HAVE FAITH IN GOD

WEEK 1
Mark 11:22-24
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.   Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
The promise of ‘answer to prayer,’ is one of the most wonderful in all Scripture.   Nevertheless, in many hearts it has raised the question: How can I ever obtain the faith that knows that it receives all it asks for?
It is this question our Lord will answer today.  Jesus gave that wonderful promise to His disciples, He also spoke another word, in which He points out where faith in the answer to prayer comes from and where it always finds its strength.  HAVE FAITH IN GOD:  This word precedes the other one, have faith in the promise of an answer to prayer.  The power to believe a promise depends entirely on faith in the promiser.  Trust in the person begets trust in his word.  It is only where we live and associate with God in personal, loving intimacy that the capacity will be developed for believing that He gives whatsoever we ask.  It is only where GOD HIMSELF is all to us.  It is where our whole being is continually opened up and exposed to the mighty influences that are at work.  It is where His Holy Presence is revealed
HIGHLIGHTS:
-Power to believe a promise depends entirely on faith in the promiser.
-Trust in a person begets trust in his word.
-The capacity for believing that He gives whatsoever we ask, is developed through personal, loving intimacy with God.
There is a connection between faith in God and faith in His promise.  This will become clear to us if we think what faith really is.  It is often compared to the hand or the mouth, by which we take and use  what is offered to us.  But it is of importance that we should understand that faith is also the ear by which I hear what is promised, the eye by which I 
see what is offered me.  The power to take depends on this.  I must hear the person who gives me the promise: The very tone of his voice gives me courage to believe.  I must see him: In the light of his eye and countenance.  Then all fear, as to my right to take, passes away. 
The Eye: 
The value of the promise depends on the promiser.  My faith in the promise depends on my knowledge of what the promiser is.  It is for this reason that Jesus, Who gives that wonderful prayer-promise, first says, HAVE FAITH IN GOD.’  That is, let thine eye be open to the Living God and gaze on Him, seeing Him Who is invisible.  It is through the eye that I yield myself to the influence of what is before me; I just allow it to enter, to exert its influence, to leave its impression upon my mind.  So believing God is just looking to God and what He is, allowing Him to reveal His presence, giving Him time and yielding the whole being to take in the full impression of what He is as God.  
Believing God is the soul opened up to receive and rejoice in the overshadowing of His love.  Yes, faith is the eye to which God shows what He is and does: Through faith the light of His presence and the workings of His mighty power steam into the soul.  As that which I see lives in me, so by faith God lives in me, too. 
The Ear:
Faith is also the ear through which the voice of God is always heard and intimacy with Him maintained.  It is through the Holy Spirit the Father speaks to us.  The Son is the Word, the substance of what God says; the Spirit is the living voice.  The child of God needs this to lead and guide him; the secret voice from heaven must teach him, as it taught Jesus, what to say and what to do.  
An ear opened towards God, that is, a believing heart waiting on Him to hear what He says, will hear Him speak.  The words of God will not only be the words of a Book but, the words proceeding from the mouth of God, will be spirit and truth, life and power.  They will bring in deed and living experience what are otherwise only thoughts. Through this opened ear the soul tarries under the influence of the life and power of God Himself.  As the words I hear enter the mind and dwell and work there, so through faith God enters the heart and dwells and works there.
When faith now is in full exercise as eye and ear, as the faculty of the soul by which we see and hear God, then it will be able to exercise its full power as hand and mouth, by which we appropriate God and His blessing. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS:
-The value of the promise depends on the promiser
-Faith is the ear by which I hear what is promised.
-Faith is the eye by which I see what if offered.
-Believing God is looking to God and what He is as God