How Do I Know If My Faith Is Working?
Receive is not a passive word. God always shows up where there is a willingness to receive. Each of us has a part to play in receiving healing or anything else we need from God. We can’t just hope He will touch us. That’s not what the Bible teaches. What you receive depends on your faith, and faith is not passive. Faith is a receiver, an appropriator, a taker. It reaches out and takes what God offers.
Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon says the word translatedreceive in Mark 11:24 means “to take, to lay hold of, to take in order to carry away, to take what is one’s own, to take to one’s self, to claim or procure for one’s self, of that which when taken is not let go, to seize, to apprehend, to get possession of, to obtain a thing, to appropriate to one’s self, to obtain, to collect, to gather, not to refuse or reject.” Whether or not you receive is not entirely up to God. If you desire to walk in divine health, you have to take what God has for you.
Your responsibility is to believe and say what God says. You can do that when you obey the instructions in Proverbs 4:20-21: “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.” Consistently put the Word in your eyes and ears so it gets down into your heart in abundance and becomes a part of you. Then it can come out your mouth by the Spirit of God as words of faith with the power to change your circumstances. Second Corinthians 4:13 says the spirit of faith believes and therefore speaks. Bible believing is not just mental agreement with the Word. Bible believing acts.
The measure of faith that was imparted to you at the new birth is powerful. It must be nurtured and cultivated by God’s Word. As you grow in the knowledge of God, you develop in faith. Make yourself strong on the promises of the Word of God. Release your faith in those promises and activate them in your life. The results you desire will surely come to pass. It is a fact. God’s Word will work for you. Allow the faith of God in you to work for you in every area of life!