THE POWER OF FAITH

God Company Sri Lanka

is an extension to The Key Elements of Christian Living presentation. The Four Key elements will be presented as four separate presentations beginning this presentation Faith

Forgiveness LivingExample

Love

THE KEY ELEMENTSOF CHRISTIAN

LIVING

This study…

THE POWER OF FAITH

The Power of FaithThe Power of LoveThe power of ForgivenessThe Living Example

What is FAITH?

Ask a half-dozen people to explain Faith or define it for you. You will receive many different answers…

Some of the answers I got when I did a survey among a limited number of Christians…

“…faith is an intangible feeling that I have for my religion...”“… faith is a conviction which is unique to me”.“…faith is some kind of positive thinking”“ … I got faith through the church I started going to…”

DEFINITIONSOF FAITH…

Oxford DICTIONARY DEFINITION

Complete trust or confidence in someone or something – i.e. Faith in politicians, political systems…

A Strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof:

Hebrews 11:1: “…NOW FAITH IS BEING SURE OF WHAT WE HOPE FOR AND CERTAIN OF WHAT WE DO NOT SEE.

For ChristiansFaith is…

• Christian Faith relates to a confident assurance of Salvation through Jesus Christ and being certain of His Guidance, protection and blessings upon your life(…and others whom you pray for).

FOR CHRISTIANSFAITH IS A REQUIREMENT

In the life of Jesus we can observe the importance that He placed on Faith. With Jesus Faith was a pre-requisite.

Matthew 9: 29Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your Faith let it be done to you”;

Mark 5 : 34He said to her, “Daughter, your Faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Luke: 17 :19

Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your Faith has made you well.”

Matthew 13:58And he did not do many miracles

there because of their lack of Faith.

These two passages clearly demonstrate the need for Faith…

Matthew 8: 26He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

Matthew 14 : 21Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

The needfor Faith …

The Disciples lacked Faith

Peter’s Faith Wavered

Matthew 8

24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. 27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Matthew 14

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.

From both instances we can observe a wavering of Faith.

Jesus’ disciples who were with Him in the same boat panicked when the storm hit them. The disciples forgot who was with them. This happens to many Christians. We get weakened in the face of adversity and let worry and anxiety reign over our life…because we lack Faith in Gods power in our lives.

We panic due to our lack of Faith in Gods capacity for provision, protection and guidance… we let our worldly thinking take over…our human measurements, capabilities and standards start to take over and we start to discount the awesome power of God.

Faith Can Waiver…

Peter called our to Jesus and confidently started to walk on water. But half way he saw the rough sea and the winds. He lost the Faith that he had when he started the walk on water. Peter’s Faith wavered in Jesus’s power to protect him. The rough sea and the wind made His Faith to waver and in that moment he started to drown. This happens all the time in Christian lives.

Look again…

Matthew 14 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

Remember our God is a Loving God and even when you falter in your Faith He is there to pick you up.

Holding on to Faith

The depth of our relationship with Jesus is directly proportionate to the Level of Faith one possesses and vice versa.

The wavering of Faith occurs when one cannot hold fast to God’s promises. As Christians we have the teachings of Jesus to guide us and claim on our lives. By reading understanding and by living in keeping with these teachings, we experience the power of God on our lives. This experience empowers us with more Faith which fuels us if and when our Faith starts to waver…

When our walk with God gets strong…our Faith starts to become stronger…

3 Indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

An insightOn Faith

Proverbs 2:

FAITH READING GODS WORD

Living a God fearing Christian life

Developing an Intimate relationship with God

Learning as to what displeases God

Refraining from doing What displeases God

Receive Gods blessings

Experience Gods Power

The Faith cycle

Matthew 6: 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you— you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Jesus explains Faith …

We have been advised by Jesus to seek Gods kingdom and His righteousness as the priority in our Lives and He assures us - what we need will also be provided…

The key is the degree of absolute Faith that we can muster in Gods promises to us through Jesus Christ. Most often we find that we are way short in absolute Faith due to worldly influence on our lives from Day one….all human limitations.

But do we have

that much Faith?

Our absolute Faith should be in Gods Power…

Matthew 17 : 20He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, 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.”

Jesus explainsthe Power of Faith

Matthew 21: 21Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.

Unfortunately our human tendency is to immediately conclude that “moving a mountain” as an impossibility. But here we are shown the extreme possibility… through the POWER OF FAITH it can be done!

We can observe that Faith is an awesome power. As Christians we have been given the possibility of accessing this power through Jesus Christ. It is freely available to all Christians.

The Power of Faith lies within the degree of our Faith in Jesus. The stronger our connection to Him (not in our terms but as per our compliance to His teachings), the level of Faith would be stronger. The Power of Faith demonstrates what could be achieved through Faith..

The Powerof Faith

When certain defined conditions are fulfilled – we have an assurance given by Jesus that - WHAT IS NEEDED WOULD BE PROVIDED

Mark 11: 22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

An assurancegiven by Jesus

You can achieve wonders with the Power of Faith. But first you need to meet these wonderful conditions…

This is a very important teaching of Jesus that can be claimed on our lives. However, there are a important conditions that are embedded in this promise that we have to be met if we are to claim it on our lives.

a. Have Faith in God - Have absolute Faith in God that He would provide what is needed when it is needed.

b. The request should be made in absolute belief and without ‘doubt’ that it will be done as requestedc. Make the request in prayer and while praying believe that we have

already received it

The Conditions

While making this request if we have “anything against anyone” we have to forgive them…so that our sins too may be forgiven by God...and we stand cleansed before Him when our request is made…

a. Obviously our requests have to be righteous( the request is made to God)b. Addressed to God through Prayer in absolute Faith… c. In certainty that the request will be granted (believing that we have

already received it)d. BUT…before making the request we have to be able to forgive and

be reconciled with others with whom we have issues – so that our Father in heaven may forgive our sins – and we are able to stand cleansed before Him.

The Issues

As Christians we have the possibility for the redemption of our Sins through Jesus Christ. But some Christians are found to harbor evil in their hearts by not being able to Forgive. As a requirement we are expected to forgive others – “so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins”.

The Big question is…Can we fulfill all the conditions…?

The Good news is that if we can fulfill these conditions… then we can claim on this assurance given to us by Jesus.

Mark 11: 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. .

The condition ofForgiveness Mark 11

25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

We can again observe the emphasis of Forgiveness found in the Lord’s prayer. Luke11: 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

FORGIVE TO BE FORGIVEN - Jesus

Our requests through prayer should be made in Absolute Faith - that our need will be provided by our God.

The Condition of absolute Faith

Ask in absolute Faith and it will be given - Jesus

Before we start to move any mountain, you can observe the Power of Faith first hand by focusing on a problem that you currently have at hand. We have an assurance from Jesus that we can receive what we ask for through the Power of Faith. First lets move this issue (any issue that you currently have) representing a huge mountain for you at this moment in time.

The Power of Faith

Focus on the Issue. Is it righteous request? Is it a want or a need? Absolutely have Faith in Gods power to solve the need. Before making the request dump the anger, jealousy, vengeance, all unrighteousness (Evil negativities that are found in all our lives…) Forgive and be forgiven and believe that God has already solved the issue…IT WILL BE DONE.

1 Corinthians 2 : 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

I Pray…

Thank you

God Company Sri Lanka