The Power of Unbelief
Question: Why is it that many churches do not operate in the full power of the Holy Ghost to heal, deliver and set free? Why is the full manifestation of the Holy Ghost not expected?
I have seen many people come into church afflicted with sickness, disease and demons and leave church Sunday after Sunday still afflicted. I remembered a few years ago fervently praying for the healing of a young boy who cried out in a service, as the pastor preached the child cried out in a fit, it was so bad, I felt compelled to go and pray for him but nothing happened. I have prayed for a dog and it was instantly healed, and I know God values that child over any animal, so what happened?
I have asked God this question over and over again, Lord Why? What happened to the power of the anointing in the church? The power of the Holy Ghost operating through your saints, why does it seem like it’s a hit and miss? I pondered this for years to no satisfaction. When I prayed for that child I truly believed that God could and would do something, but it seemed that me just asking was not enough to make a difference and I have seen this same result many times over when prayer went up in the church for the afflicted. Now, understand, I believe the Bible, I believe that God will answer me when I pray, no matter what I prayed, but there seems to be something more to it than just simply asking. I had the faith, now do I believe that God can do it. I knew I had faith then, and surely I must believe that He could do it then, but nothing happened. John 14 lets us know the importance of believing right before asking.
John 14: 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
A few months ago as I brought this once again before the Lord, I was reminded of an instance where Christ could do NO mighty work.
Mark 6: 1-6, focus 4-6
4 But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.5 And He could there do no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.
The Lord revealed to me two things, nothing was wrong with the power, Christ had the power of the Holy Ghost at His disposal, after all it is His power; however something was different with the people/environment in which He was operating in. We know that the power of Faith can move mountains, but do you know The power of unbelief can also turn that mountain into a force that SEEMS unmovable even by God. We know that nothing is impossible for God, yet here in Mark 6, we see that the power of unbelief was a great barrier that even the Savior could do no mighty work because of it. Granted the power was still there because the scriptures says He laid His hands on a Few sick people and healed them
.
So what caused Christ to not do mighty works at that time? We know the people who knew Christ as a boy, already had their opinions formed on who He is or was to be and although they knew that He was different from what they expected, they refused to accept it, they refused to believe what was before them, they were offended by Him. If I do not believe you can help me, if I am offended by you, I will not come to you for help. It could be that due to the atmosphere, the people were just unwilling to submit themselves to Christ despite what they saw because they knew Him as the carpenter’s son. I would conjecture that maybe the few people that did get healed was desperate and did not care what anyone thought they just wanted to be whole.
As I asked and studied and tried getting an understanding of what went wrong, I realized that I must look at my faith and what I believed. What is faith? What is belief?
Faith defined, complete trust or confidence in someone or something. (Miriam Webster)
Hebrews 11:1 - NOW Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen
Belief defined, trust, faith or confidence in someone or something, an acceptance that statement is true or that something exists. (Miriam Webster)
The definitions seems to be the same, so why is there a distinction between faith and belief?
So, it would seem that you can have faith that something can or will happen but if it is not coupled with right believing then the expected result is as such.
John 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom he hath sent.
Matthew 17:19-21
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
In this instance, the people’s expectation of Christ was not of one that could heal, deliver or set free, but one of a carpenter, they could not receive what they did not expect or believe Him capable of giving despite what they saw or heard. They already made up in their minds that He should not be more that what they expected and was thus offended by Him being something else
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
As we can see, each of us saved or unsaved are given a measure of faith by God, however the choice to believe or not is our own. Believing goes beyond pure desire, it will cause you to expect the unexpected even when you do not see or know how it is to be done and go after it. Elements of a miracle rich environment, faith, which we all have a measure, belief, strong desire, humility and obedience. Although a combination of these elements were present when Christ healed, they were not present in all situations. An important point to make, Christ said we must fast and pray, because there are simply some problems (demons) that just do not go away simply because we command it to. What we do or do not believe is very important in receiving our deliverance
James 5: 16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
I encourage you create an environment with and expectation to receive all you desire by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the word of God or the man or woman of God. Do not let your pride and unbelief hinder you or anyone from receiving their healing and deliverance. Let there be an expectation in your heart to see God do the impossible NOW.
