Lord, Increase My Faith
While I was listening to a preacher teach on the woman with the issue of blood, I asked the Lord what did she do differently that caused her faith to manifest. Out of that, is coming a series of messages. This is Lesson One.
First of all, we have to develop and strengthen a faith mindset. Jesus used a mustard seed as an example of faith.
And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you." Luke 17:5-6
Now, the mustard seed is smaller than all other seeds on the earth, but when it is planted in the ground and grown up, it becomes bigger than all other herbal plants with the shoots and branches so large that birds can build nests in it and have shade.
Some seeds will fall by the wayside, some will fall on rocks and some will fall among thorns. Those seeds will not yield a crop. But the seeds that fall on good ground will yield a harvest of thirty, or sixty, or even one hundred times as much as was sown. The seeds that fall on good ground are those, who heard the word with a noble and good heart, kept it, and with patience, yield a good crop. How ever much the crop yields, it started with a seed in good ground, then was nurtured and increased to maturation.
Many Christians (including myself) has shouted at mulberry trees (in the spiritual sense) and thought we were using faith to move mountains, but nothing happened. That is probably because our faith is still in the mustard seed phase of life. If we allow the Holy Spirit to make our hearts ready to receive the seed by breaking up the fallow ground (Jer. 4:3), that makes it more suitable for planting.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Rom. 10:17)
So, here's the process as I understand it.
The Holy Spirit prepares our heart for the seed, which is the word of God. He has to give us ears to hear the word, or else it will do us no good. He removes stones and thorns and weeds and turns over the soil so that it will be suitable for planting. A lot of us have a hard time getting past this stage because it is painful and we don't want to deal with the hard stuff. Therefore the word is choked out and unprofitable.
Once the Holy Spirit has finally prepared us to receive the word of God, we can now hear it and understand what we've heard. Faith is now on the rise.
The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor. 2:14)
The word is written on our hearts like files stored on a computer, that can be retrieved by the Holy Spirit as they are needed. He is our teacher and brings all things to our remembrance. He knows what truths we have grasped, and what we still need to learn.
The seed (or the word) grows up in our hearts and is nurtured by the Holy Spirit. He is the Husbandman that works the garden. It grows and grows like that little mustard seed and then when it is fully matured, we know how to say to the mulberry tree, "Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea," and it will obey us. There will be no doubt that what we say will happen. The mustard seed has become a big tree, and the fruit of it is our faith, all grown up. According to your faith, let it be to you (Matt. 9:29).
The woman with the issue of blood had been sick for twelve years. She had suffered many things from various physicians, but they were not able to help her. Instead, she only got worse. I think her faith was strong because of all she had gone through. She had gotten progressively fed up over the long period of time, and her faith had had enough time to mature. Matthew's account of the story says she said within herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well" (Matt. 9:21).
I believe she kept saying this over and over to herself as she pressed through the crowd on her way to Jesus. I believe when we reach our ultimate fed up stage, we enter another dimension where all fear and doubt is gone, and nothing remains but faith. Her faith made her whole, and the entire disease was wiped out instantly. Jesus did not even know she was there. She did not ask Him to heal her. He did not pray over her or lay hands on her. Her faith connected with His healing virtue and she was made whole as she had said.
I don't know about you but I am tired of the status quo, and ready to move past the hard stuff so I can be free like this woman. Let's yield to the Holy Spirit so our faith can grow.