Joseph Prince - The Secret to Exercising Faith: Speak!
Are you ready for God’s Word? I wanna touch on something that only believers have, and it’s called the faith of God, the God kind of faith. Say it, «The God kind of faith». Now, many of us, we grew up in the word of faith circle, so we have heard about teachings on the word of faith, on how to use faith. Now, without faith, it’s impossible to please God. Like right now, all right, in this auditorium alone, besides elsewhere that’s watching this, as they are watching right now, if someone there has faith in God, God bypasses everyone down here and zero in on that person. Faith is attractive to God. Faith attracts God’s attention. Do you understand that?
All right, you might have a lot of flaws in your personality, a lot of areas in your life that you still don’t measure up. Just like the woman with the issue of blood. She broke the law, all right, to be in the public place, to touch the hem of Jesus, and yet Jesus turned around and said, «Your faith made you well». Didn’t stop her from receiving. So something about faith that is the highest form of holiness to God. God thinks of faith, God esteems faith as higher than any other trait. He says, «Above all, taking the shield of faith by which you quench all the fiery dirts of the wicked».
Now, we are not teaching faith like the way some New Age people teach. We’re not saying that power of believing, just the power of faith, the power of your faith, regardless of what you have faith in, doesn’t really matter. It’s the power of your faith per se. No, it’s not, it’s not. Who you believe in is important, amen. It is who you believe in. Can I have a good amen? But on the other hand, we also want to learn how faith operates. And it’s simpler than you think. I said it’s simpler than you think. When you look at all the exploits of faith, we find them in Hebrews 11. By faith, Moses did this. By faith, the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea. By faith the walls of Jericho fall down, all right, but how does faith operate?
We’ll say things like David, he spoke to Goliath. We say that, you know, Goliath was knocked down by a stone, but actually Goliath, long before David released that stone from his slingshot, all right, he spoke to Goliath. He said, «Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand». Look up here, 2 Corinthians 4, «We having,» let’s all say it, «having». We what? «Having,» not trying to have, having. «We having the same spirit of faith,» that David had, that Moses had, that Abraham had. «We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written». Now he’s quoting David from the Psalms. «I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak».
If you believe, speak, amen. If you believe something, speak. It’s not just that I believe it, but you never speak it, amen. If you believe this day is gonna be a good day, say, «This is the day the Lord has made, I’ll rejoice and be glad in it». Speak it out, amen. God saw darkness in Genesis 1. God said, «Light be» and light was. But faith, like the way God exercised it, is not to look at the darkness and God says, «Wow, it’s really dark». It becomes darker. No, in your darkness, God wants you to call forth the light. We cannot go by our senses, we must go by the authority of the one who knows everything from beginning to end and the end from the beginning. He knows all. He knows better than us. Can I have a good amen?
And the way we exercise faith is simple, very simple. Believe and speak. Believe and speak. In fact, everything that Jesus did for us, Jesus died on the cross, taking our sins, the divine exchange, all our sins, he took. All his righteousness, we receive. How do we receive? By faith. In fact, the greatest blessing that we can receive from God is salvation. Forgiveness of all our sins. Would you say amen to that? And how does that come? How does that come? Look at this, Romans 10. We drop down to verse 10. Verse 10 says, «If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart,» isn’t this the same spirit of faith? I believe, therefore I speak.
So you’re about to see how you receive the greatest blessing from God. Everything that Jesus did for us is ours. But why is it that some Christians have more than others? Is it because that Jesus gives them more than others? No, Jesus died to give us everything. Every need of mankind is met at the cross. Even our financial provisions, he became naked at the cross. He who flung the universe in space and the galaxies and put the diamonds and sapphires in this earth, he created them all, he was found without clothes at the cross so that he can clothe us and supply all our needs. At the cross he became a curse that we might be blessed. But how do we receive this? We look at the greatest blessing of all.
How do we receive the greatest blessing? Believing, speaking. Right now if you are an unbeliever, watch this, if right where you are seated, you don’t even have to come forward. If you say, «Jesus Christ is my Lord and I believe he died for my sins,» bang, you are saved. Right where you’re seated, instantly, completely, eternally, amen. So it says, «If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you’ll be saved». Next verse, «With the heart one believes to righteousness, with the mouth confession is made unto salvation».
So again we see the spirit of faith. It’s I believe and I speak. I believe and I speak. I believe this week will be a great week. I believe God’s protection will be on me and my children. We’ll be at the right place at the right time and the disease-bearing mosquito will be at the wrong place at the wrong time, amen. Everywhere I go, the favor of God will attend to me. Now, if you start talking like that, all right, you are exercising faith and God loves it. God loves it. Without faith it’s impossible to please God. Are you listening, church? So let’s look at some of the modus operandi of this faith, okay. So one day as Jesus was walking with disciples in Mark 11, «On the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, Jesus was hungry; And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves,» say, «Having leaves».
Now I must tell you something about fig trees in Israel. There are many varieties of fig trees. Okay, many varieties. This fig tree in Israel, all right, what happened is that during winter, all right, it’s autumn and winter it sheds its leaves. Then during the springtime, like in March, the leaves come back again. Once the leaves come back, you know the time of figs is about to come, about six weeks after, all right, will be the season for figs. But you watch this, Jesus was hungry, that shows his humanity, all right? Fully God, fully man. «And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if happily he might find anything thereon; and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, 'No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever.' And his disciples heard it». It was loud enough for his disciples to hear.
So next verse talk about going to the temple, cleansing the temple. In the evening he went back to Bethany. Now let’s follow him the next morning. Obviously they passed by the fig tree. It still looked the same. Hmm? Did Jesus curse it? Yes. But obviously it still looked the same when they came by in the evening. The next morning. «And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from,» what? «The roots». So sometimes you speak to your condition, it still looks the same. You know when a tree is green with foliage and all that, okay, with the leaves, it looks green, but once the roots are killed inside, it’s a matter of time outside will dry up.
So when you start cursing the cancer cells in your body in the name of Jesus, you might still feel bad, you might still feel all the symptoms, but I’m telling you, death to that disease has begun right at its roots. And the way you do it is very simple, all right? It’s not you doing it, it’s Jesus, but you just speak it in Jesus’s name, amen. He’s gonna teach us right now how to do it. «And Peter calling to remembrance said unto him, 'Master, '» or Rabbi, «'behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.'» Drop down. «Jesus answering said unto them, 'Have the faith of God.'» Now here it says, «Have faith in God». In the original Greek, «Have the God kind of faith». The kind of faith that God himself exercises, amen. When God saw the darkness, God says, «Light be». God called forth the fowls of the air, God says, «Let the waters bring forth fishes, whales, small fish, large fish, and living creatures of every kind».
God spoke it and then God saw that it was good. God never saw good until God spoke. Man says, «I’ll never speak until I see». Man has become abnormal. Man has fallen. God says, «I made you in my image. I never saw until I spoke». Learn, speak, and then you will see. Jesus walked around. He will say, to the leper, «Be cleansed» and the leprosy went. Jesus spoke to the winds, «Be calm, be still,» and there’s a perfect calm. Jesus spoke to the demons, «Leave» and they went. Jesus lived life by speaking, and he’s showing us what man is to live like when God made man. The Bible tells us God made man a living soul. Onkelos, a Jewish commentator, said the word there in the Hebrew, the «Nephesh,» refers to the speaking spirit.
So he translated that verse as saying, God made man a speaking spirit, amen. So how did God exercise faith? God spoke. Jesus said to his disciples, «Have the God kind of faith». Learn to exercise the God kind of faith. And it’s about to tell you how the God kind of faith works. Tell me if you see the same principle. «For verily I say unto you,» by the way, «verily» is amen. «That whosoever shall say unto this mountain,» mountain is anything that poses to be a problem in your life. It can be a disease, it can be a financial lack, it can be an obstacle, whatever it is. The rabbinical way of saying problems during the time of Jesus is to say it’s a mountain, all right. Something insurmountable in the natural.
Jesus says, «Whatever the mountain is, whoever shall say to the mountain». A lot of people are talking to God about the mountain. God’s saying, «You speak to the mountain». They speak to God, God is not your problem. God gave you the authority to speak to the mountain. So Jesus says, «Say to the mountain, 'Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; ' and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he says». Isn’t this the same as we having the same spirit of faith, I believe and therefore I speak. We believe and therefore we speak. It seems like faith is a currency of heaven. It’s a medium of exchange. Of all that Jesus died to give us, the way we receive it is by faith.
So I learned, I learned that believing and speaking is the way. When I was sick, I began to speak and believe that I’m healed by Jesus’s stripes. And I got healed, I got stronger. And then one day, I think I heard a sermon or read a book, the devil put this thought in my mind, speaking and believing alone is not enough. Now I’m coming to the crux of the message. Speaking and believing alone is not enough. You must do something. Are you living a holy life? The devil is so subtle that he will not come to you, all right, with a pitchfork and a red underwear, okay? The devil is so subtle he will come to you and the worst form the devil takes is a religious spirit. He’ll come to you with ideas of holiness.
Listen, you think just speaking alone is enough? You must be holy. And you know you’re not very holy right, as a young man? You still have this kind of thoughts, that kind of thoughts. You still have bad temper problem, impatience. How can you say you speak and it happens? The devil is so afraid that you start to walk in faith. Let me ask you a question. How did God exercise his faith? What did God do? When God saw darkness, what did God say? «Light be». And what happened? God saw the light. And then God says, «Let there be a firmament in the heavens above and in the earth below». And there was a firmament, right? And God saw it. And God says, «Let the heavens bring forth fowls, winged creatures of every kind».
And God saw and it was so, and God saw it was good. Then God looked at the seas and God said to the seas, «Let the earth, let the seas bring forth living creatures». And it brought forth whales, small fish, anchovies, all right? God just spoke. All the variety was in the word. Did God do anything else or not? Did God say, «Light be». And then God came down. Then God created the light. Come on. Doing and speaking are antithesis. What was God’s corresponding action? Let me ask you. When God made the universe, what was God’s corresponding action? He just believed and spoke. There was no corresponding action. Are you listening, church?
And yet, somehow there was this teaching that came to me and said that, just speaking alone is not enough. And I start believing speaking alone is not enough. Guess what? I stopped speaking. The supply stopped. Everything stopped because I felt like, how can I speak when I’m not really holy yet? So the devil will use this holy teachings, holiness to stop you when actually when you are believing and speaking, you are truly being like God, walking in holiness. And by the way, how do you become holy? Jesus says, «Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God».
Let me ask you a question. How do you become pure in heart? «Well, Pastor Prince, I don’t watch TV. Pastor Prince, I don’t watch, you know, I don’t look at ladies. Well, Pastor Prince, I don’t go out of the house». Why don’t you just say, «Pastor Prince, I’m dead». So people have, you know, they always think of what? Behavior, performance. That’s the idea of holiness. Why can’t we receive holiness the same way we receive salvation? How? By faith. Let me prove to you, holiness cannot come by your performance, it comes by faith. You all remember the story of Peter? For the first time, God sent him to a non-Jewish house, an Italian house. The guy’s name was Cornelius. He was a Gentile, he was a centurion. And Peter preached there and guess what? The whole household of Cornelius believed.
Five years after this event, Peter was in Jerusalem, at the HQ, where James was the senior pastor of the church in Jerusalem. He’s the half brother of Jesus. And they heard what happened to the Gentiles. They are still not sure whether this salvation that Jesus brought is also for the non-Jews. So they called for Peter on the floor, all right? Called him to the carpet and asked him what happened. Five years after the incident. Let’s follow the story. What Peter said. Peter says, «So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged these non-Jews by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts,» how? How are hearts are purified? Say it! Amen. That’s how hearts are purified. That’s how you get holy. By faith. It’s not by your performance.
You see, the Bible says God gave us Christ in 1 Corinthians 1:30. «Of Him,» that means it’s of God’s doing, «you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, who became for us righteousness, who became for us sanctification». Now that’s a big word, that means holiness. Not only Christ is our righteousness, Christ is our holiness. And if you’re sick, confess the last one. Christ is my redemption from sickness, from the curse. When you exercise faith, you overcome the devil, the flesh, and the world. Start saying, «Christ is my righteousness, Christ is my holiness». Don’t try, trust. «Pastor Prince, I got very bad habits. I can’t help it, I feel all these emotions». Say, «Christ is my holiness». Even in the midst of your anger and impatience say, «Christ is my holiness». Don’t have to scream it, just believe and speak it. Are you listening, church?
You see, there are two kinds of righteousness. There’s one kind by performance. In Romans 10 it says, «Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes». Now, watch this, «Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, 'The man who does those things shall live by them.'» In other words, there’s a righteousness by the law, based on what? Doing, performing. But the other righteousness which God… Christ came to give us, the righteousness of faith speaks, all right? It speaks what? It tells you you don’t have to go up to heaven to bring Christ down from the Father’s right hand. You don’t have to go back 2000 years ago in a time machine to be where Christ was.
Drop down all the way. «What does it say»? verse 8, «'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is the word of faith which we preach)». Just speak what you believe in your heart. When fear comes, say, «For God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind». When the world says, «You can’t do it». Say, «I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me». Say it. Say it in spite of what you feel. Say it. It’s first in your mouth. «'The word is near you, '» in your mouth first, then in your heart. Even when you say it, you don’t believe it in your heart, keep on saying it because as long as you put it in your mouth, it will go into your heart and then it will come out in your mouth again, amen.
I wanna close with this. Remember that Jesus said speaking, but speaking and prayer go together. Because in Mark 11:23, right after this verse, he says, «Speak and believe and it will happen». By the way, how many times did Jesus say speak? «Verily I say unto you, That whoever shall say,» one time, «to this mountain, 'Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; ' and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe,» believe how many times? One time. «But shall believe that those things which he say,» twice, «shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he say,» three times. Many of us think belief is more important, Jesus is saying three times. He said saying is more important than believing. Why? The more you say, the more you believe.
You see, we all think that belief is more important, but actually it’s saying. Some people are saying, «Well, I believe in my heart». Doesn’t work. Have you told anyone that you are saved, you are a Christian, that Jesus Christ is your Lord? «Never, but I believe in my heart». It doesn’t work that way. «With the mouth confession is made unto salvation,» amen? Okay, go back to, right after this, Jesus says, «Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe you receive them, and you shall have them».
Now watch this, speaking has got to do with praying. It’s a certain kind of prayer. Jesus is saying, I’m going to give you the Greek right now, paraphrase. What things, whatever you desire, a house, healing for your body, deliverance for a loved one from a bad habit. «What things soever you desire, when you pray, be believing that you are receiving, and you shall have». When you are praying, always be believing. Like for example, you pray for this week, «Father in heaven, I pray that you fill this week with so much of your favor, Lord. Thank you, this week is filled with your favor». Be receiving. Be believing, all right. Sometimes it’s not a request, asking, but it’s a declaration in your prayer. God loves it. Are you listening, people?
Be declaring. Father in heaven, I thank you for a wonderful week, Lord. Are you with me? God called you to be a king and a priest. And you know what a king does? A king doesn’t do. A king speaks. When Jesus came, they should have known he was a King in the guise of a servant. 'Cause when he spoke, leprosy left. When he spoke, demons fled. When he spoke, the tree died. When he spoke, even nature obeys. They should have seen the King of all kings. You know why he’s called the King of all kings? He’s not comparing king with all the kings of the earth that is present today. No, he’s the King of all kings. Are you listening church?