59_Faith as a Gift.pdf

Volume XV, Issue 4

L EGACY

OF D EREK P RINCE

Faith as a Gift

Faith, as depicted in the New Testament in its various aspects, always agrees with the

definition given in Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction

of things not seen.” Yet the essential nature of faith expresses itself in distinct but related

forms: 1) faith to live by; 2) faith as a gift; and 3) faith as a fruit.

n this teaching, we will examine the second category—

the nature of faith as a gift.

is invisible. But when these gifts operate through a believer,

the presence of the Holy Spirit is made manifest to human

senses—and the results can be seen, heard or felt.

Since these gifts are manifestations, not of the believer’s

personality but of the Person of the Holy Spirit within the

believer, all of them are supernatural in character. In every

case, the results they produce are on a higher level than we

believers could ever achieve solely by our own ability,

possible only through direct, supernatural operation of the

Holy Spirit. By these gifts, and through the believer, the Holy

Spirit emerges from the invisible spiritual realm to make

direct impact upon the physical world of space and time.

Paul establishes two important practical points concern-

ing these gifts. First, they are distributed solely at the

discretion of the Holy Spirit, according to His sovereign

purpose for each believer. Human will or achievement are

not the basis for receiving these spiritual gifts. Secondly, they

are given “to each one...for the common good” —for a useful,

practical purpose. As Bob Mumford has said, the gifts of the

Spirit are tools, not toys.

It has often been pointed out that these nine gifts fall

naturally into three groups of three:

The Nature of Spiritual Gifts

In 1 Corinthians 12 on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Paul

opens the chapter with: “Now concerning spiritual gifts,

brethren, I do not want you to be unaware.” Then in verses 7–11

he lists nine distinct gifts:

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the

common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through

the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to

the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to

another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the

effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another

the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues,

and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the

same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one

individually just as He wills.

The key word for the distinctive nature of these gifts is

manifestation . The Holy Spirit Himself, dwelling in a believer,

T HE T EACHING

Volume XV, Issue 4

Three gifts of utterance —gifts that

operate through the believer’s vocal

organs: prophecy, tongues, and inter-

pretation of tongues.

Three gifts of revelation —gifts that

impart spiritual illumination: the word

of wisdom, the word of knowledge,

and distinguishing of spirits.

Three gifts of power —gifts that

demonstrate God’s supernatural power

in the physical realm: faith, the gifts of

healing, and the effecting of miracles.

eternal nature. Through the gift of

faith, the Holy Spirit imparts a portion

of God’s faith directly and supernat-

urally to the believer. This is faith on a

divine level, as high above mere

human faith as heaven is above earth.

In saying, “Have God’s faith,” Jesus

challenged His disciples to receive and

exercise this kind of faith, just as He

Himself had done. He went on to tell

them that with faith of this kind they

would be able to accomplish much:

“Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and

do not doubt, you shall not only do what

was done to the fig tree, but even if you

say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and

cast into the sea,’ it shall happen”

(Matthew 21:21).

In Mark 11:23 Jesus speaks of this

faith not merely to the disciples then

present, but by using the word

whoever , He extends His promise to all

believers: “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 shall be granted him.”

Jesus sets no limit to the scope of this

kind of faith. The phrases He uses are

all-inclusive: “Whoever says . . . what he

says . . . shall be granted him.” There is

no restriction as to the person who

speaks or the words spoken. All that

matters is the nature of the faith: it

must be God’s own faith.

In Luke 8:22–25 as Jesus and His

disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee in a

boat, they were suddenly overtaken by

an unnaturally violent storm. The

disciples awakened Jesus, who was

asleep in the stern, saying, “Master,

Master, we are perishing!” The record

continues, “And being aroused, He

rebuked the wind and the surging waves,

and they stopped, and it became calm.”

Obviously, the faith Jesus exercised

here was not on the human level.

Normally the winds and the waters are

not under man’s control. But at the

moment of need Jesus received a

special impartation of God’s own faith.

Then, by a word spoken with that

faith, He accomplished what otherwise

only God alone could have done—the

instantaneous calming of the storm.

Afterward, Jesus asked His

disciples, “Where is your faith?” In other

words, “Why couldn’t you have done

that instead of Me?” Wouldn’t it have

been just as easy for the disciples to

calm the storm as it was for Him—if

they had exercised the right kind of

faith? But in the moment of crisis, the

storm aroused fear in the disciples’

hearts, thus excluding faith. Jesus, on

the other hand, opened His heart to

the Father and received from Him the

supernatural gift of faith needed to

deal with the storm.

“Have God’s Faith”

The gift of faith is the first of the

three gifts of power. It is distinguished

from the other forms of faith by the

fact that it is a sovereign, supernatural

manifestation of the Holy Spirit

working through the believer.

In Matthew 21 and Mark 11 we

read how Jesus, on His way into

Jerusalem with His disciples, came to a

fig tree by the wayside. Jesus was

seeking fruit. When He found that the

tree contained no fruit, He pro-

nounced a curse upon it, saying, “May

no one ever eat fruit from you again!”

(Mark 11:14). Next day, passing the

same tree, the disciples were aston-

ished to see that, within 24 hours, it

had withered. “Rabbi, behold,” Peter

commented, “the fig tree which You

cursed has withered” (Mark 11:21), to

which Jesus replied, “Have faith in God”

(verse 22). This is the normal English

translation. However, what Jesus said,

in its most literal form, was, “Have

God’s faith.” The special kind of faith

we are speaking of here is faith that is

a gift. It has its origin in God, not in

man—it is an aspect of God’s own

Quality, Not Quantity

Soon after, Jesus confronted a storm

of a different kind—a boy in full

epileptic seizure. Jesus dealt with this

storm as He had the one on the Sea of

Galilee. He spoke an authoritative

word of faith that drove the evil spirit

out of the boy. When His disciples

asked why they had failed, Jesus told

them plainly, “Because of the littleness of

your faith.” Then He went on to say, “If

you have faith as a mustard seed, you

shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from

here to there,’ and it shall move; and

nothing shall be impossible to you”

the teaching legacy of derek prince | dpm archive

Volume XV, Issue 4

(Matthew 17:20).

Jesus here uses a mustard seed as a

measure of quantity. Matthew 13:32

tells us a mustard seed is “smaller than

all other seeds.” Jesus is reminding us it

is not the quantity of faith that matters,

but the quality. A mustard seed of this

kind of faith is sufficient to move a

mountain!

Near the climax of His earthly

ministry, outside the tomb of Lazarus,

Jesus once more demonstrated the

power of words spoken with this kind

of faith. He cried out with a loud voice,

“Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43). This

brief command, energized by super-

natural faith, caused a man who was

both dead and buried to come walking

out of his tomb, alive and well.

This kind of faith is found in the act

of creation itself: “By the word of the

L ORD the heavens were made, and by the

breath [literally, Spirit] of His mouth all

their host. . . . For He spoke, and it was

done; He commanded, and it stood fast”

(Psalm 33:6, 9). God’s spoken word,

energized by His Spirit, was the

effective agent in all creation.

When the gift of faith is in

operation, a man becomes, for a time,

the channel of God’s own faith. The

person who speaks is not of primary

importance—the faith is! If it is God’s

own faith at work, it is equally effective

whether the words are spoken through

directly by God or uttered by the

power of the Spirit through the mouth

of a human believer. When a believer

operates with this divine faith, his

words are just as effective as if God

Himself had spoken them.

In all these examples, supernatural

faith was expressed through a spoken

word. By a spoken word Jesus caused

the fig tree to wither, calmed the

storm, cast the evil spirit out of the

epileptic boy and called Lazarus out of

the tomb. In Mark 11:23 He extended

this promise to any word spoken in

faith when He said, “Whoever says...

what he says . . . shall be granted him.”

Sometimes a word spoken in prayer

becomes the channel for the gift of

faith. In James 5:15 we are told that

“the prayer of faith * will restore the one

who is sick.” Is there any doubt as to the

effect of the prayer described here? Its

results are guaranteed. Prayer with this

kind of God-given faith is irresistible.

Neither sickness nor any other

condition contrary to God’s will can

stand against it.

As an example of “the prayer of

faith,” James refers to Elijah, who by

his prayer first withheld all rain for

three and a half years, and then caused

rain to fall again (James 5:17–18).

Scripture is clear that the giving and

withholding of rain is a divine

prerogative, exercised by God Himself

(see Deuteronomy 11:13–17; Jeremiah

5:24; 14:22). Yet for three and a half

years Elijah exercised this prerogative

on God’s behalf. James emphasizes that

Elijah was “a man with a nature like

ours” —a human being just like the rest

of us. But so long as he prayed with

God’s faith, the words he uttered were

as effective as God’s own decrees.

Faith of this kind need not operate

only through a spoken word. It was

this kind of supernatural faith that

enabled Jesus to walk on the stormy

Sea of Galilee (see Matthew 14:25–33).

He did not need to speak; He merely

walked out over the water. When Peter

followed the example of Jesus and

exercised the same kind of faith, he

was able to do exactly what Jesus was

doing—that is, until he looked away

from Jesus to the waves—and his faith

deserted him and he began to sink!

Jesus’ reproof is very illuminating.

“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

(Matthew 14:31). Jesus did not

reprove Peter for wanting to walk on

the water, but for losing faith halfway.

Don Basham has pointed out that there

is a divine urge implanted in every

human heart to step out in super-

natural faith and walk on a plane

above the level of our own ability.

Since God Himself placed this urge in

man, He does not reprove us for it. On

the contrary, He is willing to give us

the faith that will enable us to do it. He

is only disappointed when we do not

hold long enough to this kind of faith.

God Retains the Initiative

When supernatural faith is given in a

specific situation to meet a specific

need, it remains under God’s direct

control, for it is God’s own faith. He

gives it or withholds it at His discretion.

Faith is like all other supernatural gifts,

concerning which Paul says, “But one

and the same Spirit works all these things,

distributing to each one individually just as

He wills” (1 Corinthians 12:11). That

key phrase at the end— “just as He

wills” —means God Himself determines

when and to whom He will impart each

of these gifts. The initiative is with God,

not with man.

This was true even in the ministry

of Jesus Himself. He did not curse

every fruitless fig tree, nor still every

* This is the literal translation given in the margin.

the teaching legacy of derek prince | dpm archive

Volume XV, Issue 4

tempest, nor call every dead man out

of His tomb, nor always walk on the

water. Jesus was careful to leave the

initiative in the hands of His Father. In

John 5:19 He said, “The Son can do

nothing of Himself, unless it is something

He sees the Father doing; for whatever the

Father does, these things the Son also does

in like manner.” (See also John 14:10.)

Always the initiative was with the

Father.

We must learn to be as reverent and

as careful in our relationship to the

Father as Jesus was. The gift of faith is

not ours to command, nor is it

intended to satisfy our personal whims

or ambitions. It is made available at

God’s discretion to accomplish ends

that originate in God’s own eternal

purposes. We cannot, and must not,

wrest the initiative from God.

Pictured as a “mustard seed,” the

gift of faith is similar to two of the

revelation gifts—the word of wisdom

and word of knowledge. Wisdom is

directive; knowledge is informative.

Fortunately for us, God, who has all

wisdom and all knowledge does not

burden us with all of it. But in a

situation where we need direction, He

supernaturally provides a “word” of

wisdom—just one little “mustard seed”

out of His total store of wisdom. Or

when we need information, He

provides a “word” of knowledge—a

little “mustard seed” out of His total

store of knowledge.

So it is with the gift of faith. God has

all faith, but He does not impart it all to

us. In given situations, where we need

faith on a higher level than our own,

God provides a “mustard seed” out of

His own total store.

Equipment for Evangelism

operating through him. In the gift of

faith, the Holy Spirit temporarily

imparts to us a portion of God’s own

faith—faith on a divine level, far above

the human. Rather than the quantity,

the quality matters, wherein a “mustard

seed” of this kind of faith is sufficient to

move a mountain.

The gift of faith often operates

through a spoken word (sometimes

spoken in prayer) by which Jesus

caused a fig tree to wither, calmed a

storm, drove out evil spirits, and called

Lazarus to life. It was this kind of faith

that enabled Jesus—and Peter—to walk

on the stormy waves.

God has implanted in man an urge

to exercise this kind of faith and He

does not reprove us for doing so. As

Jesus demonstrated, the initiative must

always be left with God. May we always

be obedient to Jesus’ challenge in Mark

11:22, “Have faith in God,” and wisely

and effectively utilize the gift of faith.

Adapted from the New Wine

article entitled “Faith as a Gift.”

From another point of view, as we

have seen earlier, the gift of faith is

associated with the other two gifts of

power: the gifts of healing and the

effecting of miracles. In practice, the

gift of faith often serves as a catalyst to

bring the other two gifts into opera-

tion. We see this in the ministry of

Philip in Acts 8:5–7:

And Philip went down to the city of

Samaria and began proclaiming

Christ to them. And the multitudes

with one accord were giving atten-

tion to what was said by Philip, as

they heard and saw the signs which

he was performing. For in the case

of many who had unclean spirits,

they were coming out of them

shouting with a loud voice; and

many who had been paralyzed and

lame were healed.

In the first phase of ministry, Philip

cast out evil spirits. As with Jesus in

Matthew 17:17–20 and elsewhere, he

did so by the spoken word through the

exercise of the gift of faith. In the

second phase of Philip’s ministry the

two associated gifts of healings and

miracles came into operation. As a

result, miracles were performed and the

paralyzed and the lame were healed.

For further study, we recom-

mend Derek Prince’s CD

message:

Gifts of Power: The

Gift of Faith

We are making this material available to

you at no charge. Just use the enclosed

reply slip to request your copy.

Reproduction of articles from

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tribution is permitted. To

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encouragement by e-mail,

subscribe at derekprince.org.

Summary

In summary, we see that the gift of

faith is one of nine gifts of the Holy

Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7–11), each a

supernatural manifestation of the Holy

Spirit, dwelling in a believer and

Derek Prince Ministries

P.O. Box 19501

Charlotte, NC 28219

704.357.3556

www.derekprince.org

TL074

the teaching legacy of derek prince | dpm archive

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