Faith is not about getting what we want

Many times people go wrong in knowing God's ways by misunderstanding verses in the Bible. Because of the way the Bible was written by different authors at different times, we need to be careful about interpreting it. He.11:1 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Mk.11:23 says, "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him." People take these verses to mean that they can ask God for whatever they want, and as long as they believe that God is going to give them, they will receive them!

But let us look at a practical example. Abraham and his wife were too old to have children. But one day God told them that He would give them a son. They believed what God said, because it was God they were dealing with, and finally they received a son. Suppose someone reads this in the Bible and starts believing that God is going to give them also a son, is that going to happen? The problem is that God has not told them that, as He did for Abraham. If God told them anything, they too could believe and finally receive it.

Our belief or faith must have a foundation, either facts or God's promises. So the Bible tells us that we can have genuine faith when God tells us about what is going to happen (Ro.10:17). It would be silly for us to imagine that we can just 'start believing' and it will happen! We are not God, are we, and so how can we imagine that our belief has power to make things happen? Many people misunderstand Pr.18:21 as if it says we have that power (Pr.18:21)! But it is just a proverb using figurative language to warn us to be careful about what we speak.

Faith, in the true Biblical sense, is to place our trust in God (He.11:6). When we know who God is, and what He is like, then we believe what He says and show our faith by doing what He tells us. Many people say they have faith in God, but they are not careful to obey Him. That actually shows that they don't really know who He is and their so-called faith is just some thoughts about Him. Jesus said very clearly that the test of our love for Him is obedience (Jn.14:21).

Now we can understand that a lot of people are deceiving themselves about their faith in God, thinking that having faith is just a means for getting things from God. They don't really know God personally. They are not even 'saved' because they have not repented before God from their sins and turned to follow Jesus in obedience to Him. Imagine thinking that they believe in God and so everything will be right with God, only to find out in eternity that they didn't even know Him. Imagine selfishly choosing to believe in God for all the benefits, without ever learning to submit to Him! This is the difference between a religious belief in God and personal faith. The consequences of understanding this are eternal.