Category: Faith and Spirituality

“Have faith in God,” said Jesus in Mark 11:22-25. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Because of this verse and others, many people have come to believe that “have faith in God” means “you can have anything if you ask for it in prayer and believe you have received it.” But this does not always happen in many people’s lives.

When I was a young boy, I wanted a red toolbox more than anything. Every night before I went to sleep, I prayed to God that I would wake up in the morning and a red toolbox would be at the foot of my bed. I honestly believed I had received it – until I looked closely. No red toolbox. (Note: As soon as I  got a paying job after college, I bought my own red toolbox, which I still have and cherish today.)

“God is not a genie,” as Pastor Rick Warren is fond of saying. And having faith in God is not as simple ask making a wish and believing it will come true. As Warren also says in the same article, “God knows what’s best, and you don’t,” and “Sometimes Christians pray in conflict,” such as people on both sides of a football game praying for victory.

Have Faith in God – to be God

So what this means is “have faith in God – to be God,” not to do anything you ask. God knows what’s best, and you don’t. And someone else may be praying for a different outcome as you pray for your own.

Another common misunderstanding about Jesus “move mountains” verses above is that Jesus often spoke in hyperbole, or vivid exaggeration, to make an unforgettable point to his listeners. It is unlikely that anyone has ever moved a literal mountain with prayer. But as some commentators have noted, if you view a mountain as a huge obstacle, faith in God can indeed help you move it or change it.

It’s important to understand what the word “faith” means, both in the Bible and in our lives. The English word closest in meaning to faith is trust. As my wife and I have learned over the years, the phrase, “Don’t you trust me?” can be deceiving. It is unwise to trust any human being absolutely because we all make mistakes and miss the mark (the real meaning of the word sin). Rather we learn to “trust to.” I trust you to tell the truth. I trust you to be there when you say you will. I trust you to do what is best for our family. I trust you not to run up a lot of credit card debt.

In like manner, it is wise to trust God to do certain things consistent with his nature and the Biblical message, but not everything, such as magically delivering red toolboxes or ponies to young boys.

“Have Faith In God” Can Have Many Meanings

Paul’s famous statement about having faith in God is this: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). But he goes on to say, “This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”

Wow! This profound definition of faith has nothing to do with red toolboxes or moving mountains, but more to do with the creation of the universe! Not only was no one around to see it (except God), but the visible universe was not even made out of visible parts, but out of nothing in what is now called the “Big Bang.” Do you have faith that God created the universe?

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy* explains several different models or concepts of faith (edited for this article):

“’Faith’ is a broad term, expressing a range of different concepts. It is most often used in theistic religious faith—faith in God—and specifically within the Christian faith traditions. But, although the theistic religious context settles what kind of faith is of interest, the question arises whether faith of that same general kind also belongs to other, non-theistic, religious contexts, or to contexts not usually thought of as religious at all. Arguably, it may be apt to speak of the faith of a humanist, or even an atheist, using the same general sense of ‘faith’ as applies to the theist case.”

Thus faith may be used at least seven different ways:

• the “purely affective” model: faith as a feeling (of confidence)
• the “special knowledge” model: faith as knowledge of specific truths, revealed by God
• the “belief” model: faith as belief that God exists 
• the “trust” model: faith as believing in (in the sense of trusting in) God 
• the “doxastic venture” model: faith as practical commitment beyond the evidence to one’s belief that God exists (“doxastic” means “it is believed to be the case”)
• the “hope” model: faith as hoping—or acting in the hope that—the God who saves exists.

Although having faith in God is certainly religion-based, even people who say they do not believe in God must have faith in something, such as the orderliness of the universe. When you go to sleep at night, you have faith you will wake up in the morning. When you drive to work, you have faith your house will be there when you return. When you flick a switch, you have faith the lights will come on. The so-called Laws of Physics are all statements of faith in an orderly universe, and in fact Isaac Newton was a devout Christian who believed he was discovering God’s creation through physics and mathematics.

Certainly atheists do not believe that having faith in God is necessary to get along in the world, but they certainly have faith in an orderly universe without always thinking, Why is the universe orderly? Who made it orderly? Answers to such questions and statements of faith are found throughout the Bible.

More Bible Verses About Faith

Here are some well-known Bible verses (most from the ESV Version) about faith in God that might be helpful for you to think about and remember:

• “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
• “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17
• “He said to them, ‘For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.’” Matthew 17:20
• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
• “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8-9
• “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7
• “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
• “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” Romans 1:17
• “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 1 John 5:4
• “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16
• “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13
• “That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:5
• “For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1:3
• “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2
• “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6
• “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2
• “Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.” Matthew 15:28
• “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” Romans 12:3
• “So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:7

“Fight the good fight of the faith”

• “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12
• “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’” Luke 17:5
• “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” Galatians 2:16
• “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7
• “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8-9
• “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” Galatians 5:6
• “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” Romans 1:16-17
• “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:6-7
• “And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” Luke 17:6
• “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works….” James 2:14-26
• “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4
• “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12
• “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.” 2 Corinthians 4:13-14
• “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” Hebrews 11:7
• “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!” Luke 12:27-28
• “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James 1:5-8
• “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1

What does faith in God mean to you? Pray to God every day to strengthen your faith and your understanding. And

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*Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on faith here.

Top Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay