Christine Darg notes on 'GREAT FAITH'

Christine Darg notes on 'GREAT FAITH'

The wonderful passage below in Matthew 8:5-10 talks about GREAT FAITH.

"And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."

At least seven ingredients of great faith are in this story.

This Roman centurion was not of the household of faith. He wasn't baptized in the Holy Spirit; he wasn't a member of the synagogue or "church," but nevertheless Jesus ' assessment was that he had GREAT FAITH.
Jesus preached to the Jews. But like the Syrophonecian woman in the Gospels, this Gentile Roman officer had heard about the power! And so he went looking for the power.

(1.) The first step for great faith is to know the source of power.

It's not in your organization or mine. It's not in personalities, religions or creeds. It's in Jesus! Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me."

The world is looking for the one who has the power! And it's your responsibility and mine to introduce them to the One who has the power! Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The source of power, Jesus, is the same yesterday, today and forever.

(2.) Second step to have great faith is to stop asking for yourself and to start asking on behalf of somebody else.

The centurion came asking for somebody else's need (his servant).

You're so busy praying your problem rather than the solution! Your problems are great because you keep reminding yourself they are great! If you're going to have great faith, you're going to start believing for somebody else and your faith will begin to rise.

So great faith is big-hearted and touches God for somebody else. The centurion said, "My servant is at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented." And Jesus said: "I will come and heal him." If your child/spouse is not saved, start praying somebody else's child/spouse will get saved, and God will send somebody to win your family member to the Lord.

(3.) Great faith has great humility.

The centurion said, "I am not worthy." This was not false humility. He was a leader in his ranks but he knew the protocols of the day. . . that he was a Gentile dog coming to ask a favor of a Jewish rabbi! I love Jesus' reaction. He was not too proud. He said immediately that he would come and heal the servant, no problem.

Ministers need to be accessible to the people. God says we are to be servants of all. I could mention the dangers for puffed up preachers. Humble yourself in the sight of God and he will lift you up.

(4.) Understand your authority in the Name of Jesus.

As a man of authority, the centurion understood Jesus' authority: "Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he MARVELLED."

You've got power over illness and disease in Jesus' Name!

Under the New Covenant, you've got much more authority than that centurion had! God has given it unto us. Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke, "Behold, I give you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and nothing shall in any way harm you!"

(5.) Great faith speaks the Word!

The centurion said, "Speak the word only!" Don't waste a lot of time crying and fretting, telling God your hard luck stories, but have the presence of mind to speak the WORD. You're NOT going to speak doubt, you're not going to speak unbelief. You're not going to speak fears and have a prolonged pity party. You're not going to erode your faith by being around people who say all day long, "God can't do this, and God can't do that." But you are going to open your mouth and pray the Word!

We need to be with people of "like precious faith."

Associate with believers who say, "In Jesus' Name you can do it! You can do it!" Stop listening to those around you who say, "You can't! You can't." Well, God has raised YOU up as a member of the Body of Christ and given YOU power and authority.

If people come to you speaking doubt and unbelief, politely show them the Word, and if they won’t believe, love them from a distance. Otherwise, they'll destroy your faith and the works of God.

Here’s a very important faith principle that I learned many years ago from a man of God: Believe that God will honor your faith at all times. Don't ever blame the person you are praying for that he or she doesn’t have enough faith. As soon as you put the blame on the other person, your faith will diminish, and you'll always be looking for other excuses. But if you will say, "God, I should have had more faith. If I had been in the place with You, O God, that I ought to have been, that person would not still be sick and in pain."

Quote the Word: chapter and verse. Like a lawyer building a case, remind the Lord of his promises. Shall not the Judge of the whole earth do right? "God, this is what you said!" And he's not going to fail his Word, for he says not one word of all his promises has ever failed. Quote the Word; it will build your faith, and you will begin to see the evidence.

(6.) Great faith never blames the Lord.

We may fail Him time and time again, but His Word never fails, and I can say with Pilate of old, "I find no fault in Him!" Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke used to say, "If there is any weakness or fault, it is within me and within you, but there is none in Jesus."

(7.) Great faith is not afraid of the "hard cases."

It is up to us to release faith to see the signs and wonders and miracles. Don't be afraid or intimidated to pray for the hard cases. They are only OPPORTUNITIES for God to demonstrate his power.

When you pray for aches and pains, nobody can see them. But when they see somebody healed and restored who has suffered a stroke, who was carried in on a stretcher, etc., blind eyes opened, God receives great glory. Don't worry about what you think is hard: "Which is easier to say: thy sins be forgiven thee, or arise, take up thy bed and walk?"

Let the boldness of a lion, the boldness of the Holy Spirit come upon our lives that we might take a step of faith and command the devil and watch God begin to work.

Don't ever say God hasn't called you and God hasn't anointed you, for God has called us all and he had anointed every believer. Anybody who doesn't believe that God will really heal is foolish to venture to say to somebody, "Come let me pray for you." But know that the Lord is going to honor his Word because of the Great Commission in the 16th chapter of the Gospel of Mark.

A CALL TO BELIEVERS WORLDWIDE: "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" (Isaiah 58: 6)
TAKE PART IN THE FRIDAY FAST AS THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS YOU
By Christine Darg
Early in the morning before the 7/7 London bombings, I could not sleep; I asked the Lord why. He said, "I am calling you to call My Church to corporate fasting on Fridays to contain and to restrain Islamic terrorism."

Later, in confirmation, a Christian Arab in Baghdad wrote to me concerning Islamic terrorism and quoted Jesus in Matthew 17:21: "This kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting."

For many years many of us have been praying and fasting individually for the Muslim world, but now Islam is no longer viewed as a "special interest missions group." The threat of Islamic terrorism has now become the concern of every true worshipper of the God of Israel. In Derek Prince's book, "Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting," he stated that there are some answers we never obtain until we add fasting to our prayers.

Friday is the day that much hatred and rhetoric is fomented by radicals in mosques. The Lord's solemn call to fast and to pray is not intended to extend into the Sabbath day of rest, which begins Friday evening at mealtime. It is intended to consist of afflicting our souls with fasting some time during the day, either breakfast and/or lunch on Fridays, as the Spirit leads, and as a way of humbling ourselves to entreat His mercy corporately.

In Israel, a security fence can deter some terrorism, but in most nations we cannot build a wall to protect ourselves from the terrorist threat within and outside our countries. Nevertheless "The weapons of our warfare are not physical but are mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds." Corporate prayer and fasting can bring victory and delay divine judgments in this time of great peril.

"If My people who are called by My name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7: 14)

This call is not intended to be a "religious" fast. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to participate in this Spiritual Summons during the strategic hours on the Islamic holy day, Fridays-- perhaps forfeit one meal, two meals, perhaps a partial fast. But do participate in the EVERY FRIDAY FAST as often as possible to be a part of this corporate response to Heaven.

"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." (2 Chronicles 16:9)

"Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." (Amos 3: 7)

We humbly implore you not to disregard this call. For many years in Jerusalem some of us have faithfully banded together to pray specifically for the irreversible overthrow of the Pharaoh-like principality that is holding more than a billion souls captive. Therefore this call from Heaven was not given by chance; the Lord says, "Be not distracted nor indulgent but put your hand to this plough of fasting and prayer and you will be numbered among those who stand in the gap and build up My hedge to avert many calamities and disasters."

As you fast, pray:

~ that we will be forgiven for our gross national sins; as we humble ourselves Heaven may decide not to allow the terrorists to scourge us with weapons of mass destruction. God who is plenteous in mercy may leave behind a blessing and stay his Hand on ripe judgments.

If you would like to share in the fast and let us know of your participation, just click this LINK: https://www.olivetree.org/Friday_fast.htm