According to Your Faith

by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2013, all rights reserved.

From the King James Version, in Matthew 9:29, Jesus said, "According to your faith be it unto you."  

In other words, you get what you're believing for.  

In that chapter there, it happened to be two blind men who wanted their eyesight.  

Jesus asked them if they believed he could heal them.  They said yes.  "Then he touched their eyes, saying, Have what you're believing for." (Holy Bible, Hoehn Version)   

And the blind men became seeing men.  

In Hebrews 11:6 it says,  "But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him."  

In Romans 1:17 we're reminded that, "The just shall live by faith."  We Christians are made just (we're justified) by the blood of Jesus.  God wants us to walk by faith.    

In 2 Cor 5:7,  "For we walk by faith, not by sight."  The world walks by sight.  If they can't see it, they don't believe it.  

Faith calls those things that are not as though they were. (Rom 4:17)

God places strong emphasis on faith.  The above Hebrews passage tells us we can't please God without faith.  

Is it important that we please God?  Yes.  Judgment Day will come, and at that time, if we've been pleasing God, we'll get rewards at the judgment.  

Those who've been displeasing God will get punishments.  

But it's not just about Judgment Day, somewhere off in the future.  There are benefits now in our daily lives if we're pleasing to God.  

If you have a good job, wouldn't you like to keep it?  The Lord can help you to keep it.  Or, the Lord could cause someone to lose their good job if that person is displeasing to him.  

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. (Psa 111:10)

Since God places strong emphasis on faith, we would be wise to employ faith in our daily lives.  

In Mark 11:24, Jesus said, "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them."  

In fact, it's really no good asking God for something if you don't put faith with your prayer.  

When you ask God for something, expect to receive what you're asking for.  

It would help to say out loud, "I believe I receive what I've asked God for."  

There is a connection between our faith and our words.  

In the book of Genesis, God said, "Let us make man in our image." (Gen 1:26)

We are made in the image of God.

We are made in the image of the God who spoke the worlds into existence.  

So then, we also have some power to speak things into existence.  Let's be careful not to speak the wrong things into existence, buts let's speak into existence the good things that we need or desire.  

If you're asking God for a job, say, "I call into existence the good job God has for me.  It's mine, and the Lord has put me into it." 

You don't have to use those exact words, but something like that.  

If you need a place to live, say, "I call into existence the good place to live God has for me (or, us).  It's mine, and I live there, a good place at a good price, with good neighbors, and good everything."  

But then, Jesus also said, "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt 16:19)  

We do this binding and loosing with words.  

I'm assuming that I'm talking to Christians.  These principles won't work so well for unbelievers.  So, if you're not a Christian, then step 1 is become a Christian, according to John chapter 3 and Romans 10:9,10.  

Romans chapter 10, verses
 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're saved.
 10 For with the heart man believes for righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made for salvation."  

You confess Jesus as Lord with your mouth, and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead.  Say a simple prayer, asking Jesus to be your savior.  He'll hear from heaven, and accept you as one of his.  

For the binding, you say, "I bind all powers of the enemy that would come against me in any way, and that would hurt or hinder me in any way, in Jesus' name."  

We Christians have the name of Jesus like a legal power of attorney.  Even if I personally don't have a lot of cash, I could write checks for millions if a millionaire gave me a power of attorney over his money.  

Jesus is the millionaire whose name we use like a power of attorney over the enemy.  

We cast out demons from people in Jesus' name.  (Luke 10:19, Mark 16:17,18)  

For the loosing, you say, "I loose ministering spirits to fight for my finances, and for the things that I and my family need."

The ministering spirits are angels that you can put to work for you if you're a Christian.  

After we have prayed, and after we have spoken words of faith, then we must stay in faith, and not doubt.  

Check out Mark 11:23, "For truly I say to you, that whoever shall say to this mountain, be removed, and be thrown into the sea, and doesn't doubt in his heart, but believes that the things that he says shall happen, he shall have whatever he says."  

Jesus says you can move a mountain.  Whatever your problem is, that's your mountain.  Command it to go, in Jesus' name.  But believe that what you say will happen, and don't doubt in your heart.  

The Bible teacher, Kenneth E. Hagin, said, "Keep the switch of faith turned on."  

The devil is going to try to talk you out of it.  But we must  "Resist the devil, and he'll run away from you." (James 4:7)

There are many examples in the Bible of men and women of strong faith.  For a good list of them, read Hebrews chapter 11.  

David used his faith and his words to defeat the giant, Goliath.  David spoke words of faith to Goliath, and said, "God will give you into my hand."  (1 Sam 17:46)  

It was a time of war.  The battle was between Israel and its enemy, the Philistines.  Goliath was with the Philistines, and was defying Israel.

God did just what David spoke.  David knocked Goliath down with a sling shot, and then killed that enemy with Goliath's own sword.  Israel had a great victory that day because of David and his words spoken in faith.  

In Genesis, chapter 41, 
 15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one that can interpret it, and I have heard about you, that you can understand a dream to interpret it."
 16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me, God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace."

Joseph spoke words of faith to Pharaoh, ruler of Egypt.  Then God gave Joseph the interpretation of the dreams for Pharaoh.  Joseph was promoted to second in command of Egypt, and nourished his people, Israel, in the famine that followed.  

Many military battles were won for Israel and for Judah when their leaders employed their faith to believe for the victory from God.  

Some of those battles were against staggering odds, and yet God gave the victory when his people believed with their faith.  

As I said, Joseph spoke words of faith to Pharaoh.  But for years before that, Joseph was walking in faith.  He had been kidnapped, and sold as a slave into Egypt.  

He did a good job for his master in Egypt, but was falsely accused of a crime, and went to prison.  He did good work at the prison, and was put in charge.

A lot of bad things had happened to Joseph, but he continued to believe that God would promote him according to the dreams God gave Joseph in his youth.  Dreams in which Joseph was in a top position.  

Joseph continued to believe, and got what he had been believing for, he was promoted over Egypt.  

And then his brothers came and submitted to him as in the dreams.  The same brothers who had hated him, and sold him into slavery.  

But Joseph was nice to them, and Israel had deliverance from the famine.  

Moses put his faith to work for Israel.  If you read the first five books of the Bible, Israel faced many challenges.  

God said he'd bring Israel out of the oppressive Egypt, but this new Pharaoh was very much unwilling.  

But God sent many plagues against Egypt, and Pharaoh got willing.  

Then Israel gets out into the wilderness, and there's no water.  But God meets the need.  

God provides manna for them to eat.  

When Israel has battles, God gives them deliverance.  Moses stayed in faith and did a good job for Israel.  There will be a good reward for Moses on Judgment Day.  

Scriptures quoted are from the Holy Bible, Hoehn Version and the New Testament, Hoehn Version, copyright 2011, both available as ebooks for the Kindle readers from Amazon.com.