 Okay, recording is on. Good morning everyone. Those of you online and those of you in class. Good morning to BC 111, our lectures on faith. Let's pray and then we'll get started together. Father we thank you for this day, thank you for this morning. And we welcome Lord the presence of the Holy Spirit. We welcome you spirit of God to be our teacher, our guide, our counselor, our instructor. We ask that you will rest upon each of us, rest upon our hearts and minds and Lord even as we spend time in your Word, speak to us, teach us, establish us in truth. And may the things we hear Lord be written upon the tables of our hearts so that we can live by them, we can walk in them, we can experience them and by your Word and by your presence do mighty things for the kingdom of God. Thank you Father in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Okay, so let's go in our lecture notes to chapter 16, chapter 16. We're going to talk about how to exercise faith. I'm going to go ahead and share these notes as well online so we could see it in the PDF. It's chapter 16. So the last couple of weeks we looked at different aspects of faith. We talked about faith confession. We talked about praise. You express faith, exercise faith through praise, through action, through endurance and through determination. So these are the various aspects of faith. So when you and I are exercising faith in God, all these things are involved. We have to speak the Word, we have to act, we praise, we are determined, we endure through time, we don't give up. So all these things are involved. So today in lesson number 16, we want to put it down in, you know, you call it like steps of faith or in these action points. So when you want to exercise faith in God, this is how you would do it. Now this is not a formula, I'm not giving a formula like A plus B plus C plus D. This you'll get your miracle here. It's not like a formula, but it's more like, okay, these are the things I need to do while I am exercising faith in God. These are things that go into the process of exercising faith in God. And we, of course, base it all on Scripture. We base it on what we see in the Bible, the life of Abraham and the life of other people in the teachings of Jesus. So all that we have studied so far, all the 15 chapters, if you want to take that and put it in some bullet points and say, this is how very simply, if you want to exercise faith in God, this is how you do it, right? So we will make it, we will itemize it like this. How do we exercise faith in God? And this applies to any area, whether you want to receive something from God, whether you want to over, you know, through faith, you want to overcome through faith, you want to conquer through faith, you want to achieve something through faith, you want to pursue a certain goal, whatever it is, this is how you would go about doing it. Okay, so let's break this down as an outline. Number one is to have a desired goal based on God's words. That means what are you having faith for? You know, it just can't be, I have faith in God for anything. No, what is it that is specific to have a desired goal? What is it? You know, if it's healing, okay, what you believe in God for healing? If it is for finances, if it is for accomplishing something, a goal in the ministry, right? What is it? So we know from Hebrews 11, faith is the substance of things hoped for. So you have to have something specific, a thing that you are hoping for. So now, for example, for the central service, I say God, two services, 500 people in each service. So that's a goal. So in my mind, I'm not saying 50 people, I'm saying 500 people. So I see the whole full that way. So now that's what I will pray into, that's what I will have faith for. Or when I look at the Bible college, you will see on Saturday, it's just empty land. But in my mind, I'm thinking of buildings, we want to have Bible college, we'll have big church service, maybe Christian school, so many things. I'm thinking, okay, all this we will build. So that's something already. But when you go and see, I'm just seeing empty land, what is this? Faith, you need to have a goal, a desired goal. And how can you see it? You can see it in your imagination. And so that imagination is very important. You say, God, that is my goal. I want to see that. And I imagine students coming from all over the world to study. So maybe hundreds of students, hundreds of students on campus anytime, students come to everywhere to study. And they say, where do you want to go to Bible college? I want to go there. I want to go to APC Bible college. Students coming all over the world. That's the goal. But now, nothing. It's just one land. What is it? We haven't bought it yet. We're just going through the procedure. But you have a desired goal. So then for ministry, I see thousands of churches all over India. So now we have just like 15 churches around India. But when I pray, I'm saying thousands of churches, not just India, but then around the world. All the students that we're training, they will go start churches, ministries. But these are the different goals that you have. So like that, you must have either a desired goal or many goals. Nobody's preventing you from having many goals. But what I'm saying is you cannot have faith if you don't first have a goal. You must first have a desired goal. Right now, nothing is there. But you need to have a goal in order to have faith. Because faith is the substance of things. You're saying, God, that's my desire. That's what I want to see happen. And from there, you can keep expanding the vision. You can keep increasing it, making it bigger and bigger and bigger. But you have to start with something. I said, God, I want to start with this. From there, you can make it bigger. Nobody's stopping you. What do you want to do? What does your goal? So whether it's whatever it is, whether it's healing, whether it's a change in your circumstances, you're praying for the salvation of people, you're praying for finances, you're praying for ministry, objectives, whatever, it starts by having a desired goal. And this is something you must desire. God can't desire it for you. You have to desire it. We study that it takes your determination. You must be determined to achieve that goal. So that is on our side. We must be determined. God, I want to see this happen. Now, it has to be based on God's Word, of course. So does God want people to be saved? So it's a good thing. Does God want to have churches planted? Of course. You find that in the Bible. He told us to go make disciples of all nations. So does God want people to be healed? Of course. So all those things are aligned to the Word of God. So based on the Word, you are desiring something in your life. That's where it starts. Now, some people might say, well, you must not have any desires. Don't have any desire. Don't have any expectation. Well, if you don't have desire, if you don't have expectation, then you cannot have faith. What happened? You want to turn it off or reduce it? That's fine. Good. Thank you. All right. So faith requires that you have hope or have a desire or an expectation. So when people say, oh, don't expect anything, don't have any desire, that's wrong. Because the Bible of Jesus said, what things so ever you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. So Mark 11, 24, whatever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. Okay. One idea I have. I want to challenge each of you. Every week you memorize one verse. Every week, one verse you memorize. I will get this organized, but I want you to memorize. I believe Bible college must learn at least 500 verses. Okay. Huh? Oh, you started? Oh, very nice. Every day one new verse. That I think is a little too much. Every day one verses. Because you have to repeat the verse many times to learn it. One verse a week is okay. Every day one verses. Okay. But I think if you do one verse a week, in one semester you'll learn at least 16 verses. Two semesters, 32. So four years, three years, about 16, 90, 96 verses, at least 100 verses you'll learn in three years. But at least try to do more. Okay. It's good to know the scriptures. Okay. So Jesus said, you know, if you look at example Mark 11, 24, he said, whatever you desire, or if you look at John 15 verse 7, he said, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you will and it will be done for you. See, in both these verses, in both these verses, Mark 11, 24, John 15, 7, both these verses, our desire, our will is involved. That means you must desire. You must be determined. God, I want to see this. You know, think about Caleb. When he was 80 years old, he goes to Joshua and he says, give me this mountain. He wants that. 40 years of waiting did not, you know, didn't discourage him. He says, give me this mountain. You know, even after 40 years, give me this mountain. That means he was determined to get it. So have a desired goal based on God's word and I encourage you to write it down or if you can draw it, draw it. If you can paint it, paint it. You know, that this is what I want to see happen. This is what I want to see or these are the things I want to see fulfilled in my life. So write it down or draw it or sketch it or paint it or whatever. So you can have it in front of you. God, I'm believing for this. Have a clear goal, desired goal. Okay, number two, we must be determined to have what God has promised. So not only must you have a desire, have a goal, we must be determined to have that because God promised it. You know, now this is a strange thing that just because God promised something doesn't mean it will happen. See, God has promised salvation for every person. The Bible already says, whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. It's already there. The Bible already says, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. It's already there, but it will not happen automatically. People have to hear and they have to believe. They have to believe. It's not going to happen automatically. They have to hear the gospel. They have to believe. Then they will be saved. The promise for salvation is there. Salvation is already given to people, but people have to receive it. They have to say, I want to be saved. Similarly, we have a part to play that we must be determined to have what God has promised. God, this is what you said, and I must have it in my life. I must see it happen. We must be determined. Jesus said it like this, I don't know if it's here in the scripture, but he said in Matthew 11 and verse 12, Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. Matthew 11 verse 12. See, when you memorize scripture, you can make your own message as you preach. So if you know scripture, so memorize scripture. It's a good thing. We used to have these packs before we used to make these packs, but there used to be a set of cards on each topic and we left 10 cards, 10 healing verses, faith left 10 cards, 10 verses on faith. So we used to give it out, but we stopped making it. That's the easy way. You can always flip the cards. You can learn it. So you learn 10 verses on healing, 10 verses on faith, 10 verses on different subjects, at least like that. So we will try to get that made again. But so see your mind is like a library. When you go to a library, all the books on a particular subject are kept in a particular place. So if you want to find any book on one subject, you can go there, take it. So your mind, if you organize it like a library, right? You can think. So for example, I can start from Genesis, go to Revelation, I can give you all the scriptures on healing. Or I can start from Genesis, go to Revelation, give you scriptures on faith. Or any topic. Because I have arranged it in my mind like that. Memorize it. So starting from Genesis, tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk. Go through, book by book. So when you memorize, try to arrange it in your mind like a library scriptures. Okay? So somebody says, can you preach on faith? Oh yeah, let's start from Genesis 2, Revelation. Or if you don't have so much time, you can start somewhere else and you can preach on faith, whatever. Okay. So going back to Matthew chapter 11 verse 12, Jesus said, He said, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence. And the violent take it by force. So Jesus taught us different things about the kingdom of God. He used two pictures. He said, if you want the kingdom of God, very interesting. If you want to experience the kingdom of God, you have to be like a child. But he also said, if you want to experience the kingdom of God, you have to be like a warrior. For example, Matthew 18 verses two and three, he said, unless you become like little children, you cannot experience the kingdom. So there he said, you have to be like little children, like a child you have to come. Then you'll receive the kingdom. But Matthew 11 verse 12, you have to be like a warrior. The violent take it by force. So you have to be like a child, but you also have to be like a warrior. What about a child? About a child, child just believes, doesn't ask. You know, if an adult, you take a child, you make the child maybe sit on something and say, jump, I'll catch you. The child will not show me your muscle, let me see. He's not going to ask those questions. It just trusts and will jump. And then the adult will catch the child. So as a child, we have childlike faith or childlike trust in God. But he said, you also have to be like a warrior. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent, the aggressive, the warrior like they take it by force. So to be like a warrior, what about a warrior? They're willing to fight. They are not afraid of the battle. They're willing to press through. So in order to experience the kingdom of God, Jesus and both, you be childlike, have childlike trust, confidence. You'll be like a warrior, you're determined. You're going to fight. You're not going to give up. So that's the second point. That means you and I must be determined to have what God is for. I'm willing to fight for it. The Bible says fight the good fight of faith. So the devil or the things of this world are not going to stop me from taking or possessing what God has promised for me. So I'm going to start. I'm willing to fight the good fight of faith to possess what God has. So there must be that determination in order to receive from God. If we are just wishful, if we are just okay, let it happen. If it happens and so on and so forth. It's very likely that we're not going to receive from God. The third thing that we must do as a way to exercise faith in God, we're just summarizing is to fill our heart with the Word of God. Pull our hearts. Keep on going back to the same scriptures. Why? Because we believe in the heart. We believe in the heart. And our believing must come to a place where there's no unbelief, no doubt. How can we do that? Fill your heart with the Word of God, where the heart man believes. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. So we need to hear the Word of God. Keep on hearing. So you go back, keep reading the same scriptures or, you know, keep meditating the same scriptures. Whatever you're believing God for God, this is what you said. This is what you said. This is what you said. This is what God said. So you come to a place where your heart is fully persuaded that what God has promised, he will do it. You come to that place. Right. So there's no doubt, no shadow of a doubt that what God said he will do. But for that, you have to fill your heart with the Word of God. Right. And we have to constantly do it. You know, we can't say, well, I read that promise two weeks ago. When did you eat rice? Monday? Tuesday? When is there? Whatever. You know, you eat food every day. Now imagine, we may have been eating chapati for 20 years. You don't get tired. Again, you eat next day. Again, the same thing you eat. You eat the same thing again and again and again. It's food. We don't say, oh, I ate it so many times already. Of course, you ate it so many times, but you're hungry. You eat the same thing again. That's the Word of God. Of course, we have read it weeks before, months before, years before. But if you eat it again, you go back and meditate. Just like how you and I have food. Same food, but our body needs it. So we eat same scripture. Our heart needs it. Feed your spirit with the Word of God because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So feed your heart with that Word. Fill it with that Word. Keep on meditating on the Word of God. So until you see the thing fulfilled, keep on meditating in the Word. Did you have a question? All right. So number four, what do we do in exercising faith in God? Number four is we pray and we receive by faith. So prayer, as we saw earlier, is one of the ways that we can exercise faith in God. You pray and you receive by faith. Once you go before God, to Mark 11, 24, Jesus said, what things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. So notice what Jesus said. What things you ask or the old King James, the King James would say, whatever you desire when you pray. This is the new King James version. What things you ask, whatever you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them. So what must we believe? We must believe that we receive it. Believe that you receive. Believe that you receive. You will have. That means believing that you receive happens before you actually receive. That means in your heart. As far as by faith, in your heart, it is already yours. And then you will receive. So believing that you receive happens before you actually receive. Jesus taught us that. That means in your heart, it's already yours. In your heart, God has already given it to you. By faith, you've already received. Believe that you receive them. Okay. Another parallel scripture. I don't know if it's here. If you don't know verse John chapter 5, verse John chapter 5 verse 14, John says, says this, this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. Then verse 15. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have. Verse John 5 verse 15. We know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. And notice what he is saying. He didn't say, we know that we are going to have. He said, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. It matches with Mark 11, 24. Believe that you receive. That means you know that you have. It's not, I know that I'm going to have. I know that I have. You believe that you have received them. And then he says, and you will have. Correct. Suppose I say I give you, I suppose I tell you, I will give you 500 rupees. Let me first check. Exam. Exam. Suppose I give my words to women. I promise to give you 500 rupees. Now I've given my words. Okay, now this is real. Not joke. Suppose I tell you really, I'll give you 500 rupees. You believe. Yeah, he believes. He said he'll give you 500 rupees. I believe. Then immediately you are 500 rupees richer. You believe that you have already happy. You have not received it yet. The meaning in the natural, in the natural, you have not received it yet. But because the promise was made, because the word was given, you know that you have 500 rupees more. You believe that you have. So spiritually, this is natural, but spiritually you believe. It's mine. So you can start planning 500 rupees today afternoon. I'll go to the bakery and buy cake for all my friends. I will, whatever, however you want to spend, you can already start planning. Because you know you have, you believe that you have received. It's not come yet, but you know that you have, you believe that you have received. And so you're already in, you're acting like it is yours. You're already planning. You tell all your friends, hey guys, today afternoon for tea time, we will have nice tea. Because 500 rupees, I believe I have received. And then you will have it. You have to receive it. This isn't real. You buy snacks for everybody. Come on, come on, come on. This exam, I guess 500, right? Yeah, okay. So now you have it. Take it. Please be seated. Go sit. Okay. So you buy snacks for everyone. Evening. So, so example. Okay. Exam. So what has happened? There's a word given promise. When you pray, you say God based on your word. I believe that I have received. So in your heart, inside you, in the natural, nobody sees it. But in your heart, God has already given it to me. I know that I have. I know that I have. Based on Mark 11, 24, 1 John 5, 15. I know that I, whatever I asked, based on his word. Then it's, he says, Mark 11, 24, going back to Mark 11, 24, and you will have them. So first you believe, then you receive. You believe, believing happens before receiving. First you believe, then you receive. That's how you exercise faith. Many of us are saying, I will believe after I receive. That is not Bible faith. Bible faith is you believe before you receive. And how can you believe? Very simple. With the heart, man believes. With the heart, man believes. Believes. Remember Romans 10 verse 10. With the heart, man believes. So you can't believe. You can believe that you receive. Even when you don't see it, you don't feel it is okay. Because believing is of the heart. And you believe before you receive. Believing happens before receiving happens. Or if you want to put it the other way, receiving happens after believing happens. So first we have to believe, then you will receive. Many people are waiting to receive, then they will believe. Like John, not John. Who is that? Thomas. Like Thomas. After I touch, then I will believe that Jesus rose from there. So that's Thomas kind of faith. But the Bible kind of faith is you believe before you receive. Because God has promised in his word. Because it's in the Bible. Because God said and God will not fail his word. Whatever God said is true. So with the heart, I believe. Right? So you pray and you receive by faith. Now the thing is this. To arrive at this place where you believe in your heart. That might take some time. Because faith has to rise. So what do you do? You spend time in the Word, you spend time in prayer. To come to this place where you believe that you receive. Sometimes it might take a few days, a few weeks, sometimes a few months. It's okay. But you stay in the Word of God. And you stay it before God. Until your heart comes to that place where you know that you have. Like how verse John 5.15 says, we know that we have. So I know I have. But you don't see it. Faith is the evidence of things not see. So I don't need to see it to believe it. I know I have it because I've come to that place of faith. Faith is the evidence of things not see. If I see it, then I don't need, I don't need faith because it's there. Right? So to come to that place of faith, it might take a little bit of time. You spend a few days in prayer and meditating in the Word. And before God say, God, this is what your Word says. I believe it. I know it will be done. I thank you Father for it. And you don't worry about it. But then you arrive at that place of faith. So until that time, you may be praying about the same matter over and over again. So it's okay. So some people ask that question. Is it alright to pray for the same thing more than months? Is it alright? So my answer would be, yeah, it's okay. Because the important thing is to come to that place of faith where you know that you have, where you believe that you receive. So in order to come to that place where it is settled in your heart, you may pray over a matter over and over again. You may spend time in the Word on that same matter. God, this is what your Word says. You said this. This is what you promised. And you're going over it in prayer. You're going over it in your meditation. And until your heart comes, it's okay, God, it's mine now. I believe I receive. I believe it's done. I don't have to worry about it now. God has spoken. It's done. So we have to be in line with the Word of God. So that's our first thing. It should be based on God's Word. If it is not based on God's Word and if it's not in the will of God, then there is no point even asking, right? Because example James chapter 4 verse 2, he says, You ask and you do not receive because you ask amiss. Hebrews James, right? James 4 verse 2, you ask and you do not receive because you ask, what is this? Verse 3, sorry. James 4 verse 3, you ask and you do not receive because you ask amiss. That means you're asking wrong. So we have to ask according to God's Word, in line with God's plan, will and purpose. If we ask outside of that, then the Bible says, we know something God's gonna grant. So that's our number one. It has to be based on God's Word. You start from there. This is what God has promised. If God has promised it, then definitely we are supposed to have faith for it to receive it. Then number two, be determined to have what God has promised. Number three, you fill your heart with the Word. Number four, we pray and we receive by faith. What was I saying at that time? So if you pray over a matter for some time, that's fine until you come to that place where you believe it. Why? So women's question is, why is faith? So we cannot say it's only faith that pleases God. There are a lot of other things. For example, obedience pleases God. For Samuel 15, 22, it says, obedience is better than sacrifice. For Samuel 15, 22. So obedience pleases God. For Samuel chapter 2 verse 30, honoring God pleases God. Those who honor me, I will honor. So there are many things that please God. When we walk in love, it pleases God. When we walk in holiness, it pleases God. But what the Bible does say is, without faith, Hebrews 11, 6, that's the verse we are talking about. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Because Romans 14, whatever is not 14, 23, I think, I'll check it. Whatever is not of faith is sin. Romans 14, 23, whatever is not from faith is sin. That means all these other things are good. You know, obedience, holiness, showing mercy, compassion. All those things are good. They please God. But the Bible says, without faith, I cannot please God. Why? Because if it is not done in faith, it's no use. So everything I do, obedience, it has to come out of faith. It has to be done in faith. Okay? So there are many things that please God. But everything has to be done with the heart of faith in God. Okay? So we look at it from that. Okay. Let me just see if there are any questions on the online class. Is there any questions there? Oops. All right. Any questions from students who are online? Everyone's following me so far? All good? Any questions? Okay. Let's go back to the notes. I said, number five, next step in releasing or exercising faith in God is to speak our faith. Okay? Again, Jesus taught us this in many places. He said, one of the ways we release our faith is to speak our faith in many places. And we look at Mark 11, 22 and 23, well-known verses. Verse 22, Jesus answered, said to them, have faith in God. And then continued, verse 23, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be removed, be cast into the sea and there's no doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done. He will have whatever he says. So how do I exercise faith? I need to speak my faith. I need to speak out of a believing heart. So Jesus, don't doubt in your heart. You believe that what you say will come to pass. You will have what you say. So I go before God in my time of prayer and I say those words. I say, you know, in the name of Jesus, I declare such and such a thing over my life. I declare such and such a thing to happen, you know, on based on the word of God. Okay? So you're saying with no doubt in your heart. As you've gone through those steps, you've filled your heart with the word of God, you've prayed and believed that you received. Now you're saying, you're declaring it. And again, some, you know, the question is, how often should I say it? Well, until the mountain moves, until you see the desired goal achieved. Keep saying it. Keep declaring it. Right? So why doesn't it happen when I say it once? It's because we are learning how to exercise faith and we need to grow in our faith. So don't get discouraged if you have to keep speaking to the mountain or keep saying the same thing. It's okay. You stand in it because you and I are growing in these things. We are learning and we're growing. Right? So it doesn't matter. We're coming to that place where, you know, we can be in a place of faith and we can speak and we'll see things done. But until such time, just keep speaking. Don't get discouraged. Okay? So you keep speaking to the mountain until the mountain moves. You keep speaking your desired result until you see that happen. You know, you exercise your faith and say, this is what God said. This is what God said. You know, I will not give up. Right? So keep declaring. Maybe it's to your life situation. Maybe it's a life challenge. Maybe it's a sickness that you're believing God to heal. You continue just to keep declaring the word. Then number six is you act in accordance to your faith. Right? So this is also something we learned earlier. You need to act in line with your faith. You keep doing whatever you do, whatever steps you can take, you take towards seeing that dream accomplished, you keep seeing that goal fulfilled. You keep taking steps of faith. Whatever you can do, keep taking, keep taking. You know, don't get discouraged. Keep taking those steps of faith. Keep acting in line with your faith. We saw Second Thessalonians chapter one verse 11, where God fulfills the work of faith with power. You know, so that means when you do your work of faith, the power of God goes in to complete it, to make it, you know, to fulfill it. So you do your work of faith and God will fulfill it with His power. And as you and I work our faith, what happens? By works, our faith is made perfect. You know, that means as you're working your faith, your faith is being brought to maturity. It's becoming mature. It's becoming strong. So you need to act your faith, keep acting a bit. Whatever steps you can take, you keep taking because by works, your faith is made perfect. Right? And without works, faith is dead. But as you keep doing whatever you can, your faith is brought to a place of maturity. Okay. We're going to pause here. We'll go for our tea break, coffee break, whatever break. We'll come back in 10 minutes. Any questions? Please feel free to ask. All right. So we'll be back in 10 minutes and we will continue this. Thank you.