This is probably one of the most important topics that I could teach you because this is what we do every day. You must work this out every day of your life. You have to work, walk, talk, and live by faith. Sometimes it is easier to die by faith than to live by it. The only limit to potential in faith is what God puts on it; the only limiting factor in your faith is you. Once He sets the order of your life and you are walking out those steps, the only thing that can limit the faith that drives you each step of the way is you – not the devil, hell, demons, not dark angels. All of those things can come against you, but they don’t have the power to stop you. If they did, they already would have.

So, when you’ve done all to stand, you stand. But how do you stand? Let’s look at Abraham. Why is he called "The Father of Faith"? Remember, pistis means "persuaded." The King James Version says, "And being fully persuaded, that which he has promised, He was able to perform" (Romans 4:21). The Bible says that Abraham was fully persuaded. Many times we are partially persuaded. We are persuaded to move out or move in, but when you are fully persuaded, you lose all other options. Being fully persuaded is the difference in walking in and achieving your faith and not achieving your faith. Remember you are the only limit that you have. If you are not fully persuaded, then you are in doubt and unbelief.

When you’re in the operation of faith, faith is divinely inspired by God speaking to your spirit. When I try to guide people in their faith, people will approach me and ask, “Bishop, what do you think about this, do you think this is from God?” I always go to the root and ask, "What started this? Where did the idea come from? When did you think about it?" You ought to hear some of the craziest things I’ve heard over the years. People hear from the craziest sources and try to align it with God.

Some may say that they were in a church service and the Holy Spirit was electrifying and speaking at the speed of light into their heart. Have you ever been so in tune with the Spirit and you are so overwhelmed with the download that you are getting, it’s like drinking from a fire hose? It’s the revelation of the Spirit, and its moving at the speed of light. The Bible says that God is light, life and love (1 John 1:5, 4:7, 5:11), and that brain is working at the speed of light. You are interpreting all of these thoughts; He is speaking to your heart, mind, soul; building and preparing you; downloading into you the plans and purposes that He has for you. The Bible also says you have to be a doer of the Word, not just a hearer (James 1:22). Hearing gives you the persuasion, the faith and the download, but doing is how you walk it out. You see the fulfillment of your faith.

Faith isn’t just waking up one morning and saying, “I’m going to have faith for a new job”. Well, are you? That’s a good start, but what you’re telling me is that you’re believing for a new job. There’s no faith involved because you haven’t involved God yet! Belief comes from you; faith comes from God. If you haven’t gone to God, you don’t have any faith, you just have belief!

Do you know how many people are just always believing and haven’t even gone to God? Maybe they go to God and tell Him, “God, I’m believing for this”. They are including God but aren’t consulting Him! Hearing is receiving consultation. Instead, you are preaching to God, not hearing. You are giving God your word instead of being consulted by His! Faith must originate in God. You can’t have Mark 11:23-24 faith until you have Mark 11:22 faith – the faith of God, the God-kind of faith. It must start with Godly counsel.

When you have something in your spirit, go to His Word and allow it to counsel you, or sit in the presence of teaching like this, and get consultation and confirmation. Faith is the way you continue to progress to move towards the things of God, because faith is the thing that persuades you. As you are operating in faith, you’ve heard, you are now persuaded, and as you are persuaded, there is a spirit in you that yields to the Word of God. Now, faith is spirit-activated, but faith also activates your spirit.

Hebrews 4:3 - God talks about a rebellious generation with hardened hearts (rebellious and stiffed counsel), so the Word of God didn’t profit them. They heard the Word but it didn’t profit them because it wasn’t mixed with faith. When I go to my Bible, I don’t just pick a spot and start reading. I ask God, "What do I need today?" I will tell him what I’ve had in my spirit, and ask for revelation and guidance and yielding what I need to do. Then God will start dropping revelation on me, pouring things into my spirit, directing me to specific scriptures. Then my faith starts to mix with the hearing of what I’m reading, and now the Word will profit me! Have you read the Word for maybe even an hour, and candidly admitted that it didn’t really profit you any? It’s because it wasn’t mixed with faith.

If faith is the substance of things hoped for, then hope is an expectation. You could say, “I want something”, but you aren’t really hoping for it. I can want a million dollars, but I’m not sitting around every day hoping for it. There’s a tremendous difference in wanting and hoping. Hoping is a focused expectation on the want! When God gives you a desire, He does it so you will focus in hope for that desire, and He gives you the persuasion to be able to get the thing that He wants you to have. Now isn’t that like a good Daddy?

You thought that you wanted a better home, even beating yourself up a little bit because maybe you’re being haughty or high-minded. No, because even when you were faithful in the few things, God wants you to be lord over much. As you’ve sown in this field, even you must reap the harvest.

God wants to put good things in your life. You should look at every year of your life and see that you are prospering more than the last year. If your faith is activated and moving with God, and He is getting you to the next place in Him, then every year should be a more prosperous year. You better look at next year as prospering much more than you are now. Walk out of here and dig your stakes in and state, “Here is where I start and I will not go back!”

Refuse to back up in faith. Have you been faithful? Do you believe God? Do you love God? Do you love God more than He loves you? The Bible says that if we give our children good gifts, then how much more does our Father in Heaven want to give good gifts to us (Matthew 7:11, Luke 11:13).

I want to declare over you that God has already put enough in you to get what you need for the next season. For every season, there is a reason. There’s a reason you planted; there’s a reason you sowed; there’s a reason God had you give your time, treasure, talent in the last season - so you could get a harvest in the next season. Whatever your reason was, this is your season.