Many Christians know that the word of the Lord is powerful and that it has a direct, absolute effect on all who hear and believe the word —but it becomes bothersome when the believer doesn’t see the effect of the word in his/her life.
For example; a believer is praying for heart purity and he has read in the Bible where it is written that it is God’s will that all believers get sanctified. [1 Thess 4:3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification…” NKJV] But it appears that inasmuch as he has been praying laying hold on that word, it seems that no change is yet evident in his heart.
Hence the question: What is wrong here? Is the word ineffective or is the Believer not believing enough?
Sure enough we know that the word of God is true and that all scripture is written by inspiration of God, and are profitable for all the needs of the believer. But do we now thereby suggest that the believer is missing something?
Well, this being a pertinent issue, I trust the Lord to provide a true answer to this question.
There is a Bible passage which I’ll anchor on, and which I believe has the answer to this question.
Rom 10:8-13
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
NKJV
By God’s Grace the above scripture has ministered to me a lot, and more importantly on this subject. Sometime ago, I was earnestly waiting on the Lord for the experience of heart cleansing, but it appeared that the more I prayed and fasted, the farther the experience seemed to me. But a clear illumination of this passage made me receive that which I sought.
Now, let’s look at the above scripture which begins in verse 8, and I love the way it the Apostle starts it: “But what does it say”, bringing in a question; what does the Scripture say about this subject matter? This is a reminder that the scripture remains the basic and final authority of all God’s dealing with man, and this terminates any reason for the believer to base his faith on any word that is contrary to the scriptures.
We go ahead and we read “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
Now, Believer it is very important you know that the word of God when it comes into you either by reading or by hearing is meant to be stored up in your heart first, before it can be beneficial to you.
Remember the parable of the sower by our Lord, and you can recall that the first faulty heart that He noted was the heart by the way side which couldn’t retain the word, but allowed it to get carried away.
Hence, we see that receiving the word is one thing but putting it into practice and retaining it becomes another. And how can the hearer of the word not be a forgetful hearer?
Retention of the word of God is a function of the mindset and approach one has to it. And the basic rule to approaching God’s word remains accepting the scriptures to be The Manual that has the absolute say over all creation. This approach is ever effective because just as a person will turn to the user manual of his or her equipment to obtain an answer for a matter that he/she lacks proper understanding about, so likely is the believer who knows the Bible to be his life’s manual to refer always to it for all the answers he desires in his life.
When the word of God has then been stored in the Believer’s heart, he can now confess it with his mouth to meet his life’s need.
Now verses 9, 10 and 11 are the main verses that proffer the answer that we need. And they read;
9 That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
When one must have passed the two stages stated above, he now arrives to the all important stage which has the capacity to now transform the word to Rhema, which is the active living word. And this all encompassing stage is: “believing – in the heart”.
First, we need to realize that there is a clear difference between believing in the head and believing in the heart. Most times, many of us only get to believe the word in the head which is what we know as “head knowledge”. And, effect of head knowledge is only limited to faithless proclamation of the word.
The person who has head knowledge can preach, teach and share his knowledge of the word of God, but the effect of it never gets past the effect of the normal books one reads. At most, the head knowledge believer tries to employ his human strength to make the word work for him, but he always fails in this attempt.
Contrariwise, believing in the heart is when the word of God has encapsulated the whole man; and his whole being now knows and affirms that every word of God in Him are yea and amen, and that for each of them he lays hold on, he will receive a fulfillment of it.
So how does one believe in the heart?
1. By meditating on the scriptures.
Josh 1:8-9
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
NKJV
1 Tim 4:15-16
15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
NKJV
2. By having an unwavering faith in God and on His word.
James 1:6-7
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
NKJV
To sum this all up, the Lord promises that none of them who believe on him will be put to shame. Therefore be assured believer that as you hope on God to meet you in your point of need, He won’t fail you but rather he will ensure that all your good heart desires are met – so far as you believe in your heart with a Faith that is unwavering.
Now verses 12 and 13 go ahead to assure you that God doesn’t mind your ethnicity of race; but that he will duly accomplish His word to all according to their faith.
So believer, the word of God is all open to you, ever ready to meet you in your point of need, and the Lord who promised you that you’ll receive whatever you ask and find whatever you seek (in His name) has not changed and never will. Don’t lose heart therefore, hold on to God in steadfast hope, believing in your heart and He will never allow you to be ashamed.
God bless you richly.
