The question is, what is faith?   If faith is an all-important subject, then we need to know what it is in the actual sense. If it makes living so colourful, then we must be bothered and concerned about what it is.

Nothing works without it!  Salvation is impossible without it!

Healing is impossible without it! Victory is impossible without it!  Now, let me conclude, nothing is possible without faith. Nothing!  Which means, Christianity is worthless without faith. Faith is the producer of good reports. Where good reports are found in this kingdom, it is a direct product of faith.  I have found many prayer warriors who are gallant failures. But you can never point to a faith giant who is not a super success!  Look around in the world and in the Bible also. Show me a giant of faith, and I'll show you a giant on the earth.

Faith is the principal determining factor of every man's status. There is no contesting this fact. Every exploit recorded in Hebrews 11, is a direct product of faith.

So, what is faith?

IT IS AN EXPRESSION OF CONFIDENCE IN GOD

Faith is the practical expression of confidence in God and His Word.  Hebrews 10:35-36 tells us:

"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise."

God said to Abram, "Get thee out... (Gen. 12:1) And verse 4 of the same Chapter 12 tells us, "So Abraham departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him..." This is a practical expression of confidence!

God said to Noah, "It will so rain that the earth will be flooded!" And despite the fact that no rain has fallen yet, Noah moved with fear and built an ark, as God had instructed him. (Gen. 6,7,8).

He built that ark for 120 years! This is a display of confidence in God and His Word!  When God called me into ministry, He told me, "Carry nothing for your journey." I agreed with Him, and I had no re-think such as, "What if nothing happens?"

He told me I didn't even need two pairs of shoes, nor two coats; that before the one I'm wearing wears out, He will give me another one.  "And greet no man on the way." That is, "Let no man become important enough to divert your attention. I am up to the commission."

I believed Him! And I've not needed to beg any man, living or dead, till date. Faith is the practical expression of confidence in God and what He has said. I caught something in my study - something I called the song of faith:

"If God can't, nobody else can.
If God can't, no one else should try.
If God can't, it is eternally hopeless to expect anything.
But hallelujah!
He is the Lord, the God of all flesh, and there's nothing too hard for Him!"

Friends, we are going to thread down the mountains and fill up the valleys!

Faith is it!

In Daniel chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar threatened the three Hebrew boys with the fiery furnace, and they said, "Oh! We know better! Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, and He will deliver us. But should He choose not to, we remain confident! We will not bow to your image!" (Paraphrased).

That is confidence! The Bible says it has great recompense of reward.

In Hebrews 11:6, we are told:

"...he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

Faith, an expression of confidence, establishes reward - great reward!  The Lord spoke to Abraham, after He had waited 25 years to get Isaac, "Bring me your son. I want to 'eat' him. Sacrifice him to me on the mountain." Gen. 22:2 paraphrased).

And Abraham set out to do exactly as God had commanded him, believing that God is able to raise sons unto him out of stones. (Heb. 11:17-19) Confidence extraordinaire!  Abraham believed God, and by that act of faith, he became the father of all that is born again and has an inheritance with God. (Rom. 4:3,16).

IT IS AN ACT MOTIVATED BY THE WORD

Faith is an act motivated by the Word of God. It can also be defined as a living force, drawn from the living Word, for a living proof.   It is by nature evidential. If you can't see the evidence, then what you are referring to is not faith. Listen to James 2:18

"Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works; shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works."

Faith without action is fake! That means, it is dead! (James 2:17)  Faith is a reflective act. You can't operate it without it being know.  

It shows in your looks, your walk, in the statements you make, in your countenance.

For example, if it is true that you believe in divine healing, it should show by the evidence of your continual healthy life.  If it is true you believe in prosperity, it should show. Jesus said, "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not." (John 10:37)

Faith is in the doing, the showing and is evident.

Jesus said to those men, "Fill the water-pots with water." And they went ahead and did exactly that. And the water became wine! (John 2:1-11).

There is no evidence of faith without an act. Action is the authentic evidence of faith. Faith is fake without a back-up action.

The Bible tells us that "Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the in which he condemned the world." (Heb. 11:7)  When you refuse to move by the Word of life, faith is not in place.

God spoke and Noah moved. It says, "By faith Noah ... moved" So faith compels action.

A man with a withered hand came to Jesus and Jesus said, "Stretch forth your hand", and the paralysis disappeared!

By faith, when God called Abraham, he obeyed. The Bible says, "So Abram departed..." The act was in place.

Friends, it's time to step out of that passive religious state!If God says you are healed, stop looking sick! If He said He had carried your pains, stop celebrating pains!

God told me, "With long life will I satisfy you and show you my salvation." So, I don't dream death! I don't think death! Long life means long life! The one I have now is not long enough, it's still short, because I've read about very long ones in the scriptures.

I know what long means. So I'm not thinking of anything contrary. I'm not writing any will for anybody.

That is the realm of faith!

Faith is an act.

You may sound primitive and unconventional, but the dignity of your victory will be undeniable!

When you stop showing it, then it's no longer there. Faith is reflective. It shows!

It comes by hearing, and it works by acting on what you have heard. (Rom. 10:17).

In 1989, I met a woman who had no uterus (according to the doctors). I told her, "God is your manufacturer, and He has spare parts. Go out tomorrow and buy your baby's things in the open!"

She obeyed, and that same month, she conceived womb or no womb! She gave birth to a healthy baby boy!

Friends, God's Word works!

Faith brings God on the scene! And when God steps in, opposition bows out!

Faith is an act. When you stop showing it, then it's no longer there. You can't have it and not show it. When it stops reflecting in your lifestyle, then it's no longer there.

Please understand what I'm talking about.

Whatever you are saying you believe God for, make sure you don't act contrary to it, or you disqualify yourself of the answer.

It's time for you to enjoy victory unlimited! Victory on all sides!

IT IS A TRANSLATING FORCE

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

It takes faith to connect with grace.

Faith is that almighty force in the realm of the spirit, that is able to take a man from the pit of hell and translate him to the glorious realm of heavenly places!

I see God bringing about a translation in your own life right now!

He is about to change your position through the instrument of faith!

Faith is an ever-winning, never-failing force!

It's time to take a look at scriptures line upon line, precept upon precept, after which you will come out licensed and certified for victory.

There is nothing in the world that will not answer to faith - be it physical, mental, material or spiritual, name it. Everything on earth answers to this powerful force called faith. It overcomes all forces of darkness - economic problems, sickness, disease, family disintegration, untimely death, and every other obstacle you can imagine on earth.

Every problem on earth just must answer to faith, and this is why we must seek to understand and appreciate it. Jesus told Peter:

"...behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."
(Luke 22:31-32)

Until your faith fails, you don't become a failure. Once your faith fails, your spiritual life fails! Because Habakkuk 2:4 tells us that"...the just shall live by his faith."

Just as heart-failure is a threat to its victim, a faith-failure will make a believer sink!

Your faith will not fail! In Jesus precious name.

IT IS A "HANDLABLE FORCE"

"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."
Ephesians 6:16

Faith is a "Takable" substance. It is not a psychological thing. Hebrews 11:1 tells us:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Faith is a handlable force, which you can't handle without knowing. Once it is taken, the taker becomes conscious of the fact that, "This is faith."

Most of the time, what we call faith is nothing but mental assent. You hear people make such comments as "Oh yes, I know. It's in the Bible. It must be true!" They agree with the Word, but are not united practically with it.

You can't have faith without knowing. You live under its powerful, productive influence when it is actually there.

Faith will control and affect the whole of you, in line with what you believe.

Faith is not an ideology. It's a living substance. You can handle it. You can't take hold of it without knowing it. When it comes, it is a substance that you will be conscious of.

Outside of faith, Christianity has nothing to show!

All the good reports contained in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11, are direct products of faith in action. Results that cannot be denied are what make Christianity colourful.

Outside faith, Christianity is colourless!

IT IS A WEAPON OF WAR

"Above all, taking the shield of faith, where with ye shall be able to QUENCH all the fiery darts of the wicked."
Ephesians 6:16

You need faith to enter into anything that God has packaged for your destiny. And faith is a weapon of war.

Faith is for fighting, not for talking.

Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:12:

"Fight the good fight of faith."

Until you are a fighter, you don't become a winner.

Faith is not for quotations and religious piety. It is a weapon of war. It is a principal aspect of the whole armour of God. So it is for fighting, not for playing.

You are yet to overcome, many things because you are yet to fight them. When you fight, you always win.

It is called the good fight of faith. Not the bad fight.

When you engage in a faith battle, it is a good fight. That means the end is sure! (1 John 5:4)

So, everytime you are standing firm and violently in faith, you stand victorious. Only fighters become winners.

Faith is not for writing down, it is for fighting. Don't watch the enemy gain grounds in your family, business, career, body, mind, etc. Don't watch him have his way in your life. Fight him to finish!

Now, look around your life and see whatever has not been working and force it to work! The kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent takes it by force. That force is the force of faith!

A lot of us are kingdom investors, but somehow, our perspectives rob us of our possessions.

If you work in a place and at the end of the month they give you a particular amount, and your understanding is that that is all that you have, "In heaven and on earth", and as long as your mind's eye can't see beyond a particular realm, you don't experience anything beyond such short-sightedness.

The Bible says,

"The god of this world hath blinded the minds (not the eyes) of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Blind minds are worse than blind eyes!

If you are truly an investor (let God be true and let all men be liars), what you have in your hands is not what you have. What you actually have is what has abounded unto your account with God. But because you are short-sighted, you can't see that there is an account being kept for you. And there is no way you can draw from an account you don't know exists.

You must see beyond the physical material you, to the spiritual you, before you can begin to experience this very luxurious flight.

In the early days of our Christianity, pastors who didn't see themselves as working, never received any wages from above. Because God has said that he who does not work should not eat.

(2 Thes. 3:10). So their families suffered hunger.

The way you see yourself is the way you live!

God has never failed to pay me even once, since I started working for Him. I see myself working, and I am actually working. I would never have worked for any organisation the way I'm working now, and no organisation could have paid me the way He is paying me. For God is not a robber.

You need to see that your heavenly accounts are real.

Let's start seeing the way we should see, and we will start living the way we should live.

If God says you have an account in heaven, then you had better believe him.
It's time to fight!

It's time to fight in your harvest!

It's time not to be aware of what you're going through, because you are of God, and you have overcome, where others are going under.

So, see it and get it!

That is the covenant (Gen. 13:14-15)

If you can see it, then fight to get it!

Can you imagine somebody who has been giving all his life and has never received anything that one could say, "This is from God!"

There are people who have been giving for the past ten years, yet the only thing they can boast of is their salary! Anything called favour is so far away from them, as the east is far from the west. Yet they won't fight!

Look, if sickness touches your body, and you don't fight, it will kill you! With God watching!

Friends, those who win fight to win! If you can't see your account in heaven, even angels will be weeping for you - "See how fat his account is, and he is dying over there! Has he lost his passbook?"

You have been tithing for five years and all you say is, "Someday...Someday..." Someday is not what you need. Fight the devil out of your way! Use the blood and smash him anyday, anytime, anywhere!

Friends, we must engage in a fight if our dream is to win.

In 1969, God delivered me from tuberculosis. This doesn't mean sickness has not attempted me since then. Several times it has. Even death has tried me several times! But I didn't say, "God who delivered me from tuberculosis, are you asleep?" No! He never sleeps nor slumbers! This is a fresh fight!

Faith is the only way to please God.

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him." (Hebrews 11:6)

So, if you're not a fighter, you are not pleasing God.

"And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land." (Deuteronomy 2:31)

If your inheritance must become a reality, you must stand your ground and fight.

"Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle." (Deuteronomy 2:24)

Can you see the paradox in the story? God said, "I have given you..." Then He said "...begin to possess."

We possess by contending, not by debate. God said, "As for me, I have given you. But Sihon, the king of Heshbon will resist your inheritance. So contend with him in battle."

God gave Israel the land of Canaan a land flowing with milk and honey. But there were giants there. And God didn't drive the giants away! Anything God has packaged for your destiny, you need faith to enter into it. Because faith pleases God.

God has given us all things that make for life and godliness, let's go fight to get it! Let God be true and let all men be liars!

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:12)

We are called to fight the good fight of faith.

There are Sihons everywhere, hanging over our inheritances. Until we begin to contend, we don't possess.

It's time for battle!

We have at our disposal the blood weapon, the oil weapon, the Word weapon! Whatever escapes the Word will not escape the oil! Whatever escapes the oil will not escape the blood! Your liberty is a must! And fighting is the way to it.

There was war in heaven, God fought! (Rev. 12:7). If He hadn't fought, Satan would have become the most high.

Knowledge

"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord." (2 Peter 1:2)

The place of knowledge in possessing our possession is important.

Grace means the free gift of God.

"According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue" (2 Peter 1:3)

If the Holy Ghost said God has given us all things, let's see the "Devil-ghost" that will say He hasn't!

All things that life and godliness demand have been given. If God has given it, He has given it. So we fight into that inheritance.

Whatever is relevant to your fulfillment, God said He has given it. All things that pertain to you - spiritual, physical, mental life, name it. God has given!

So where is it?

Where is the proof of your tithes and offerings?

How can you fail and settle down as a failure?

How can they say you are sick and indeed you stop turning your neck? "The gifts and callings of God are without repentance." (ROM 11:29) God has given you all things that you will ever need in life! Yes, He has!

There was an occultic man who gave this testimony at a Full Gospel Meeting. They were out to fight churches. So, they went to various churches, and scattered them. (So most of the churches you see that won't grow, they are under a siege).

After they did that in many places, they crossed over to our church. When they got there, (according to them), they saw a canopy of thorns! So, they had no access to the church.

They got back to their meeting and said "Well, until we get that man (referring to me), we can't get in there."

So, they armed themselves. "We must get the man!", they said. They went into the air and started shooting all their arrows. But something amazing happened!

He said they couldn't locate me in the air! You know why?

I walk in the understanding that I am far above principalities and power!

At the end of it all, four of them got saved! They now started leaking and exposing all that they were doing.

Friends, there are battles in the heavens! Only fighters on the earth remain winners!

This is my story: there is nobody who dares my life that will not be the worse for it! That is why when I am going out, I say, "Anybody who tries to stand on my way today is cursed! in the name of Jesus" And I'm not just talking, I'm breathing! The venom is coming from my breath!

When I get to heaven, I'll be glad to see the list of witches that were killed by my arrow.

The enemy is of no value to God you know! As for you, God is ready to take you to where He has planned, if only you are ready to keep fighting.

In their journey to Canaan, at a point, the children of Israel stopped counting the casualties - how many of their enemies had been destroyed for their sake!

The Bible says of God, that He destroyed kings, He massacred nations, for their sake!

But He got Israel to Canaan! He will get you to your destiny too!

Fighting is the way to winning!

When you're leaving your house to anywhere, say like a fighter, "I go out now covered by the blood. Every opposition on my way is crushed by the power of the blood! I am dangerously anointed today! Now, I go forth, in the name of Jesus!"

By the time those words are released in the air, the angels now take charge, because they do the will of God. They do His good pleasure. Thus, a combination of forces go with you as you step out.

Faith is for fighting, and faith pleases God. So, fighting pleases God!

Many of you called barren would have had your babies years ago. But because you are so religious, you keep saying, "God, I know you will do it next month."

Look, God won't be stronger next month than He is now. So, fight to lay hold on your inheritance!

FAITH IS "THE VICTORY"

"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." (1 John 5:4)

This is THE victory, not A victory.

Faith is THE victory that overcomes the world. There is nothing under the sun that cannot be subdued by it!

When anything seems to be subduing you, it is an indication that you have not built up your faith in that area of your life, because when faith is there, it subdues.

Concerning the heroes of faith, the Bible testifies:

"Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Quenched the violence of fire..." (Hebrews 11:33-34)

They did all these through faith!

Faith is the believer's responsibility for victory. It is a non-transferable responsibility. It is not imparted. It is implanted. And each one goes to receive the seeds of faith in order to eat the fruits of victory.

Faith is a responsibility, not an attribute

"...for he that cometh to God must believe..." (Hebrews 11:6)

The believer has that duty, that responsibility. Each one gets involved in order to see the reality of it.

Just like the air you and I breath, can you now ask anyone to breath for you? Maybe your sweet wife? Your loving husband? Or your wonderful children? Can you say, "Honey, I'm so tired, please can't you breath for me?"

In the same way, you can pass on the responsibility of faith. You can't ask anyone to exercise faith for you.

Victory is so close to you. The Holy Spirit says in Romans 10:6-10:

"But the righteousness which is faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

So victory, triumph, success, are nigh thee. Faith is the producer of them all.

There is no performance without faith. Faith is as near as the air you breath. Healing and victory are so near! As near as your hand is to your body.

Remember Sarah! Her body was as good as dead! Yet she became the mother of multitudes, that cannot be numbered! Your case is not a closed case!

Jesus said in Mark 9:23:

"...if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."

Faith is a must if victory is your dream.

Peter was so close to Jesus, yet he knew nothing about the drawing of virtue from the anointed of God. While the woman with the issue of blood did with absolute ease. James couldn't draw either. Yet right there in their midst, Jesus was loaded with the virtue of heaven for healing, deliverance and all manner of needs.

Faith is a nontransferable responsibility. Until you receive the seed of faith, you can't eat the fruits of victory.