How do I cultivate the faith of God that is within me?

A. As a born-again believer, you have residing within your spirit the faith of God. You have the life and nature of God. Faith is a fruit of the reborn human spirit (Galatians 5:22). Your faith has the potential to produce the same results that Jesus produced in His earthly ministry (John 14:12).

Faith must be in the unseen before it can be applied to the things you can see. It is cultivated through fellowship with the Father. Your relationship with Him is the most important aspect of your faith walk. You cannot see God, but He will reveal Himself to you through His Word, by the Holy Spirit.

Faith that moves mountains is simply trusting God to keep His Word. You cannot trust God without knowing Him. Fellowship is quality time spent alone with God getting to know Him. Your fellowship with Him will develop trust. It will enhance your faith because you are giving Him the opportunity to reveal Himself to you. You will know Him. Fellowship with God Who is invisible gives birth to the kind of faith that can change things in the visible, physical realm.

You can also promote the development of your faith through meditation and confession of the Word of God. Faith is an action; when you believe that you receive, you will act like it. God told Joshua, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success" (Joshua 1:8). Meditation reveals how to act on the Word. Confession is part of meditation. When you are speaking the Word to yourself, you are meditating the Word. You cannot say one thing and think something else. What you meditate regulates what you believe. Meditation and confession will cause you to be able to believe God's Word enough to act on it in faith.

Faith is also developed through praying in the spirit. Jude 1 says, "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost." Praying in other tongues is a spiritual exercise. As you spend time every day, praying in other tongues, you are keeping your spirit active rather than passive. You will be built up on your most holy faith!

Warning: God Does NOT Forgive All Sins

Most Christians, and sadly many clergy, believe God forgives all sins except one, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.” (Matthew 12:31) But that misunderstanding is reading the Bible out of context and making doctrine, not of the totality of God’s Word, but out of a single verse that is meant to be only a part of its complete tapestry. 
This biblical simplification has deceived so many, and in the process denied the very same their Christian inheritance of everlasting life, as an unforgiven sinner cannot enter the Kingdom. And who is the architect of deceiving those of faith? As always, it is Satan. He knows he cannot claim the followers of Christ, as no one can snatch us from God’s hands. “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28) But, and this is where Satan strikes, we can exercise our God-given free will and walk away from the unmerited and loving gift of salvation. Of course, no one in their spiritual right mind would turn from the Holy City in exchange for hell, so Satan deceives us into believing we can live a profligate life without everlasting consequences. In this case, he has us believing only a fraction of the gestalt God provides on the forgiveness of sins. And because so many of us want to do-our-own-thing, we readily embrace a false doctrine that says Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross washes away our continued disobedience so we may have everlasting life. 
But that’s not true. 
One of the most often overlooked and/or misunderstood books of the Bible is Hebrews, specifically chapter 10, verses 26 through 31. “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” 
These verses, perhaps more than others, make clear God’s intent regarding the sacrifice for our sins; i.e., there is far more involved than the sacrifice of Christ, as the other part of the equation is our response to His sacrifice. That’s what Satan is trying to hide from us. The Bible says that if we continue in our sins after knowing the truth, “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.” And that would include the sacrifice of the Cross. And without the blood washing us clean, no one is innocent enough to be in the presence of the Lord. 
But, and this is where the rubber meets the road, the matter doesn’t end there. The Bible says that continued sin not only removes the covering of the Cross, but makes us “worthy” for a punishment in excess of dying without mercy. And just in case there’s any misunderstanding, the subject is punctuated with the terrifying admonition that, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” 
The Bible is replete with God's love for His children, and this is another instance. Yes, some might see the warning in Hebrews as harsh, but those who know God see it as another example of His loving care. He wants us to be saved, and for His goal to be realized we have to know the truth. His truth. The only truth that matters. 

What to Do When Healing Doesn't Manifest

You know God wants you healed, and you have taken all the steps you know from God’s Word to receive your healing. But for some reason, your circumstances just do not seem to be changing...healing is not manifesting in your body.

What do you do now?

First, it is important to understand that God has not failed you. He cannot, because there is no failure in Him. It is never God who is short on healing power. Healing always comes. However, it is not always received.

When demands are made on the power of God, the healing virtue of Jesus Christ will flow into a person’s body and make it whole.

In John 5, the story is told about a man who had an infirmity for 38 years. This story, perhaps, gives us the best picture of the frustration that even today’s believers face when it comes to wanting to be healed, and yet, not being able to make it happen when we want it—and need it—the most.

We read that day after day the invalid man lay by the pool of Bethesda hoping somehow to be the first person in the water after the angel stirred it, because if he was the first to make it in, he could be healed.

But then along came Jesus. He asked the man, “Do you want to become well?” The invalid answered saying, “Sir, I have nobody when the water is moving to put me into the pool....” (See verses 6-7, The Amplified Bible.)

The significant detail in their conversation at this point is that the man was so focused on the problem of not being able to get into the water before someone else, that he never even considered placing a demand on Jesus to help him—to get him healed.

Like this man, many believers today desire to be healed, yet they have not willed to be healed. What’s the difference?

The difference is that determination is what makes a demand on the power of God. After all, God has sent His Word, and according to that Word, healing has already been purchased by the blood of Jesus. So, the rest is up to us. We must act on this new blood covenant to get the results we desire.

Still, for those times when it seems God’s healing power has somehow been short-circuited and it just is not flowing through our lives, the Bible points out some problem areas that may be the reason for this lack of healing or health. Some of those problem areas include:

• Failure to forgive others (Mark 11:25-26)
• Failure to keep the commandment of love (John 13:34)
• Lack of knowledge and lack of vision (Hosea 4:6; Proverbs 29:18)
• Lack of discernment of the Lord’s body when taking communion (I Corinthians 11:23-32)
• Lack of integrity in your heart (Psalms 25:21)

Since we know there is no failure with God, it is obvious that when believers do not receive their healing, the problem must lie elsewhere. Keeping this in mind, we need to realize that healing largely depends on a firm stand in the fact that your prayer has been heard, and, that it has been answered.

The challenge, then, comes in not swaying from God’s Word. And in part, that means we need to keep our tongue in line with what God says about our healing.

To help you stay in line with the final Word on healing, we suggest you take the following scriptures, look them up in your Bible, then read them over and over, and meditate on them. It may even help you to write or type them out on separate paper so you can have easier access to them throughout your day.

• Proverbs 10:11, 12:18, 13:3, 15:4, 16:24, 18:21
• Psalms 34:13-14
• I Peter 3:10-11

By the way, you may find it interesting to know that nine of the 11 plagues that came against Israel, as recorded in the book of Numbers, were caused by misuse of the tongue. So you see, your mouth—and your words—will either work for you, and bring health and healing to your life, or they will work against you, bringing nothing but harm.

Make them work for your good. Make them get on track with what God has said and is saying. Speak the Word—and keep speaking it and keep speaking it. As you do, God will confirm it. And He says, you are healed!

-By Kenneth Copeland