Watch what the centurion said: “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
Now, when Jesus said, “I have not found such great faith,” He was not talking, at this point, about the man’s faith in Him. He was talking about the man’s understanding of the principle that gets things done. The centurion said, “The reason I believe in You is because I know when I say something, with the authority I have, it comes to pass. I understand this is and authority matter. It is based on what you speak. I am a man under authority; and when I say something, I do not go somewhere and say, ‘I hope it happens.’ Because I have authority, when I tell somebody to god do something, I just go back to the house and expect it to be done. I don’t not go around worrying, ‘I wonder if they are going to do it, I wonder if it is going to happen. ‘No, I have got the authority to speak!” Basically, he said, “Because I understand how this principle works, I know that You do not have to come to my house.”
Great faith is the kind of faith that does not always have to have Jesus physically in the house, as long as you are in the house with His Word! I do not have to have Jesus come and check on me to see if I need anything. He has already come and taken care of everything I need. He is now gone, and He has given me authority to speak His Word! Jesus does not have to come and see about me because the Word in near me in my mouth. I am anointed, authorized, and inspired to handle it; I am learning how this faith principle works.
When Jesus said, “I have not found this kind of faith, not even in Israel,” He was saying, “I have not seen this kind of faith in My covenant people. Here is a man who does not even have a covenant with Me, Who understands how this works! Why is it that people without a covenant seem to work this principle better that people with a covenant? I asked God, “Why is it that unbelievers seem to work this principle better that believers?” He said, “Because unbelievers understand that they do not have anybody to depend on but themselves. So, they know if anything is going to get done, they have to do it. Religion has duped My people into believing that I [Jesus} am going to do everything, when the fact of the matter is, I have already done everything, and now you have to put what I have done to work.”
When you get to the point that you stop depending on Jesus to come to your house and look in on you, and understand that you have the authority to deal with circumstances, they will start changing in your life. Great faith believes that what it speaks will happen. Great faith speaks, and then it believes that what is speaks will happen.
Again, you must believe that what you say will come to pass. In Mark 11:23, Jesus said, “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” The key is that you have the say it and believe what you say will be done.
I asked God, “How can I make sure that what I say will be done?” Part of our problem is that we do not believe what we say will be done because we lie to ourselves all the time. Often you cannot even rust your own word. Even unintentionally sometimes, you say something you mean to do, and something keeps it from happening. But it is never so with God’s Word. He said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Mark 13:31).
So how do I make sure that what I am saying, I believe will happen? I stop saying what I am saying and start saying what He has said. If I say what the has said, then I am sure that what He has said will come to pass. Now get this: He did not say that I will have what He said I’ll have. He said I will havewhat I say I have. Just because He said it, does not mean I will get it. I will not get it unless I say it. He has said it, but I do not get it unless I say it.
Look at Mark 11:23 again: “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” So, even though God has said it, if I do not say it, I am not getting it. Great faith believes that what it says will come to pass. I make sure that I am believing what I say will come to pass by making sure that I am saying what God has said, because He already told me that His Word will not return void (see Isaiah 55:11)
Notes to Remember "Great faith speaks, and then it believes what it speaks will happen."
