who would do the literal act of lifting the mountain and throwing it) will not respond to your command, unless it is in line with God’s will. Only with a true relationship with God and Jesus directly, could you have that sort of power with God; we don’t decide to throw the mountain into the sea. I cannot move mountains by my own faith to believe for it, but if Jesus told me to command it with a promise that He would honour my word, I would have the faith. You see, His power is to be used with His approval, without His approval nothing can be accomplished in prayer and therefore our faith is useless.

What is the Father Doing? Faith always comes from obedience to the Fathers desire. Jesus could only do what He saw the Father doing. “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19) The question is not whether we have faith but it should be do we see what the Father is doing? When at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus saw God go up to one cripple only, so Jesus obeyed and said, “Be healed.” By faith Jesus healed one man, He didn’t heal the rest of the sick and crippled at the pool, for He was obedient to only do what He saw the Father doing. Jesus could hear His Father tell Him, “Heal that man,” and by His obedience He had faith and He was healed.

The Problem of Faith If the disciples were doing what they saw the Father doing, then they would have been as relaxed as Jesus was on the boat during the storm. Instead they were fearful of death, so Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith. I believe the problem today with our faith is one, we think it has to do with our own power to believe, and two, we are not tuned into God enough to only do what we see the Father doing. If we could hear God’s voice clearly and if He said to you by way of revelation, “Tell that mountain to throw itself into the sea,” and you obeyed, you would only need the faith the size of a mustard seed to see it done at your word. Just like Moses who obeyed God at the Red Sea, the mountain would be lifted up just the same. We will have faith to move mountains when we spend enough time in the presence of God and form a trust relationship with Him and do what He does.

Mighty in Prayer I wrote the following to do with ‘faith’ in my book, God’s Heart Cry for Revival: A man or woman mighty in prayer is a man or woman of great faith. Faith and prayer go hand in hand. You simply cannot pray and believe for anything without faith. On the other hand, if you want faith, you should start praying and believing. You cannot pray without faith, and you cannot have faith without prayer. You exercise faith in prayer. EM Bounds said, “In the ultimate issue, prayer is simply faith… Moreover: when faith ceases to pray, it ceases to live… Prayer projects faith on God, and God on the world, only God can move mountains, but faith and prayer move God… Faith is kept alive by prayer.”

Faith in the Word In relation to this faith by obedience at the spoken Word of God, we should also believe the Word as spoken in the Bible, and act on it in the same manner. What God spoke to us in the Bible should be accepted and believed as surely and as soundly as if He has said it to us in person by way of revelation. 2Corinthians 1:20 "For ALL the Promises of God in Him are Yea, and in Him Amen, unto the Glory of God by us”. For the Word of God is yes and amen and so should we believe. John 15:7 "IF ye abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” By abiding in Christ (Prayer) and allowing His Word in the Scriptures to abide in us (By reading and hearing) we then will have what we ask for in prayer.

Know God We must know God, there is no other way, and He must have total control over what we say and do. Then if God tells you to command in the name of Jesus that a mountain be thrown into the sea and you obey, it will be done for you. But, if we do not know Him and are not hearing His voice; or are unsure that what we hear is the voice of God; or our own loud thoughts and desires, then we could make an embarrassment of ourselves and our God. His power and our authority is always to be executed with His authorisation of use, or else we will fall into all sorts of temptations and push people away from Christ rather than draw them nearer.

Substance and Evidence Hebrews 11:1"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. This is probably the clearest revelation of faith. If faith is the substance of things hoped for, then we already have faith by believing in Christ and our hope of eternal life. Now the “evidence of things not seen” is brought about by time spent in the Bible with the Holy Spirit counseling us, as well as by personal revelation by spending quality time in the presence of our unseen God. The reality of the spiritual things (which are invisible) becomes more real as we spend more and more time in His presence. If we spend 95% of our day considering things of the world and 5% of our day considering things of God, little wonder things of the World seem so much more real than things of God. Read Colossians 1:15-16 Can everyone see that faith is not about our power to believe, but about us doing what we see the Father doing, and that comes from time spent with God, forming a trust relationship with Him. I hope this word today has helped us all to simplify our understanding of faith, because what it really comes down to is faith comes by relationship, therefore a strong active prayer life not only builds that relationship with God, it becomes faith. All great men and women of God of the past were powerful and extremely active in prayer.