Did you know there are different kinds of faith referred to in the New Testament?
- The faith that comes by hearing the voice and Word of God. – Romans 10:17
- The faith that is essential for salvation aka “saving faith” as in Romans 4:5. – Ephesians 2:8
- God has dealt to us a measure of this kind of faith. – Romans 12:3
- The faithfulness that’s a fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is a continuing quiet trust and dependability. – Galatians 5:22
- Then there is the gift of faith which is one of the 9 gifts of the Spirit. – 1 Corinthians 12:9
In this blog post, we are focusing on the Gift of Faith because we want you to know that there are some major differences between the fruit of faith in Galatians 5:22 and the gift of faith described in 1 Corinthians 12:9.
Differences Between Faith and the Gift of Faith
The fruit of faith comes forth gradually being cultivated and nurtured within us as we live the Christian life in the Spirit. The gift of faith is received by an act of God providing a miraculous level of faith at a specific time, in a specific place, or for a specific situation.
1 Corinthians 12:9 says it’s a gift given as a portion of God’s total supernatural faith that’s imparted to us by the Holy Spirit. It’s applied under God’s control and then it’s up to us to receive it as a gift, to open it up, and operate it within the context it was provided for. This type of faith has some similarities to the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom. It often flows together with these gifts as well.
See, God’s faith brought the whole universe into existence just by speaking (see Genesis 1:3 and Psalm 33:6). This tiny mustard seed of the gift of faith given to us by God can be mountain moving (see Matthew 17:20 and 1 Corinthians 13:2)! If we have been given this supernatural impartation, a word spoken with this kind of faith is as powerful and effective as if God spoke it Himself.
How Does the Gift of Faith Operate?
There are so many things I could share in how this gift operates, but it’s primarily a faith that comes upon a person to perform incredible miracles. It can also be used to operate in other situations where an individual needs some sort of breakthrough immediately.
For example, you may have experienced some breakthroughs with healing when you’ve prayed for people, but now you are ministering to someone who needs a creative miracle or an “act of God” to bust through their situation.
On the other hand, there have been testimonies of people receiving supernatural strength to lift a car off someone single-handedly after an accident. This type of act of faith goes far beyond ordinary human capabilities and understanding.
There are also testimonies of how someone prayed and saw an eyeball appear in someone’s eye socket, which only had had a glass eye there previously.
Characteristics of the Gift of Faith
This mountain leveling faith takes us out and beyond our own reasoning, inabilities and fear and moves us to a place of extreme faith and confidence. When the gift of faith is present, no matter what someone is facing, there will be a supernatural invasion of God’s power and grace causing you and others to see a major miracle come to pass. It just requires us to open the gift and to operate in it from God’s own perspective.
A Personal Example
I can distinctively remember a key situation of the gift of faith arising in my own life. This instance occurred when Sue and I, in our early 40s, were students going through Bible college here in the US. It occurred after we had given everything up for the call of God. We had just moved to the US with our 2 young children and our 2 dogs.
We could not work due to our visa status and had no way of producing income. However, we had twice as many monthly expenses than we had had in the UK when I had my own business. So, here we were with zero income and thousands of dollars needed every month to pay for mortgages and bills in the UK, plus rent, and all the other expenses we had here in the US.
How did we manage?
Well, we had an amazing friend named Vicki from Canada who felt she needed to pray for the gift of faith for us as we were sinking big time on so many levels! From that point on, after she prayed, everything started to change! Although her prayer activated the change in an instance, the supply and provision wasn’t provided instantly. Instead, we had to walk through 3 years of this lifestyle. But, from that point on, we walked it out experiencing so many amazing miracles; it was incredible! Sue even wrote a book about it, entitled Just Stand.
Wrapping It Up
So, as you can see, this gift of faith can come forth in any circumstance if we allow Him to have His way. It only requires that we accept it when He bestows this gift upon us and for the reason it is needed to be opened and activated.