Faith Receives from God

Why is faith so important?

To the natural mind and in the natural world, faith is not as important as substance. We don’t want to get paid by faith, nor do we want employees to show up to work by faith. We’d rather have substance when it comes to earthly interactions—the paycheck, the work schedule. 

But when you’re dealing with God and His kingdom, faith becomes absolutely vital.

We interact with God by faith. In fact, Hebrews 11:6 says that it’s impossible to please God without faith, and Hebrews 11:3 says that he who comes to God must believe that He is.

As we approach God, we can’t feel him or see him. He is invisible to the natural eye. We can’t touch him with our physical hands, so our relationship with God and His Word is built on faith.

God is wealthy beyond our imagination, and He likes to give. He’s a giver. Actually, He’s the original giver. He wants to share His wealth with us, and the way we receive those blessings is by faith. If we don’t exercise faith when it comes to gifts from God or the blessings of God, then the entire heavenly giving system breaks down, and we end up without. 

So, faith is important to God because that’s the way or the method He’s chosen to use to get His blessings to us.

We make it complicated when we bring inferiority, our religion or unbelief to the table. It is childlike faith in God that allows us to receive the things He has freely provided for us. The blessings of redemption, which are priceless, are things we can never pay for or could never earn, but they can be received and enjoyed by faith.

It’s not about deserving.

The blessings of God are free, Jesus paid for them all. He doesn’t want us to try to earn the blessings, pay for them or suffer enough to enjoy what He’s done, but we are to only believe.

When we believe, He’s not limited.  And when we take the limits off our faith, we can receive. Over and over Jesus encouraged us to ask and receive by faith.

“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” —John 14:13-14

Let’s take Jesus’ words at face value and believe what He says.

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” —John 15:7-8

See how clear these two passages are. Jesus is saying, “Ask me. Ask me. What do you want? Tell me what you want.”

In fact, five times in the book of John He repeats the instructions to ask, and in many other scriptures, He keeps inviting us to ask.

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” —John 15:16

He can’t make it any clearer than that. He has things He wants to give us and things He wants to do for us, but He’s waiting for us to ask.  When we ask we must ask in faith.

“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.” —John 16:23, 26-27

Jesus is saying you can go directly to the Father, and using Jesus’ name, you can ask for what you want.

Jesus provided the way to the Father. He purchased, paid for and paved the way; broke down the middle wall of partition between man and God; ripped the veil in half and actually made a way for us to go into the presence of God. It wouldn’t be right if we got that far and then said, “You know, I don’t want anything. I don’t deserve anything.”

God gets pleasure out of blessing you. He’s the one who coined the phrase, it’s more blessed to give than to receive. Those are His words. And He should know because He’s the biggest giver in the universe.

Let’s accept what He’s offering by faith.

“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” —Matthew 18:19-20

Again, He continues with the same theme, saying, “Ask, go ahead and ask. Really, I’m serious. Ask me. What do you want?”

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” —Mark 11: 24

It takes faith to put aside all of your preconceived ideas, all of your religious ideas, all of your wrong thinking and come to Him as a child would, and go to the Father and say, “Okay, I’m asking you…” 

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” —1 John 5:14

That’s a powerful promise, isn’t it?

What a strong statement! If you want something from God, ask Him according to His will, and you know that He hears you—not because you feel it, not because the earth trembles or you have a goosebump, and not because you have a vision or see an angel.

He hears you because His Word says He does.

He hears you when you pray according to His will, then notice what verse 15 tells us. 

“And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have the petitions we’ve asked of Him.” —1 John 5:15

Some have the idea that if God wants to give us something, He’ll just give it to us. And if He doesn’t, then we will have to suffer along and make the best of the situation until He gets ready or we’ve suffered long enough.

That’s not the way it works. God moves when people believe. You can decide right now, “I’m going to take God at his Word. I’m not going to wait for Him to figure out what I need and give it to me – in His own good time.”

Take Him at His word and ask. According to Jesus, if you do that, you will receive, so that your joy may be full!