We have all heard the common phrase “Seeing is believing.” It is a phrase that has permeated our culture and has broken down the faith that needs to be practiced by born again believers. If you are a part of a word of faith, spirit-filled church then you know that “seeing is believing” is simply not the truth. Why is that? Think about it for a minute. If you need to see something as evidence to believe that it exists then why would you need to continue to believe. Would it not make more sense to move beyond believing to knowing. It simply does not make sense to see something in order to believe it exists.
First of all to believe means to have confidence in something or someone. We have all heard someone say to us “I believe in you.” Others may have heard someone say “I believe that you can do this.” What exactly are these people saying? They are saying that they have confidence and they trust you and in what you can do. The key thing in believing is the expression of your confidence or trust in another person. In order to express this confidence and trust, what do we have to do? We have to say something. Therefore based on that fact alone, seeing is not believing, but saying is believing. No one will ever know what you believe in unless you something. No one will ever be able to see what your confidence is like if you keep to yourself and stay quiet.
This is the point that Jesus is trying to make to the disciples in Mark 11:23. You cannot be a believer without a confession. The same is true about salvation and becoming a Christian. Christians are called believers. They are called believers because they made a confession of their trust and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ to save them. The only way to become a Christian or “believer” is to say something about your trust and confidence in Christ Jesus.
Mark 11:23 “Verily, verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be removed and cast yourself into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe those things which he has said shall come to pass, he shall whatsoever he says.”
This scripture clearly defines what the two primary components of faith are. First, there must be a belief and second there must be a confession. So when I say that “saying is believing” this is what I mean. It is important for us to understand that our faith can do nothing but become stagnate if there is no confession being made. Our confession is the only evidence we have of what we believe. No one will ever know what you believe or where you stand if you don’t say something. It is in the saying part of faith where what you are believing will manifest. If you will look at Mark 11:23 you will notice that Jesus mentioned the word “say” three times more than He mentioned the word “believe”. Why is that? Because there is no place in the bible that says we have what we “believe”.
The saying part of faith is what brings the results. The saying part of faith also continually builds your faith. Romans 10:17 “So, then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So we know that faith comes when you hear the word. It does not matter how the hearing is done, as long as it is heard it will produce faith. The same is true with building your faith. You faith cannot grow on a single confession. There must be a continual confession of the word of God in order for your faith to grow. When you begin to say what you believe then your faith becomes alive. When you continually say what you believe, you continually hear it and your faith will continually grow. The more you say, the more you hear it, the more you hear it, the more you believe it, the more you believe it, the more you will say it.
We all remember the many timeless teachings that Kenneth Hagin left with the church after departed this life in 2003. He left an incredible faith legacy that will never be forgotten. One of the things that continually stays with me on the teaching of faith from Hagin is that he taught that if you are struggling with an area of your faith, then you can actually use the same method to school yourself into faith. For example, you may say that you don’t have any faith for healing. But the truth is you do, you just don’t have enough to receive healing. How many of you believe that your faith needs to be at a level in which you can receive? Romans 12:3 tells us that all of us have a measure of the “God-kind-of faith”. So, if there is an area in your life such has faith for healing that is weak, then you can school yourself into faith by continually making a confession of faith for healing. First you need to know what the bible says about healing, once you get there you simply need to speak it out of your mouth until something on the inside begins to register. Trust me you will know when it happens.
I remember also there various different stories that I heard Kenneth Hagin tell about all the times he got healed. Some of these healings were instant and some of them he had to wait, most of the time no longer than one day. What did Kenneth Hagin do? He held on to his faith for healing. He got the miraculous healing that raised him off the bed of sickness because of his faith and it was that same faith that continued to bring healing to his body every time he or someone in his family got sick. Just because you get healed does not mean you need to stop speaking the word of God on healing. Once you stop confessing it, your ability to believe and to receive healing will follow. Novel Hayes said “faith will never rise above the level of your confession.” If you give up your confession for healing, you lose the faith you need to stand on in order to receive healing when you need it again. There needs to be a continual confession of faith for healing even if you do not need it.
