DEVELOPING FAITH IN YOUR

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CONFESSION

The Word of Faith message is based

on true principles of the Bible, but over

the last 30 years I have found some

people trying to believe God for

millions of dollars to do great things

when they hadn’t learned to believe

Him for the money to pay their light

bill. Some people have overloaded their

faith. Some are operating on ten-dollar

faith and trying to believe for millions.

To be successful in life we must all

learn to operate on our own level of

faith.

I think this is why some have caused

trouble in churches. They have gone to a

seminar, where they heard someone

teach, “You can have what you say.”

But they only got a part of what was

taught, and went home thinking they

were a three-day wonder.

They did all kinds of foolish things

and called it faith. Then their pastors

had to sweep up the pieces and try to

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Developing Faith in Your Confession

put them back together. They

overloaded their faith and made a big

splash, but they couldn’t swim. The

pastors, then, thought that was what

they were taught in the seminar.

OPERATE AT YOUR OWN LEVEL

I am referring to the problem of

people trying to act beyond where their

faith is developed. We all must learn to

operate within our level of development,

and we can grow from there. But you

always have to start where you are.

That may sound elementary, but many

will be helped by understanding that

fact. You just can’t build a second story

on a vacant lot.

Start where you are and know where

you are going. Jesus said that no man

would start to build a tower without first

counting the cost. This is good advice,

but sometimes when people get turned

on to faith, they fail to count the cost of

what they are confessing.

I remember more than 20 years ago

a certain individual who heard some

teaching on faith and confession and

went whole hog (so to speak) when he

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was only half ready. He was a

professional man who was just

beginning in his profession. He found a

house that he wanted. It was around

$130,000. He started confessing that he

was going to buy this house. He started

believing for it and confessing the Word

of God over it.

He eventually bought the house.

The way it happened was almost

supernatural, because he did not have

the assets to warrant the loan for the

house. But by faith he pushed the deal

through to completion.

That worked so well that he started

confessing and believing for an

airplane. He bought an airplane the

same way. Then he discovered he didn’t

have the income to support the things he

had bought.

I am not saying this to belittle that

individual, but as a matter of instruction

to keep others from making the same

mistake. Sometimes people throw away

all common sense when they get turned

on to faith. Don’t develop your faith

only in the area of obtaining things. You

may get so many things that you can’t

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Developing Faith in Your Confession

pay the upkeep.

Some of these things concerning

faith have been left unsaid. But they

need to be said, for they will keep you

from falling into the same trap. Always

develop your faith to support the things

you are believing for before you obtain

them.

Yes, you can use your faith to get

things that you cannot afford. So, first

count the cost of maintaining the things

you want. This is where some have

missed it, then they turn thumbs down

on the faith message and say, “Ah, this

stuff doesn’t work.”

But it worked so well that it got

them in trouble. They didn’t understand

how to work it properly. They found a

way to get things, but didn’t have the

common sense to sit down and count

the cost. Always count the cost. Look

before you leap, as the old saying goes.

FAITH OR PRESUMPTION

You must draw the line somewhere

between faith and presumption. You

must use common sense with faith.

Don’t throw away all common sense

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Developing Faith in Your Confession

and all good business practices just

because you get turned on to faith.

A man came to me in a seminar

where I was speaking. He said, “Several

of us came over here because we heard

you’re a farmer, and you’re a faith man.

We want to know if you use fertilizer on

your farm?”

I replied, “Yes. Do you use gas in

your car?”

Well, no question is stupid, if you

don’t know the answer. Will Rogers

once said, “Everybody is ignorant—just

about different things.” I’m not making

fun of the man; I’m just pointing out the

way people think. They want to please

God, but sometimes they have more zeal

than knowledge. You don’t throw away

all good business sense or common

sense just because you get turned on to

faith. Use your faith in good business

practices. Your faith is giving substance

of things you hope for, and it is the

evidence of things you don’t yet see.

NO SUBSTITUTES

When you substitute faith for good

business practices, you are headed for

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Developing Faith in Your Confession

trouble. Right on the other hand, don’t

substitute good business practice for

faith. You mix faith with good business

practices. Every day, people go

bankrupt operating good business sense

with no faith. But they talk negative.

They quote the 6 & 10 o’clock news.

They are filled with negative things.

You must mix faith with what you

do. Exercise your faith in what you are

doing (Psalm 1:3). Many years ago a

certain man called who had been calling

me regularly for some time. He said,

“Now I’m doing what the Word said.

I’m confessing God’s Word over my

finances. Why isn’t it working?”

Well, the very fact that he had to

ask, “Why isn’t it working?” proved

that he didn’t believe that it was

working. He was not in faith. He was

looking at circumstances. Faith would

have meant holding fast to his

confession knowing that it was working.

The man said, “I have done

everything the Word says to do. What

do I do now?” I said, “Just keep doing

it! The ball game isn’t over. Just keep

doing it. It doesn’t happen overnight. It

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Developing Faith in Your Confession

takes time to change some things. You

didn’t get that way overnight, and you

can’t change it overnight.”

He called back in about a month and

again said, “It isn’t working.” Finally, I

told him, “The problem is about one

inch below your nose—your mouth.

God says it is working. You say it

isn’t.”

YOUR FAITH AND GOD’S WORD PLUS

TIME—CHANGES THINGS

I saw the same man about a year

later, and he said, “Glory to God! It’s

working! The Word works.” It was

working all the time, but it just took a

while for the results to be manifested.

You must hold fast to your confession

of faith.

Many people fail to realize that it

takes time for things to develop and turn

things around. If you have been negative

for 15 years, you are not going to

change it in four days.

First, you must set things in motion,

even in the spiritual realm. Seven

hundred fifty years before God sent

Jesus into this earth, He spoke it

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Developing Faith in Your Confession

through the prophet Isaiah saying, “a

virgin will conceive and bear a child.”

God started saying it 750 years before it

came to pass. But so often we want

things to happen overnight.

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE

When I first heard the message of

faith and confession, I said, “I didn’t

know that was in the Bible.” I had never

heard anyone preach on it. I didn’t know

that Jesus said you could have what you

say. I thought, “If that were true, they

would have taught that in my church.”

But they didn’t know anything about it

in my church. When I heard the

message, “you can have what you say,”

I began to study the Word and checked

it out. It was there. Jesus actually said it.

And Jesus answering saith

unto them, Have faith in God. 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.

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Therefore I say unto you, What

things soever ye desire, when ye

pray, believe that ye receive them,

and ye shall have them (Mark

11:22-24).

SAYING AND BELIEVING BRINGS

RESULTS

Notice the above verses say,

whosoever shall say. You can ask

people, “Who will this work for?” Most

of them will answer, “It will work for

whosoever.” But it won’t work for

whosoever, only for those whosoevers

who will dare to say... It continues,

“Whosoever shall say... and shall not

doubt in his heart, but shall believe

what he is saying .”

Does it mean to believe just what he

said to the mountain? No. Believe

everything he says. He must believe that

everything he says will come to pass. In

other words, we should release faith in

every word we speak.

This is where I missed it for a long

time. I had heard different people

preach from Mark 11:23, but I was

reading it one day, and these words just

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jumped out at me: “... those things

which he saith...”

I realized it was more than just what

you say about the circumstance or the

mountain of problems. You must

develop faith in your words so you can

believe what you are saying day after

day will come to pass.

The only way that can be done is by

speaking only the things you desire to

come to pass. Don’t confess the things

you don’t desire. But so many times we

speak things we don’t want to happen at

all; therefore, it inhibits our ability to

release faith in the words we speak.

For instance, if Jesus appeared in

your church and walked down the aisle

saying, “After I touch you, every word

you say will happen just like you say

it,” would that change your vocabulary?

In most churches, if Jesus were to

do that, about half the congregation

would say, “Wow! That tickles me to

death!” You would be two weeks

burying the dead!

We have developed our vocabulary

saying negative things. Most of our

common sayings are negative. Our

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everyday speech has been influenced by

the enemy to keep us from releasing

faith in our words. To apply the law of

faith we must develop faith in the

confession of God’s Word and this is a

process that takes time but it pays big

dividends.

Jesus said that whosoever shall say,

believe, doubt not, in his heart, but

believe what he says will come to pass,

he shall have whatsoever he says. There

is more to it than just saying it, yet

saying what God said about you sets the

law of faith in motion.

Jesus put it this way in Matthew

12:35: “A good man out of the good

treasure of the heart bringeth forth

good things; and an evil man out of the

evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”

What is abundantly in your heart will

get in your mouth whether it is good

seed from God’s Word or bad seed from

the evil one. Jesus told us we could have

what we say but so many are still saying

what they have.

MARANATHA!

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Document Outline

- Developing Faith in Your Confession

- 1 Developing Faith in Your Confession

- Operate at Your Own Level

- Faith or Presumption

- No Substitutes

- Your Faith and God’s Word Plus Time—Changes Things

- Lack of Knowledge

- Saying and Believing Brings Results

Table of Contents

Developing Faith in Your Confession

1 Developing Faith in Your Confession

Operate at Your Own Level

Faith or Presumption

No Substitutes

Your Faith and God’s Word Plus Time—Changes Things

Lack of Knowledge

Saying and Believing Brings Results