“No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek Him” – Hebrews 11:6 Properly figuring out the difference between faith and faithfulness will help you to better run the Christian race and strive towards obtaining the ultimate gift of everlasting life. Although the Bible provides us with clear differences, a lot of people still find it difficult to properly figure them out. That’s why we hereby write to assist everyone in perfectly knowing the difference between faith and faithfulness.
The consequences of not properly knowing the difference
between faith and faithfulness can lead a person to slow down in the Christian
race or develop doubt about the power of God. A lot of Christians today who are
faithful in serving God often ask themselves a lot of questions when they are
plunged into hard times. After prayers, many ask themselves why God is not
coming to their rescue whereas they have been doing their best to faithfully
serve Him.
At some point in time, they’ll even ask themselves why God
don’t want to help then out of their problems whereas they have abandoned most
of their personal things to focus on His’s. Such situations have greatly led to
the development of sadness and bitterness from within many Christians today. This
sadness and bitterness even increases when they perceive those whom they
believe to be less faithful than them enjoying successful and fulfilled lives.
Difference Between Faith and Faithfulness – What you should know
Whatever the case, we must not mix up things in our minds. The
whole truth is that faithfulness is one of the greatest virtues which every
serious Christian must develop and exhibit. And we can also be certain of the
fact that God will bless and credit everyone who remains faithful to Him. But
we must not also forget that the more faithful you are to God, the more
responsibilities and charges you are given to exhibit. That’s why you should
not be comparing yourself with someone who is not faithful to God. In short he
has very little to no charge. That’s why Jesus Christ explained in Luke 16 that
the more our faithfulness becomes, the more our responsibilities will become
too.
Still in the same light of thinking, we’ll say here that faithfulness
does not necessarily change your life or brings solutions to the challenges
that you are facing. That’s why you can be faithful yet still being sick or experiencing
some other challenging issues. What you need here is faith. Faith is what
actually changes your hopeless or challenging situation into a joyous one. But
we must also say here that it is impossible for us to separate faith with unfaithfulness.
Because faith comes as a result of being faithful to God. It comes as a result
of learning God’s word, putting it into action, and taking Him for who He says
He is.
The Supernatural Gift From God
Faith is a supernatural gift reserved for the faithful. That’s
why it is said in 1 John 5:4 that faith is the victory that overcomes the
World. Note here that it is not faithfulness but faith. That’s why your
sickness, challenges, hardship, poverty, and sadness won’t necessarily respond
to your faithfulness but will certainly respond to your faith. It is faith in
God’s words that eventually brings changes to your situation.
Although we cannot fully separate faith from faithfulness we can at least bring out the clear difference between faith and faithfulness. And that’s what we’ve been doing since the beginning of this writing. Hence, you should eliminate the negative feeling of being neglected by God despite your faithfulness to Him and start speaking life into every challenging situation that you are facing through the power that Jesus Christ has given us and in accordance to His Word. Remember to build a strong faith in God and you’ll stand a better chance of successfully facing any challenge in life. We must note here that challenges are not there to kill us but to fortify us to better appreciate the blessings of God when they come our way. We recommend that you read our article on activating faith to move the impossible.
“To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.” – Hebrews 11:1
When it comes to ways on how to put your faith to work, you can only turn to the Bible for instructions. It completely teaches us on how to go about growing our faith and putting it into work. The Bible tells us that faith is the substance of the things which we hope for and a certainty on God’s promises. In addition, it refers to faith as a supernatural gift from God which permeates us to fully depend and relay on His promises even when what we are perceiving with our physical eyes is proving the contrary.
Faith means that the things which we hope for are presently in our reach through Jesus Christ. This is a call to the demonstration of faith on the scene. And for us to demonstrate our faith, we must put it into work. At this point, it’s just obvious that you are questioning yourself on how to put your faith to work. The Bible answers this question in a clear manner. Faith is also taking Jesus Christ for His words. It has to do with acting upon the words of Jesus Christ.
If we should take Jesus Christ for His words when He says that what we hope for is now ours, then we do not have any reason to sit back. Rather, we out to step out and receive our blessings from God. We act on the words of Jesus Christ because we have first believed in Him. What is He saying about your present situation? Step out and receive it with faith because He never fails.
Still on how to put your faith to work, we’ll take an example to bring more light for a better understanding. Let’s take a case where you pray and ask God through Jesus Christ to make you bold and give you a better understanding of the gospel as well as feed your mouth with His words whenever you are talking to His people. This is a very nice prayer, perhaps you were not initially brave enough in being His witness. But there is something that we must point out here which is your attitude after prayers. It is without doubt that your attitude after prayers greatly influences and determines if you have received the answers to your prayers or not.
Jesus Christ says in John 14:14 that whatsoever we ask in His name, we must believe that we have received. Hence, after prayers you must not only believe that you have had your answers but also start acting as one who has received the answers. On coming back to our example, you cannot pray it today, tomorrow, and forever. Once you have requested boldness and knowledge from God in doing His work, you’ll have to step out and start doing it. This is how to put your faith to work and open the flow gates of heaven for additional blessings. This also applies to all your prayer requests which are directed to God through Jesus Christ.
Always remember that faith acts now because it has already taken possession. It is for this reason that Apostle James says that faith without action is dead (James 2:17). Hence, genuine faith is that which takes God for His words and acts upon them. Genuine faith goes with a corresponding action. And it is in this light that you can learn what it takes to put your faith to work.
If you say that you have a genuine faith that can move mountains, then you are saying that you truly believe God for who He says He is. You completely believe that He has done all that He says He has done. And in the same light, you trust in all His promises to come. By this we mean that you know God will do all that He says He will do. If you are then serious about how to put your faith to work, each time you’ll finish praying, you’ll have to believe that your prayers have already been answered.
We’ll conclude by saying that we can also perceive faith as obeying God’s instructions. That’s why we cannot separate faith from obedience. And with obedience you can be sure that you truly have faith in God. And faith in God is irrespective of what we see in our surrounding. We suggest that you read our article on activating faith to move the impossible.
“Those who speak in strange tongues do not speak to others but to God, because no one understands them. They are speaking secret truths by the power of the Holy Spirit.” – 1 Corinthians 14:2
The power of speaking in tongues dates back to the teachings of Jesus Christ through His Apostles in the Bible. We are clearly told that praying in tongues makes a believer to move in the supernatural and impossible dimensions. There are lots of ways through which praying in tongues will change your life forever. The importance of speaking in tongues as well as the benefits of speaking in tongues are amazing. Unfortunately, praying in strange tongues which was a major spiritual tool in the mouths of the Apostles of old has become one of the most controversial topics in modern Christianity.
Whatever the case, we can be certain that the lots of resentments surrounding the aspect of speaking in strange tongues have all arisen under the supervision of Satan in order to fight its ability to take believers into a higher spiritual dimension of overcoming the impossible situations of life. This rejection goes into the same light with that of the prophetic ministry which some modern Christians have kept aside due to bad experiences, misuses, and misunderstandings.
It’s quite evident that Satan is working to keep the believers ignorant of the power that Jesus Christ has released on to them. That’s why this horrible creature works together with its agents to create misunderstandings, bad experiences, and failures on the way of Christians who are trying to benefit from these gifts. But one thing that we are sure is that these gifts create disorder in the Satanic kingdom else they’ll no be fighting it. As a Christian, you must have probably asked yourself how important is speaking in tongues. On the other hand, several Christians regularly ask from their leaders the importance of speaking in tongues or the benefits of speaking in tongues. The whole truth is that praying in tongues will change your life for the best and increase your spiritual level in Jesus Christ our lord and savior.
A Biblical look of praying in tongues
If we must be honest enough to speak or reveal the Biblical truths about the power of speaking in tongues or its importance, we’ll base ourselves on the New Testament starting from the day of Pentecost when this special gift marked the birth of Christianity. When reading through the New Testament we notice that the majority of writings and teachings were sent out by Apostle Paul who deeply encouraged Christians to speak in tongues as he himself spoke more than any other believer in those days.
Apostle Paul tells us that the process of speaking in tongues equips the believers and creates a direct communication line with God the Father on a unique level and also empowers the believers to live a supernatural life in Jesus Christ. Speaking in tongues creates confusion in the kingdom of darkness and overpowers the Christian to overcome every evil spiritual force. Speaking in tongues takes you into a spiritual dimension and allows the Holy spirit to rightly pray through you as it uses the mind of God.
Speaking in tongues is not a one-time experience or something we do once after our baptism of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul saw it as a way to express what his mind could not express before God. He saw it as a way to communicate directly to God without having Satan hear even a single word talk less of getting its meaning. And the moment Satan cannot get what you are speaking with your heavenly father, he’ll be fighting the wrong fight. Regularly praying in tongues does well in fortifying your body and spirit to successfully go through the Christian race. As a believer Jesus Christ who is one with God lives within you through the Holy Spirit. Hence, you can always request the Holy Spirit to take control of you and talk to God through you in a language not understood by men neither by Satan and his agents.
Ways by which praying in tongues take you into the supernatural and impossible dimensions
As a believer who adopts the act of praying in tongues, you can expect a supernatural divine intervention in your life. This act will greatly open new doors in your life and boost your Christian faith. Below are the main aspects which are brought into existence by speaking and praying in strange tongues as the spirit of God leads.
Praying in tongues create a direct private communication line with God the Father
Apostle Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 14:2 that by speaking in strange tongues as moved by the Holy Spirit, we are not speaking to men but directly to God. In addition, this process is also known as the act of carrying out the Anonymous Prayer. By anonymous here, we mean that not even Satan can monitor or hear a single word from your prayer. Hence, he won’t know what you were saying or requesting from God, talk less of being able to develop a successful strategic plan to fight your heart intentions.
Still in the same line of thinking, we’ll add here that when you are praying in tongues, you are speaking through a direct line to the President of the Universe. Here, we are not trying to discourage anyone from praying to God with their native language. You should always feel free to talk to God with the language of your choice. But you must not forget the power or benefits that reside in praying to God using strange tongues as directed by the Holy Spirit. The whole truth is that at times we do not really know how to pray to God. Prayers that go in accord with the perfect will of God are the best prayers and are instantly answered (Romans 8:26-28). God’s spirit that resides within us best knows the heart of the Father. That’s why we are recommending you to yield to the power of the Holy Spirit in order to efficiently Pray.
Praying in tongues reveals God’s supernatural mysteries
“But it was to us that God made known His secret by means of His Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, even the hidden depths of God’s purpose” – 1 Corinthians 2:10
Speaking in tongues is a spiritual exercise that awakens the spirit of God from within us and puts it into work and action. The Holy Spirit knows everything in Heaven, on Earth, and below the Earth. In short, the Holy Spirit knows everything including the Secret taught and things of God. And we can all remember that Jesus Christ said in John 14:26 that when the Holy Spirit will come upon us, He will teach us everything that we need to know.
In other words, we can perceive the Holy Spirit as the spiritual search engine of the things in heaven, on earth, and everywhere. If you are verse with Google, you’ll better understand what we mean here by search engine. Thus, let’s welcome the act of praying in tongues so as to awaken the Holy Spirit in our lives which will reveal to us the mysteries of God. That’s why God spoke through His Prophet in Jeremiah 33:3 saying that we should call on Him and He’ll answer us and show us so many things which we know nothing about.
Praying in strange tongues opens your mind to a new living understanding of the Bible
“When, however, the spirit comes, who reveals the truth about God, He will lead you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own authority, but He will speak of what He hears, and will tell you of things to come.” – John 16:13
In as much as the Bible can simply be a historical book in the hands of many, it can also be a spiritual book that brings life in the hands of others. Are you perceiving the Bible as a historical record of facts? Or you are simply perceiving it as a novel worth reading? If this is how you perceive the Bible, then you are wrong. And that’s why you are not experiencing any major divine intervention in your life.
Praying in tongues will boost the Holy Spirit to guide us into the revealed living truths that are recorded in the Bible just as Jesus Christ did promise. That’s why we must always pray and ask on God to reveal His Holy Will to us as we read His teachings. The power of praying in tongues is enormous.
Praying in strange tongues will open doors for the other Revelatory Gifts of the Holy Spirit
“The spirit gives one person a message full of wisdom, while to another person the same spirit gives a message full of knowledge. One and the same Spirit gives faith to one person, while to another person he gives the power to heal. The Spirit gives one person the power to work miracles; to another, the gift of speaking God’s message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not. To one person he gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the ability to explain what is said” – 1 Corinthians 12:8-10
Praying in strange tongues will likely open heavenly flow gates to release other Revelatory Gifts of the Holy Spirit into your life. These revelatory gifts include a word full of wisdom, a word full of knowledge, prophecy and fully discerning of spirits. When you pray in strange tongues, you are not praying on a natural dimension but rather you are praying on a purely powerful spiritual dimension. That’s why you should not be alarmed when praying in tongues to receive a supernatural insight about something. In such spiritual dimensions, you can be led by the spirit to pray over specific situations in the lives of others, you can get a revelation on how to bring solutions into issues that people are experiencing in their lives, you can also receive revelations about cities, countries, and nations. Whatever the case, when God reveals a situation to you, always get back to Him in prayers to ask what He wants you to do about it. In addition, while praying in tongues, you can discern evil spirits around that are disturbing the lives of some individuals. In most cases, the Holy Spirit will lead you on how to drive them away.
Praying in tongues empowers you for spiritual warfare against the principalities in the kingdom of darkness
“Do all this in prayer, asking for God’s help. Pray on every occasion, as the spirit leads. For this reason, keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God’s people.” – Ephesians 6:18
Praying in strange tongues eventually empowers you to completely agree with God’s everlasting victory over all the powers and principalities in the kingdom of darkness. As Christians we are not free from attacks coming from the kingdom of darkness. Being Christians even gives Satan and his agents a greater reason to attack and destroy our faith in Jesus Christ who is the savior of the World. It is now left for us to strive and stand firm in our faith so as to overcome him through the victory of Jesus Christ on the cross. Unlike the false doctrine that teaches that being Christians implies wealth, fortune, no suffering, no hard times on earth, Jesus Christ himself told us in John 16:33 that we can be sure that tribulations will come our ways as His servants but we must hold to our faith because He has already overcome the world and supreme victory is His and that of His followers.
The Holy Spirit who is our companion in the Christian race is always there to provide us with gifts and blessings to overcome all challenges and attacks from the kingdom of darkness. One of these spiritual warfare gifts is the ability to speak in strange languages which are not understood by the enemy neither by men but only by God. That’s why we should regularly invite the Holy Spirit to pray the heart of our Heavenly Father through us so as to overcome the Devil and his malicious attacks in our lives.
In conclusion to our writing on the power of speaking in tongues, we’ll say that the benefits of speaking in tongues are so numerous and important in our Christian journey. We hope that we were able to answer your question on how important is speaking in tongues. We recommend you to read our article on how to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The scripture says, “I spoke because I believed”. In the same spirit of faith, we also speak because we believe – 2 Corinthians 4:13
Reflection
This verse from Apostle Paul gives us the foundation of the spirit of faith which is first believing and then acting on the belief or simply speaking out what we believe in our hearts. If you desire to learn how to grow your faith, you must take this verse serious.
The spirit of faith does not come in to confess things to happen neither does it comes in to help convince you of their existence. Rather it comes in when you first believe in your heart that what you desire is already in existence before even voicing it out.
When it comes to the spirit of faith or how to grow faith, many people get it all wrong because they are not speaking what they have first believed in, rather they are speaking to believe. In order words, their believe is as a function of the results they’ll get after speaking. This is the case were we find people confessing God’s word yet struggling to believe what they are telling themselves. It is for this reason that they’ll get frustrated whenever things fail to come out as desired.
When we read from Genesis 17:5, we notice that God called Abram and promised to make him a father to many nations. God also changed His name from Abram to Abraham (meaning father to many nations). Abram demonstrated the spirit of faith here by welcoming and referring to himself as Abraham even when he had no child. In short, he simply demonstrated what he believed in his heart and it finally came to pass.
With the spirit of faith, you do not walk by sight or by physical manifestations. You do not wait to have the results before believing. You completely believe and stand firm on the fact that what you believe in has already been realized. We can read from Apostle Paul in Hebrews 11:1 were he makes us to understand that faith is the evidence that the things which we hope for are now realities.
As Christians and ministers of the word of God, we should only confess what we have first believed in our hearts and not the other way round. First believing here means cultivating certainty in the word God. Imagine what you will do if someone pops up claiming that your vehicle is his when you know fully that you have all the legal documents attesting that you purchased the vehicle from the manufacturer. For sure you will laugh out loud because of the certainty you have as owner of the vehicle.
In the same spirit, if you believe and take God for His words, you’ll step out with certainty to declare and manifest your convictions boldly without fear of any failure no matter your circumstances or challenges that Satan is using to stop you. You’ll be able to go an extra mile because you have a proof of what you are saying within you. If you are certain about the promises of God for your life, not even the toughest physical situations around you can turn your attention from God. And for sure you’ll end up inheriting the benefits reserved for those who rely fully on the Lord.
Confession
I believe in every word which was spoken by Jesus Christ;
In the name of Jesus Christ, my faith is producing fruits;
In the name of Jesus Christ, I am what God says I am;
In the name of Jesus Christ, I have what God says I have; and
In the name of Jesus Christ, I can do what God says I can do.
“I assure you that whoever tells this hill to get up and through itself in the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him” – Mark 11:23
Reflection
This Bible verse is one that makes my heart to shade tears due to our ignorance about the power that Jesus Christ has given us. Indeed, He has given us the necessary power to change situations around us for the best. All that we need in order to accomplish this is faith. If we can stand on the words of Jesus Christ and act on them, we will reach the impossible.
Many people claim to know the Bible yet they are not acting on it. It is very common to hear a Christian say something like “by His stripes we were healed” yet they are still laying on the sick bed. This is an example of weak faith. It is useless to know the word when you cannot apply or act upon it. We must always remember that Jesus spoke spirit and life giving words which are still capable to wake you up from your sick bed, free you from suffering, and above all give you everlasting life.
Weak faith comes as a result of not exercising the spirit and life giving words of Jesus Christ. It is said that by his stripes we were healed, then what are you still doing on the sick bed. If Jesus Christ has given us the power to command mountains to uproot themselves and be deposited in the oceans, we can also exercise this very power in changing the situations that are around us. The main problem that we have is our unbelief and inability to take Jesus Christ for His words.
This creates need for you to learn how to grow your faith and make it mature enough to walk in the impossible dimensions before the eyes of men. It is only through faith that we can reach the impossible. The gap between the physical and the spiritual dimension is linked by faith. The miracle you are looking for can be achieved through faith. You’ll just need to grow your faith and put it into action.
If you are serious about learning how to grow your faith, you’ll have to start by saturating your body and spirit with the word of God. By regularly studying the word of God, you gain consciousness of the promises He has reserved for us. With time, these life giving words will create an unbeatable faith within you which will allow you to speak and make the impossible possible.
In order to grow your faith, you must regularly exercise it. Don’t worry about the number of times that you fail neither dwell on your mistakes because it is not about you but about Jesus Christ. Call on Him to strengthen your faith to the level that He wants. And for sure He will give you faith in an unmeasurable amount because He said anyone who asks for anything from Him without doubt will definitely have it.
Not exercising your faith or not walking on the word of God can be compared to a person who regularly eats huge quantities of food but does not exercise his muscles. It is without doubt that his muscles will grow big but remain weak due to lack of exercises. In the same light, if you continuously listen God’s word without acting upon it, you’ll always have a weak faith. Every life challenge is likely to overcome people with weak faiths. Weak faith creates fear and allows room for Satan to manipulate those having it.
The chief cure for weak faith is acting and walking on the word of God. In order words, we are trying to say that you need to take God for who He says He is. One of the best ways on how to grow your faith is to start acting on the words of Jesus Christ without any doubt or fear. By reading from 1 Thessalonians 5:18, we are called upon by Apostle Paul to give thanks to God concerning every situation in our life. This is a perfect place to start. Challenge yourself to see beyond the troubles and hardships that you are presently facing by living a life of praise and worship. Allow everything in the hands of God because nothing happens to us without His knowledge.
Prophetic decrees
We should learn to speak the words of God into our lives. It is time for you to confess that by his stripes you were healed and that your place is not on the sick bed. By the authority in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth:
wake up from your sick bed;
be set free from every satanic bondage;
may your faith be strong;
may your faith in God stand the test of time;
may fear leave your life; and
may you succeed in the things you are doing.
Prayer
Heavenly father we beg on you to have mercy on us, show us the light of your favor, and above all strengthen our faith to take you for who you say you are. May our faith prevail as we put your words into action in our daily activities. We ask all these in the name of Jesus Christ.
Bestofchristianity.com is a Global Media Ministry. As a Christian Website and Online Evangelical Ministry, Best Of Christianity focuses on the teachings of Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy spirit, and above all the Love of God. It uses the Bible as the foundation to knowing and obeying God. It steps in at the command of Jesus Christ to take the holy gospel to the four corners of the world so that those who believe in him can have eternal life. Under the authority of Jesus Christ, we are Apostolic and Prophetic sons and daughters of God sent out to set the captives free, heal the sick, bring deliverance, give sight to the blind, strengthen the lame to walk and above all lead souls to heaven. It is in the Christian light that we analyze topics like Prosperity, Wealth, Debt free, Credits, Finance, and Money in the Bible.
Ads Blocker Detected!!!
We have detected that you are using extensions to block ads. Please support us by disabling these ads blocker.
