"As the day declined, the
Twelve said, "Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the farms or
villages around here and get a room for the night and a bite to eat. We're
out in the middle of nowhere." "You feed them," Jesus
said. They said, "We couldn't scrape up more than five loaves of
bread and a couple of fish--unless, of course, you want us to go to town
ourselves and buy food for everybody." (There were more than five
thousand people in the crowd.) But he went ahead and directed his
disciples, "Sit them down in groups of about fifty."
They did what he said, and soon had
everyone seated. He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to
heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread and fish to the
disciples to hand out to the crowd. After the people had all eaten their
fill, twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered up." (Luke
9:12-17 Message Bible)
We are talking about God's Divine
Blueprint for Faith and you're probably wondering why you just read the
Feeding of the 5,000. I will explain. Before performing the
above miracle, Jesus refused to do anything in the midst of that
chaos. That hungry crowd would have turned into a frenzied mob if the
Disciples just started randomly handing out food. So Jesus said, "Have
them sit down and have them sit down in groups of fifty in order to avoid
chaos."
Divine Order Is a Prerequisite to Divine
Intervention
The Bible says that God is not the
author of confusion. (1Corinthians
Sometimes people's faith is out of
order and they cannot seem to get answers from God. That's why we are
taking the time in these two studies to look at the Divine Blueprint for
Faith. In our first lesson we
saw the importance of specifically identifying whatever your problem
is. We saw the importance of making a decision to get the victory
over the problem. We also saw the importance of finding God's promise
to help and hearing, meditating on that promise in order to develop faith
in that area.
We will now move immediately into
the second half of God's Divine Blueprint for Faith. These steps are
guaranteed to move you away from the problem and into the solution every
time. That is, if you are walking in love, steering
clear of sin and repenting every time you happen to blow it.
Keep in mind also that we are not
reducing God to a formula in this two part study. That would be a
stupid thing to do. What we are doing, however, is studying what God
commands us to do if we are going to receive from Him as proficiently as He
desires.
Release the Tremendous Power of Words
You have identified your problem at
this point. You have made a decision to live victoriously above your
problem. You have found God's promise of help in the Bible. You
have meditated on that promise. You have heard excellent teaching and
preaching concerning the promise. Faith has risen in your heart and now you are ready to
release the power of confession.
Almost always someone says,
"Oh, I know all about that power of confession stuff. I tried it
and it doesn't work." People who say that only do so because
they DO NOT know all about that power of confession stuff. They
simply messed around with the Divine Blueprint, skipping a step here and
there, and ended up all goofed up, frustrated, defeated and preaching
against God's Word. If that's you, just go back to the steps you
skipped and re-establish them. God will forgive you
and restore you immediately. He's good that way.
You cannot jump right to the
confession part of the blueprint, ignoring the other steps, saying, "That's my new BMW" four hundred times
a day and expect it to work. You've got to meditate on the promises
of God. Meditating on the promises is loading the cannon.
Meditate. Meditate. Meditate. That's packing the powder
and ball down inside the cannon's throat. Once the cannon is properly loaded, you point it in the direction of
your problem and light the fuse by speaking the promise. There is a
supernatural explosion that occurs and your problem is blown to
smithereens.
Make sure you have loaded your heart
with faith before you light the fuse. Otherwise, you are firing
blanks. You are indeed making a lot of noise and putting up a lot of
smoke. But the enemy, your problem, is standing there untouched,
mocking you. You may as well have showed up at the gunfight at the OK
Corral with a wooden toy gun. You're going to get hurt.
"A good man out of the good
treasure of his heart bringeth forth good
things..." (Matthew 12:35)
The good treasure that you put in
your heart is God's Word. The good things that come forth as a result
are the solutions to your problems.
"For by thy words shalt thou be justified and by thy words shalt thou be condemned." (Matthew 12:37)
Here Jesus tells us how to see miracles. Put the good treasure of
His Word in your heart by speaking it softly to yourself continually.
Then use your words to speak His promise over your problem, over and over,
and good things will come forth.
Here's Another Verse to Examine
"For verily I say unto you,
That whosoever shall SAY unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou
cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart but shall BELIEVE that
those things which he SAITH shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he
SAITH." (Mark
Lots of good Christian folks have
the "believing" part of faith locked down pretty good.
However, far too many need instruction concerning the "saying"
part of faith. In the above verse Jesus only said "BELIEVE"
one time. But He said "SAY" or "SAITH" three
times. That means that once you have meditated on God's promise,
you've got to do three times more saying than just believing.
"Praying" for God to help
you is vitally important to gaining victory over your problem, but so is
"saying." You cannot pray one way for help only to turn
around and talk another way. You have got to say what the Bible says
about your problem, over and over and over. Saying will make or break your praying.
This is why the Bible says that life and death are in the power of the
tongue. (Proverbs 18:21)
I know that a lot of Christians are
opposed to this "saying" principle. They are down on the
Divine Blueprint for Faith because they are simply not up on the
Bible. But their heads are no place for your happiness. Are you
going to do what ignorant, misinformed, immature Christians say or are you
going to do what the Bible says?
God leaves it all up to you.
He will not violate your free will and force you to do it His way.
You are going to have to make up your own mind to do three times more saying
than praying and believing. As a matter of fact, if you aren't saying
what the Bible says, you really aren't believing
at all. The number one way to tell if you are in faith in your area
of need, is to listen to the way you talk about
it.
Let Patience Be Developed
The Bible never said that raw faith
alone would inherit the promises of God. Here's what the Bible really
says. "That ye be not slothful,
but followers of them who through FAITH & PATIENCE inherit the
promises." (Hebrews 6:12)
Faith is guaranteed to GET your
miracle moving toward you. However, only patience is guaranteed to
KEEP your miracle moving toward you.
"Cast not away therefore your
confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need
of PATIENCE that after ye hath done the will of
God, ye might [shall] receive the promise." (Hebrews 10:35,36)
Patience is not lying down and
letting people walk all over you because they think Christians are supposed
to be wimpy. It takes tremendous strength
to be a Jesus person. It takes tremendous strength to walk in the
patience of Jesus.
Patience, in the New Testament,
means, "To be consistent. To be the same way all the time."
In spite of negative, contradictory
circumstances and criticism, patience always says, "I'm not
changing. God said the promise is mine. I'm not going to be
talked out of it. If He said it's so, then I say it's so, and that's
all there is to it." Now, that's real Bible patience.
That's how Jesus walked. Honey, that ain't
wimpy!
God's Pre-Appointed Moment for Everything
It is so important when waiting for
God to answer your prayer to never set times or dates. Leave the
timing to God. God's timing is more important than our timing.
With God there is a pre-appointed moment for everything, absolutely
everything.
"To everything there is a
season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
Sometimes the things we ask God for
will directly or indirectly impact other individuals. Our individual
lives are complexly connected to the lives of others in many ways that we
cannot even see. The All Knowing God is overseeing the whole
operation. Often times it is His will to answer you in such a way
that others will be blessed by it as well. We must allow Him to be
the Blesser.
You might be crying out, "God,
where's the mate I've asked You for?" "God, when will I
ever prosper as You promised?"
"God, when will I have that baby? I'm not getting any
younger." "God, how about that Anointing I've been fasting and praying for?"
God is saying to you today, "Hey,
hold steady, Loved One. Faith and patience inherit the
promises. Don't cast away your confidence. There's great
promise of reward in it. Keep developing patience, the promise is on
the way. There is a time to every purpose under Heaven. There
are things that you don't completely understand right now. You can't
see the big picture like I can. Just don't grow weary on Me
now. In due season you will reap if you refuse to faint. I gave
you My Word. My Word is My bond. You're doing good. Don't bail out on Me now."
Knowing that there is an appointed
season to receive your answer will help you to develop patience and to keep
you from quitting. Could be today. Could be tomorrow.
Either way, He promises to help you.
Expect God to Answer You
When you are truly expecting God to answer you, you will put
yourself in position to receive from Him. Any Major League baseball catcher who is expecting a 94-mile-an-hour fastball,
squats down behind the plate and braces himself to receive the big
heat. You, too, as a Major League Believer, must get in position to
receive what's coming towards you.
When a woman is expecting a baby,
she makes preparations. There is furniture and clothing to
gather. There is a nursery to prepare. The doctor is
consulted. There are all kinds of preparations that occur. The
mother-to-be makes up her mind to bring everything in line with the
anticipated arrival.
What would anyone think of a
pregnant woman who sat down and said, "I'm sitting right here for the
next nine months and when it comes time, I'm gonna
just let 'er rip. What happens,
happens." We'd all be dumbfounded and think she's completely
nuts.
Well, God is dumbfounded when we're expecting to receive
from Him and all we do is sit around and not make preparation. We
need to DO something
that shows God that we really believe we are about to receive.
"But be ye DOERS of the word,
and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." (James 1:22)
"Isn't it obvious that God-talk
without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?" (James
Faith must have corresponding
actions or it's not faith. It's presumption. Presumption, one
translation of the Bible says, is “outrageous nonsense.” Faith must
be acted out or it will die.
"The very moment you separate
body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you
get the same thing: a corpse." (James
You have got to be doing something
that shows God you are expecting to receive your answer. Are you believing
for a mate? Fix your hair. Buy a toothbrush and put it beside
yours in the bathroom. We personally know a woman who did this.
She complained and complained that her husband hadn't arrived yet. I
told her, "Go buy him a toothbrush and make room in your closet for
his stuff. Show God that you believe he's on the way." She
stopped complaining and did as suggested. Within the year she was
married. Simple, yet very
profound.
We know another woman who was
trusting God for a husband. She invited us to her home one day.
We walked in and literally gagged because of the overwhelming animal odor,
filth and squalor. I thought to myself, "Even if God Himself
appeared and told me to marry you, I'd turn and run the other way.
I'm redeemed from the curse." We delicately shared with her the
need to change in this area, as an act of faith. She did. Her husband
appeared. He didn't turn and run the other way, either.
Are you trusting God for a financial miracle? Don't just
throw your tithes disrespectfully into the
offering bucket and leave. Hold them up to God before you even get to
Church. Consecrate them to Him as being Holy because they are Holy.
(Leviticus 27:30) Don't give offerings to
this Ministry or any Ministry without first praying over them. You
can't just throw your money at God. You are the righteousness of God. (Romans
In the hands of an evil person,
money is evil because it's used for evil things. In the hands of a
Holy person, money is Holy because it's used for Holy things. Because
you are using it for Holy things, consecrate it to God respectfully. Explain to Him that you are expecting it to multiply
so you can continue to do His Kingdom work. Then ask Him to show you what you can do that will prove to Him that you are expecting to
receive a return.
Are you sick? Do you need healing?
Start getting dressed every day even if you cannot get out of bed.
Keep taking your medication until the doctor says you don't need it
anymore. But at least take it by faith in Jesus' Name. Pray
over it the way you would pray over a meal. Look for little things to
do today that you couldn't do yesterday.
I was praying for a man in a healing
line one evening in
Hudson Taylor was a great 18th
Century Missionary to
As
The Captain did a little thing and acted out his faith by setting sail when there was no
wind. Almighty God did a big thing, sending the requested
wind, thereby preventing the passengers and crew from becoming cannibal
stew.
Now this just may be one of the
longest two-part studies you've ever read, but you'll thank me for it
later. Blueprints usually are pretty big, aren't they? But
they're not as complex as they can appear to be. God's Divine
Blueprint for Faith is not all that complex either. Let's review
God's Divine Blueprint quickly.
1) Identify What Your Real
Problem Is
2) Make a Decision to Conquer
Your Problem
3) Find God's Promise to Help
You
4) Meditate on God's Promise
to Help You
5) Know Divine Order Is a
Prerequisite to Divine Intervention
6) Release the Tremendous
Power of Words
7) Let Patience Be Developed
8) Know God Has a
Pre-Appointed Time for You
9) Expect God to Answer You
This is God's Divine Blueprint for
Faith. Don't try to build any other way or you're building on sinking
sand. Your faith will collapse and you'll end up frustrated and
angry. God doesn't want you frustrated and angry. God wants to bless you. He loves you.
He needs you.
Be blessed ... John and Barbara
Hamel
