Now that yo have become one of the just, He says, “Now, if you want this to work, you have got to learn how to live by faith, because now ‘the just shall live by faith’ is the Word that I am bound to concerning you.”
James understood this principle:
Chapter 6 - Saying and Praying
If you are saying one thing and praying another, you are in contradiction. Christians have to understand that God is not a legalist, but Satan is. He is the accuser of the brethren. God is a God of integrity, and He bases everything that He does on His Word. Your God, Jehovah, is the God who said, “The just shall live by faith.” God is not going to break His Word for you. Because if He breaks His Word, then He loses His integrity with the rest of us.
If God simply blessed His people who have no faith, after having said, “The just shall live by faith,” then Satan could accuse God, saying, “You are a liar – You said they had to live by faith, but You are blessing them while they are not living by faith. Their words are contradictory to everything You say, and You are blessing them>” God will not be put in a position where He is accused by Satan of breaking His Word. Therefore He says, “To My people, My justified, my redeemed, you have to learn to live by faith.” This answers the question a lot of Christians have as to why it was that before getting saved, God answered a couple of their prayers ever though they knew nothing about faith.
Now that they are saved, they ask “Why is that I have to jump through the faith hoop and make sure my confession is right and in the right tense?” Before you were born again, the statement made by Jehovah, “The just shall live by faith” did not apply to you, You were not one of the just. So, God could answer your prayer without breaking His Word, because you did not pray in faith – you just asked. You were poor, desperate, and pitiful; and God said, “Understand this is mercy. You do not have any right to this, and this is not going to work for you all the time; but I want you to know I am out here. I want you to know I hear you and that there really is a God.” So, He answered you to draw you, so you could believe and become one of the just.
Now that yo have become one of the just, He says, “Now, if you want this to work, you have got to learn how to live by faith, because now ‘the just shall live by faith’ is the Word that I am bound to concerning you.”
The issue of getting one’s saying and praying in agreement is where many Christians have missed it. Many will confess God’s Word and decree that their need is met. Bu when they go to prayer, they ask God for the very thing they have been saying is done. They say, “Lord, I thank You that by Your stripes I am healed,” and later the pray “God, my back is still aching, and I am asking You in the name of Jesus to heal me. “ But you just aid that you were healed, and now you are asking Him to do something you said you had. It is inconsistent and will not work!
There are also people who have learned how to pray “God, I thank You,” but when they get out of the prayer closet and someone asks them, “How is it going?” they say, “The Lord will make a way somehow.” But wait, you just said in prayer, “Thank You,” and now He is about to come through?
James understood this principle:
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord (James 1:5-7).
Understand that the point of this passage is not wisdom, but lack! The principle applies to whatever! Not what you lack, but that you lack. He said, “if any of you lacks wisdom (or anything else), ask God for it.” But here is the caveat you must ask in faith,. Now again, faith is conviction or persuasion plus corresponding action. The spirit of faith speaks what it believes in the present tense. He is saying, “If any of you lacks anything, ask God for it. But remember, when you ask, you have got to be speaking what you believe in the present tense.” If you do not do that, do not thing you will get anything from the Lord. If you do not get this discipline down you will be double-minded, or the Greek word dipsukos, which means two minds or spiritually schizophrenic. In other words, whichever way the wind is blowing that day, that is what you will say. So if we get up today and it looks good, we say, “Oh, it’s happening”’ and tomorrow, if we get up and it does not look good, we say, “Oh, I do not know what is going on.” Let him ask in the spirit of faith. When he asks let him say, “Now, Lord, I believe I receive it, and I thank You that I have it. Therefore, I praise You that I have it” with no doubting Remember, doubting has nothing today with what you are feeling, but only with what you say. If it does not come out of your mouth it is not doubt. If it does not come out of your mouth, it is not fear. You can feel like you are about to sink and never rise again, but if you do not let it come out of your mouth, it is not doubt. It is only faith when you speak it; likewise, it is only doubt when you speak it.
Now that yo have become one of the just, He says, “Now, if you want this to work, you have got to learn how to live by faith, because now ‘the just shall live by faith’ is the Word that I am bound to concerning you.”
James understood this principle:
