1171 - Correctly Use Your Faith#
1171 - Correctly Use Your Faith
(JP Text Group - Organized by the Life of the Eagle)
Mark 5:25-34:
25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we especially thank and praise you! Every time we seek you, you will grant us grace. Through your words, renew my thoughts and intentions. In your words, let me generate the faith of Christ. May the Holy Spirit work in my heart, allowing me to understand what is being said. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen!
Jesus often told people, “Your faith has saved you.” That is correct faith. Many people believe in Jesus, but not everyone’s faith is correct. In other words, when faith is used incorrectly, it becomes ineffective.
Our faith comes from Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus has the power to heal us, that He can help us; this is correct faith.
You have such faith in God, and this faith will help you overcome any difficulties in the world, because nothing is impossible for God. Unfortunately, many believers often forget their identity. When faced with problems, they try to solve them in their own way, forgetting that we have an omnipotent God. What should we do in such situations?
To correctly understand God’s words is to have correct faith. As we have always said, when your faith is correct, your life will be correct. There are still many people living under the law, and living under the law does not require faith. Faith is triggered through Christ.
God told the people of Israel that every day before the sun came up, He would send down manna. The Israelites did not live on yesterday’s manna, nor on tomorrow’s manna, but on today’s.
When the Israelites tried to store up manna, no matter how great their faith was, it would spoil or breed worms by the next day and could not be eaten. But on the Sabbath, they could gather twice as much, and it would not spoil or breed worms.
On any day other than the Sabbath, no matter how great the faith, they still could not eat it. On the Sabbath, God’s words had already been given; if you believe correctly, you will not go out because you will not find it.
Today, God’s word is just like this. He tells us that on the sixth day, He will give you a double blessing because He hopes you will rest in Him and not have to labor anymore.
Many people also say, “I have faith too! I know I should read the Bible more, I should do this and that…” Actually, that is not called correct faith. We will share what correct faith is.
The first point is to use the present tense, believing that God has accomplished it now.
Faith is not in the past, just like the manna we talked about. You cannot always say, “I have faith that twenty years ago, God performed miracles and healed me.” Your faith is in the past. Or you might say to the Lord, “Lord, I believe that in the future you will surely make my body well.” Your faith is in the future, not in today.
Revelation 1:8:
The Lord God says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
He is the God of the past, the God of the present, and the God of the future, but what you need to believe is the God of the present. We should not say, “I want to believe in the God of Abraham.” When we have a problem, we kneel down and say, “Lord, please let the angel come out and speak to me.” That was the way God revealed Himself during the time of Israel. Today, God does not reveal Himself in that way anymore; today, He guides us more through the words of the Bible and leads us through the Holy Spirit.
In the passage we read today, what is recorded? It is an interlude. There was a synagogue leader named Jairus, whose daughter was about to die. He asked Jesus to heal his daughter, and while Jesus was on His way to his house, this incident occurred.
Mark 5:22-24
Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came and saw Jesus. He fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him.
A large crowd followed Jesus, and they said in the latter part of verse 24: “A large crowd followed and pressed around him.” Amen!
So many people were crowding around Jesus, but only this woman who had been bleeding received healing.
25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak; 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
In that dense crowd, many people desired to receive healing from Jesus. However, today’s account only mentions this one woman who received healing. From this, we can see how faith works. What was the problem with the others? Everyone desired and many believed, but why did the power only manifest in this woman?
To this day, most Christians face this confusion. They think that as long as they urgently call out to God and touch His heart with sincerity, then their prayers will surely be answered. So many people pray desperately, or some say you must pray urgently.
What counts as urgent prayer? They say urgent prayer means praying first thing in the morning, praying before lunch, praying before bed, and fasting when something happens. Does that count as urgent prayer? Yes. Does doing this guarantee healing?
Of course, I am not saying otherwise; I am referring to what this passage says. In the end, Jesus said, “Your faith has healed you.”
I once shared with the brothers and sisters about what constitutes earnest prayer.
1 Kings 17:1 Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
And then he left. It happened!
James 5:17-18
Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
When he prayed for rain again, he prayed seven times, and at that time, many people thought that was earnest prayer. He knelt down, put his head between his knees. That was a very humble way, praying seven times, and we think that is earnest prayer. But in God’s eyes, the previous time was earnest prayer. Amen!
Everything we just talked about, that obtaining healing from God through actions, do you not know that before you even open your mouth to pray, the Father is already listening. When you open your mouth to ask, the Father has already granted you! It’s just that sometimes, when we see this fact, it is already a long time later.
I give the brothers and sisters real-life examples. You see, our church has many children now. During your pregnancy, the child already has life, but you do not know it. It has been growing for ten months inside, and then it comes out. When you pray, our God accomplishes this for you. The child does not come out the day after you pray; there is a process. When the child has life inside, God has already accomplished this. Although we do not see it, it has already been accomplished.
Many people mistakenly think they can obtain God’s healing through actions, believing that as long as they pray enough, God will accomplish it. I used to accept such teachings. When God did not accomplish it, I thought it was because I did not pray enough. I do not deny that we indeed need to pray more, but we cannot exchange much prayer for God’s blessings.
Many people say, “Lord, I have a disease in my body, and I believe you can surely heal me.” This statement sounds like it has no error, but do you know? At this time tomorrow, they will continue to say, “I believe you will surely heal me.” When they pray like this, they believe that one day God will heal them, not that He will do it now. When you take hope and expectation as faith, you will gradually lose patience.
This woman came to seek Jesus. If at that moment Jesus turned and said, “Woman, one day I will heal you.” Do you know what she would think? “One day” is when? Immediately, her faith would be gone. Because she does not know when that day refers to.
Look at our text today. Jesus turned and said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.” This matter has already been accomplished. Jesus assured her that she had been healed.
Many people say, “We believe God can do it; that is enough.” Do you believe God is doing it for you now? Or do you believe He will do it later? When Lazarus died, and Jesus went to his tomb, Mary came and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
What did the two of them think? “Lord, I believe that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” What did she believe? She took “later” as faith!
John 11:23 Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again.”
Jesus was referring to the present, and then Jesus immediately said, “Lazarus, come out!”
If Jesus accomplished according to their faith, it would have to wait until the last day. The faith God speaks to us is in the present tense. When God says so, we believe so, and then we expect the results to appear.
The devil also believes in God! In James 2:19: “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”
The demons are afraid, but we believe in God not out of fear, but because we believe Jesus loves us, and in Christ’s love, there is no fear.
James 2:17, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
If a person has faith but does not put into action what they believe, that faith will not be effective.
Many people say, “I believe Jesus walked on water and healed many people. Do you believe Jesus can heal you right now? Brothers and sisters, do not just say, “Our church has many testimonies; people with heart disease have been healed, those with insomnia have been healed.” The key is, do you believe God can work and heal you now?
If you can believe, that is faith at work. Amen! If you do not have such faith yet, I suggest you continue to listen to the word, read the Bible, and generate faith through God’s words.
Before we pray, we must first believe that God is willing to fulfill our prayers. Let’s look at this verse:
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Under the Old Testament law, no one could have such faith because there was no mediator, no perfect sacrifice! But under the New Testament, it is completely different. Jesus Christ has become our mediator. In the name of our Lord Jesus, God will surely fulfill our prayers. Amen!
You are clothed with the holiness of Jesus when you come before God. At this time, you must believe that because of Jesus, God is pleased with you. Because of Jesus’ redemption, God is willing to bless you.
For example, when your son asks you for something, he does not feel afraid. Because he believes you love him, he says, “Mom, can you buy me this or that?” He knows you love him and are pleased with him, so he can boldly ask you for things.
If we think about it, if it were a stepmother who did not love him, every time he asked her for something, she would hit him back. What kind of feelings would this child have when he comes to her asking for things? He would be afraid and have no confidence.
Many people believe incorrectly, so they are afraid to pray to the Father. They think God is sitting high in heaven, looking at you and saying, “You sinned yesterday, and today you still have the nerve to ask me for something!” If we have such a heart, even if we pray a thousand times, we still doubt inside. That is not faith!
What you need to believe is that because you have accepted Jesus, you are clothed with the holiness of Jesus, so God is pleased with you.
**For anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists (we all believe there is a God, this does not need further explanation), and also believe what? The latter part says, “and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Are there conditions? For prayers to be answered, must one meet one, two, three, four, or five conditions before God will accomplish it?
What does it mean to reward? Regardless of your actions, God is willing to give to you.
Just like during Christmas, regardless of your past behavior, when it’s time to give gifts, I will give gifts to you all. That is a gift. As long as you are willing to accept it, you can have it.
No matter what your current behavior is, when you come before God, you must believe that He is already pleased with you because of Jesus. Before you pray to God, you must first believe He is willing to listen to your prayers. We do not exchange the quantity of prayers for God’s answers. Rather, it is because He loves me and is willing to bless us, so we can pray about everything, and He will surely hear our prayers.
A leper came to seek Jesus. He knew Jesus indeed had the power to heal lepers, but he did not know if Jesus was willing to heal him. Many people’s beliefs are the same as this person’s. Many believe Jesus has the power; He governs all things; He can heal various diseases, but people are uncertain if God is willing to heal them.
Luke 5:12-13
One time, Jesus was in a city, and there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
Brothers and sisters, do not ask God if He is willing to heal. Anytime we seek Him, He will reward those who seek Him. God is willing to heal you and wants you to live a prosperous life.
3 John 1:2: Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
God wants you to be healthy. He wants you to prosper in all things. Faith is not just believing that God has the ability to do something, but you believe that at the moment you ask, God has already accomplished it. Amen!
The unique aspect of the woman who had been bleeding was that she risked being cast out of the synagogue to see Jesus. At that time, an unclean person, if discovered in the crowd, would face various restrictions. This woman disregarded everything to see Jesus, and she believed that God could surely heal her.
God is not partial. If He has the power and is willing to heal that woman with the issue of blood, then you should believe He can heal everyone present today. What was different about this woman compared to others? She had only one thought in her heart,
Matthew 9:21: “For she said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’”
She was not waiting for healing; she believed in her heart that God would surely accomplish this for her.
Mark 5:30-31
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” His disciples answered, “You see the people crowding against you, and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’”
So many people were crowding around Jesus, but only this woman received Jesus’ power through faith. Jesus was looking for who had faith that worked. It was this woman’s faith. But where did this woman’s faith come from? She believed Jesus could heal her and was willing to heal her.
If it were our own faith, we would fall immediately upon seeing the circumstances. If you believe Jesus always loves you and is willing to bless you, your faith will always be strong.
You need to view your problems through God’s eyes.
In the face of death, does Jesus have the power? In the face of illness, does Jesus have the power? In the face of suffering, does Jesus have the power?
If you believe God has such power, you need to apply that power to the environment you are currently facing. For example, if you have a headache right now, do not say, “Lord, when will you heal me?” Do not pray like that.
Your prayer should be, “Lord, right now I believe you have already healed me. By the stripes of Jesus, I have been healed. I believe that what you suffered in the past will now manifest as health in me.”
When you think this way, your body will begin to change and be healed.
Why do I often emphasize that you must experience God in your life? Because no matter how many testimonies you hear, they are others’. Only when you personally experience God will you know His power in your life. Each experience will increase your faith, making you more willing to draw near to Jesus and follow Him.
One night, many people came to find Jesus, some were seriously ill, some were lightly ill, and Jesus healed them all with just one word.
Is there a time limit? God’s healing is always in the present tense, it is ongoing. So what you believe is that Jesus’ healing for you is in the present tense, and He will let you see it; if you believe it is in the future tense, then when that future becomes the present, you will see it. Can you understand?
Some say, “My illness is too severe. I believe I need to pray for forty days, and then God will heal me.” Then after forty days, you will indeed be healed. Is your faith that far away? If you always think about forty days, you will not see your healing. When you regard that faith as present tense, you will receive it. So this woman had such faith.
We share the second point: Activate Your Faith.
Mark 5:28: “For she said, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’”
25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.
Was this woman’s illness severe? For twelve years, she had spent all her savings, and not only did her illness not improve, but it grew worse. In such a situation, did she have faith? No, she really did not have faith. She sought many experts, and whenever there was hope, she would seek help, but in the end, she was completely disappointed by people.
27 She heard about Jesus.
This point is very important. What did she hear about Jesus? Why did she not seek the Pharisees? Because going to the Pharisees would result in being condemned as unclean. There would be no comfort!
What did she hear about Jesus? Many weak, sick, and poor people sought Jesus, and He accepted them all. She heard that Jesus was the Lord full of grace and truth. Amen!
No matter what qualifications a person has, when they seek Jesus, He does not reject them. This is what gave this woman the faith to seek Jesus. It was because she heard the correct message; she believed correctly, and that is why she was willing to seek Him. If she had sought the Pharisees, she would know the result. So she would not go.
When Jesus is preached correctly, people are willing to seek Him. When Jesus is lifted up in this place, and we tell others correctly that Jesus is grace and truth, people will be willing to seek Him. When you tell others, “No matter what burdens you have, come seek Jesus, He will surely give you rest; no matter what difficulties you face, He will never reject you, He will never forsake you; no matter how terrible your actions are, He still loves you,” who would not want to seek such a Lord?
Unfortunately, many people misrepresent Jesus, thinking that believing in Jesus means there are countless things you cannot do, that believing in Jesus will make you more tired! Such messages will drive people further away from Jesus.
This woman heard about grace and truth. She knew that when she sought Jesus, she would surely receive what she asked for. She heard that Jesus had the ability to heal others.
Where was her faith? “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” She believed so much and acted accordingly. Amen!
She believed Jesus had such power, so no matter how the crowd pressed around Jesus, she might have quietly followed behind with her head down. After she touched His cloak, she said, “I am healed!” Amen! It is in the present tense; at the moment she touched Him, she said, “I have been healed because I have touched His cloak!”
This woman’s illness was immediately healed. She immediately felt that her affliction was gone, and the source of her bleeding had dried up. At the same time, Jesus felt something too. What did He feel? Power had gone out from Him. Brothers and sisters, does Jesus want to release such power? Yes.
Brothers and sisters, always remember, He is willing to release such power because He is the God of supply.
The difference between law and grace is very direct. The law says you must do this for God to bless you; you must do this for God to be pleased with you. But under grace, as long as you are willing to believe in Jesus and seek Him, He will supply you. He is continually supplying.
So Jesus said, “If you can believe, rivers of living water will flow from within you.”
That is a source, a river of living water that will never run dry. So in Jesus, there is fullness of power. If you believe He can give you that now, you need to draw on His healing, draw on His power. Therefore, every day we need to receive Jesus’ power. Thank the Lord! This is how to activate your faith.
Under the New Testament grace, why do you seek Jesus and want to gather? Because you know that this moment, being with Jesus and with the body, even if you are weak, through seeing them, you will be strengthened. Even if you say, “Lord, I haven’t seen your grace for a long time,” you will be strengthened again through His words.
When you hear others sharing testimonies, your faith will be reignited. No matter how tired you are outside, this place continually supplies the river of living water.
You may hear a lot of negative news in the world for six days a week. When you come home, I tell you, Jesus still loves you. No matter how many burdens you carry, I can only tell you that Jesus is willing to bear your burdens. So this is what you need to believe; this is why you are willing to come back home.
If your family is filled with love, your husband loves you, your children eagerly await your return, no matter how much slander, exclusion, or rejection you face outside, when you come home, you feel at rest because you are accepted.
No matter what burdens you encounter in this world, when you come here, I will tell you that Jesus still accepts you. I will tell you that the brothers and sisters beside you are accepting you! Hallelujah!
So it is this kind of faith. This woman was willing to seek Jesus, and she believed that Jesus truly accepted her. At the moment she touched Him, her faith was fulfilled.
If your needs have not yet been met by God, one reason may be that your faith has not been activated correctly. Perhaps you already have a certain degree of faith, but sometimes faith is not activated and remains in the stage of hope and desire. That is to say, you may believe that one day Jesus will heal you, one day Jesus will accept you, and that when you pray a certain amount, Jesus will heal you. This is the stage filled with hope. You need to pull your faith back to the present and activate your faith with God’s words.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
The New Translation tells us that you are saved by grace and through faith.
Believe that at the moment I accepted Jesus, I was saved. Amen! Since you believe God can save you, why do you not believe God can change your family? Thank the Lord! Many times we feel that we can only believe God is working in our lives when we experience supernatural miracles. Because many times our faith is built on human senses. What are the senses? Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. Therefore, many people are willing to use their senses to judge. When people put these senses together, they call it faith, but that is just human faith.
Brothers and sisters, let me give you an example: Do you see this chair? Do you believe it is a chair? Yes, I believe. Why do you believe it? Because you see it. If I sawed off one of its legs and asked you to sit on it, no one would sit because it would fall over. So seeing is not enough; you would also touch it to see if it is sturdy before sitting on it. At that point, you would say, “I believe this chair is stable.”
But God does not work that way. God places this chair behind the pulpit where you cannot see it. He says, “Come, just sit there. I have prepared it for you.” You say, “No, you must let me see it before I believe.” God says, “You believe, and then you will see.” That is called faith.
Many times, we are deceived by our feelings, saying, “Lord, I have not seen yet. How can you say I am already healed?” Clearly, this disease is still in me. Why do you ask me to say I am already healed? God says, “Because when you say it, you will see the healing.” Amen! When you declare it, I will accomplish it for you! Thank the Lord!
2 Corinthians 5:7: “For we live by faith, not by sight.”
Many times we act based on what we see, so our faith weakens. Originally, we had faith, but as soon as we see the environment, we lose faith. When you do not see your husband, you can forgive him. But when you see him, it becomes hard to forgive because human feelings are not very accurate!
Brothers and sisters, you must believe that God can accomplish all things, just as you believe you are already saved today.
Do you see your salvation? No. Then why do you believe? Because God’s word says so.
Are you sure you are in heaven? Do you see it? No. You believe you are saved; you believe you are a child of God, a person in the kingdom of heaven.
You do not see all this, but why can you believe it? Because God’s word has promised so. Therefore, we believe.
Since you can believe you are saved, why can you not believe God can heal you, change your family, and change your current environment? You believe the greatest thing, so why can you not believe the smaller things? Do not believe based on feelings because we walk by faith.
Use God’s words as the basis for our lives. Do you believe in demons? Have you seen them? Why do I give you so many examples? To tell you that there are many things you believe that you cannot see!
Have you seen the wind? Do you believe there is wind? What you feel is the wind blowing past. You see the air conditioning moving, feeling the wind coming out, but that is not wind; it is the trace left by the wind. You do not see God, but you see His testimonies, the testimonies of healing; this is the trace God has left. God’s finger has moved a little, and you see this as a testimony, a miracle, just like you see the wind. But that is not wind; it is the trace left by the wind. God is working in your heart, Amen! He is changing you, renewing you, letting you not act based on feelings but based on faith.
You must believe in Jesus Christ; He is your wisdom, He is your wealth, He is your health. So by yourself, you can do nothing, but today Jesus is in me. Therefore, Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He is not doing things based on his own ability; he is doing things based on God’s power.
So when you help others pray, you must know it is not you doing things; it is God doing things. What you need to do is activate that person’s faith. Amen! When you continually listen to the word, you are activating your faith. Amen! So whether you receive communion or anointing with oil, these are all ways to activate faith.
Many times, people are weak because they believe incorrectly, and their faith is sealed. What you need is for someone to help you reopen the lid of faith. This is called “revelation.” The original meaning of the Book of Revelation is to open the lid. Today, I have opened the lid of your faith. You go back to live not relying on yourself. You know that today God has accepted you. You believe God is working in you now. You have already been healed by God, and He is transforming your life. Hallelujah! When you believe this way, your faith has been correctly activated.
We do not rely on our own ability; we rely on the power of Jesus Christ. What should you always look to? When you need healing, you should think, “Why did Jesus suffer stripes? So that you can be healed.” When you lack peace, when your heart is restless, what you need is the rest of Jesus Christ. Believe that because of the punishment He received, you have already obtained peace.
Relying on Jesus Christ, you are in His rest. Thank the Lord! How can we receive God’s faith?
Romans 10:17 tells us: “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”
The words in the Bible, we need to interpret correctly. What can give you faith is the words of Christ, not the law, not the Ten Commandments. If you read the Ten Commandments, it will stifle your faith, but if you read the words of Jesus Christ, you will have faith. Amen!
If you can open your heart to listen to the words of grace from Jesus Christ, you will be filled with faith! God’s faith will be activated within you. You will receive faith and live by faith in this world, and you will be able to live out the likeness of Jesus!
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we especially thank and praise you. Once again, through your words, we have restored our faith. We want to correctly use our faith, believing that you can do all things!
You guard me every day, renew me every day, and prepare manna for me every day. I want to receive today’s manna; I will not worry about tomorrow. I believe that in Christ, I am healthy; the health of Jesus is upon me.
Father, thank you for loving me so much. Through your words, you have activated my faith. I am saved by your grace, and I am willing to live by your grace. Please lead me! Thank you and praise the Lord for such abundant supply. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen!