Mark 11:22

“So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have faith in God.’” (NKJV)

Have faith.

You only have to stand in the grocery check-out line once or twice, reading the magazine headlines, to know that “having faith” is a big deal these days. Prayer and faith are popular topics for magazines. It can almost convince you that Christianity is on the rise in America. Here is a quote that I found from a website on the Internet:

“When you live in faith you not only have greater momentum toward your goal, you not only streamline your life and are relieved of many inner conflicts, but some amazing transformations in your daily life or career often happen.”

This sounds very similar to things I’ve read in a number of Christian books. The problem is, this quote come from TheMystic.org, a completely New Age website. It has absolutely nothing at all to do with Christianity. In fact, the Internet is full of websites that tout the power of faith, many of which even use scripture to support their position! The problem is, the Bible doesn’t teach the power of faith (or the power of prayer). The Bible teaches that power comes from God and God alone. The Lord Jesus taught us to have faith in God! The power, then, doesn’t come from either faith or prayer, but from God! He is the power, the only power.

The Lord Jesus taught us that false prophets would come with the express purpose of deceiving people (Matthew 24:11). The Greek word used here can mean “religious imposter” (Strong’s G5578). That goes back to Matthew 7:15 where the Lord Jesus also warned about false prophets, calling them wolves in sheep’s clothing. Now, there are many out there, particularly since the advent of the Internet, who would like to “identify” the false prophets due to doctrinal differences. But the Lord Jesus told us to identify them by their fruit (the same word used in fruit of the Spirit). One of the fruit of the Spirit is pistis which is translated in the KJV as “faith.” Strong’s tells us that it also means “reliance on Christ for salvation” (Strong’s G4102). In other words, pistis also points us, not to faith, but to Christ.

Always and always, God.

As Christians, the only power that we have comes from having faith in God, praying to God. Our faith, our prayers avail nothing without God.

© 2010 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.