Power Gifts ~ The Gift of Faith ~ The Golden Rule

We now move on in our study to the Power Gifts.  The first is the Gift of Faith.  Faith is the golden key that opens all doors to the heavenly realm.  According to Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  This is the simple faith we need to be saved.  We’re saved by faith. We’re water baptized by faith. We receive the Spirt by faith.  But this is not the spiritual Gift of Faith. 

Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed. They will show that you will be given praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ returns.  (1 Peter 1:7).

I liken the Gift of Faith to the color of gold.  Similar to the Golden Rule of humanity; it is the golden rule of the Kingdom of Heaven.  It is the key needed for all things to be received by us from God.  Gold is symbolic of God’s Glory, divinity, kingship, eternal deity, precious, holiness, and majesty.  With those adjectives who wouldn’t desire the Gift of Faith?

Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.  (Job 23:10).

What is the Gift of Faith? 

I like this description from:  thegiftoffaith_part1_2.pdf (cthem.org)

“Those who possess the gift of faith believe God in such a way that He honors their word as His own, and He miraculously brings it to pass…The gift of faith is the greatest of the three gifts of power. It is a gift of the Spirit to the believer so that they might receive miracles. The working of miracles is a gift of the Spirit given to the believer so that he might work miracles. 

One gift receives, and the other gift does something. One gift is passive; it receives. The other gift is active; it works. Notice that the scripture says, “To another the WORKING of miracles…” (1 Cor. 12:10). When you perform a miracle, that’s “working” a miracle.  But when receiving a miracle, you don’t “work” it, and that’s the gift of faith in operation.”

Why is this gift used by the Lord?  The Gift of Faith is the gift of the Spirit in order that one might receive miracles.  This gift expects God’s Hand to move in a situation and also, over a sustained duration, so it is an ongoing action.  God gives this gift to confirm that the person has an answer and helps the believer maintain that faith over time.  Hmmm, sounds like me, waiting for my healing! 

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.  (Proverbs 13:12).

How is this gift used by the Lord?  Quite simply this gift causes what is spoken or desired by man or spoken by God to ultimately come to pass.  But in my humble opinion, that doesn’t mean it is an easy road waiting for the fulfillment, though the gift sustains me.  Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.  (Psalm 105:19).

I wait for the day when I hear the Lord say to me: “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.”  (Jeremiah 1:12).

An Example of Gift of Faith in practice.  I can see how this story from over twenty years ago has prepped me for my current waiting season.  It was a healing brought to pass by NOT going to the doctors when the Lord wanted to heal me without medical help.  Here is how it went down.

In 2001, I prayed with a woman who needed deliverance from the evil spirits that were tormenting her.  As an intercessor God taught me to put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).  It was at this time that physical symptoms began to appear. 

As the prayer sessions went on for over six weeks, I felt increasingly weak, nauseated and a small tug or pinch on the left side of my lower abdomen.  I went to the doctor, yet they could not diagnose anything.  The symptoms continued, got worse, and became debilitating. I couldn’t go to work.  I got weaker and weaker and lost 15 pounds.  Through much prayer I kept hearing the Lord promising to heal me.  He gave me these promises among others:   

Matthew 8:7 Jesus said to him, ‘I will go and heal him.’

Matthew 8:17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.’

As I continued to cry out to the Lord, He gave me an eating plan that I followed.  Still not feeling well, the symptoms continued.  During this time, I continued to seek the Lord.  He then told me not to go back to the doctors because, “They will not know what is wrong with you.”  And to confirm, He gave me 1 Corinthians 2:5 …that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the POWER OF GOD.

Then, one morning during prayer, the Lord revealed I was in sin, and I didn’t even know it consciously.  He gave me Matthew 13:14-15 Hearing you will hear and shall not understand and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn, SO THAT I SHOULD HEAL THEM.

I repented of the hidden sin that He revealed to me, and my strength returned soon after that, but some symptoms still hung on.  Again, God told me not to go to the doctors.  He said, “Don’t be like Abraham who almost lost his promise when he took up with Hagar”.  He had promised to heal me.

A few days later, I was sitting in the parking lot of my doctor’s office asking the Lord if I could go in, then I turned on the radio.  I was listening to a morning radio program and the teacher said, “If God has given you a promise, don’t be like Abraham, who almost lost his promise when he took up with Hagar!”  If that weren’t enough, the same day, now in the afternoon, another radio program, a different channel and a different teacher, same theme.  The teacher said, “Hold fast to the promise God has given you and remember the lesson of Abraham who tested God by taking up with Hagar before his promise was manifested.” 

Soon after these exhortations to wait on the Lord, I rested in faith, but this process took almost a year.  I know He gave me the Gift of Faith to wait for the miracle of healing.  What was this mysterious ailment?  Giardia.  After revealing that I needed to take papaya enzymes to digest my food, I regained my health.

From this experience, you can see various gifts involved to bring about the miracle.   The Word of Wisdom to alert me that God would heal me and not through any doctor; the Word of Knowledge via His word of my hidden sin; and the Gift of Faith to gird me until I received His healing miracle.

In conclusion, it was the Gift of Faith that was the golden key and rule which opened the door for my restoration.  To God be the glory!

You may have heard the phrase “You’re golden”.  It's a saying that means you're doing something right, or you're doing something well.  If you have the Gift of Faith, you are golden!!!