Fear Is Faith In Reverse
Faith is the substance of things desired. There is power in faith, in believing. Jesus told the centurion, “Go, as you have believed it will be done for you. And the slave was healed at that hour.” (Matthew 8:13 LEB)
Believing is not something you always like to do, or always feel like doing. It’s a decision you make.
Just as faith is a powerful force, there is also a force opposed to faith called fear. Fear is the reverse gear of faith. It is actually faith in the devil’s ability to eliminate your faith.
If faith is the substance of things desired, then fear is the substance of things not desired.
The reason someone fears a thing is because they believe in its manifestation. So we could say worry is believing in the manifestation of the thing they worry about.
Fear Draws Trouble
If we don’t stop or control fear, it will bring the very thing that we don’t desire. Job is a classic example of this. Notice his statements: “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes.” (Job 3:25-26)
Job rehearsed his fears until he greatly feared. Though he was in safety, he didn’t believe it. The very accusation that satan brought against God was: “You’ve hedged him about on every side, and I can’t get to him.” I can just see God standing there, grinning, saying to Himself, “Yes, I did.”
God said to satan, “Have you observed My servant, Job?” or “Have you set your eye on My servant, Job?”
Satan had set his eye on Job, but God didn’t say He was going to turn him over to satan. Satan made a request, but God didn’t honor that request. He did say, “He’s in your power.” (The footnote says in your hands.)
But God didn’t put Job there; he was already in the power of his hands because fear tore the hedge down.
Growing Fear Nullifies Faith
Job said, “The thing I’ve greatly feared has come upon me.” There is no doubt that Job had great faith at one time, but he lost confidence in faith through fear.
When you speak your fears, they will grow and nullify your faith. You can’t keep the devil from bringing thoughts of doubt and fear to your mind, but those thoughts will die unborn if you don’t speak them.
Paul’s advice in Romans 12:21 was: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Your fear-filled words give the enemy the license to operate.
You can either give God or the devil the authority to operate by your words. Your faith-filled words give God the authority to move on your situation in life.(Mark 11: 23-24)
We know that faith is the substance of things desired. On the other hand, fear gives substance to things not desired. So when you talk fear, doubt and unbelief, your words are speaking into existence the things you don’t desire. When you first say them, you may not realize the power of your words. But the more you speak it, the more it grips you – the more that force multiplies in you. Just as faith comes by hearing, fear also comes by hearing the wrong things.
Jesus said in Matthew 12: 34-35: “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”
Evil Report
or Good Report
It seems that God calls an evil report anything that doesn’t agree with His Word. You can read it in the book of Numbers, chapter 13. The ten spies brought back an evil report.
The report they brought back was what they saw, what they felt, and what they heard. That’s not always an evil report; it depends on what God said about it. The reason that was considered an evil report was because God said the exact opposite.
An evil report is anything that doesn't agree with God's Word
When we speak contrary to the known Word of God, we have spoken an evil report. It doesn’t necessarily mean that a person has to be wicked or evil to do that. It could be a deceived Christian. Jesus seems to be saying it’s a two-way street.
Whatever is deposited in your heart will produce. Whether it’s good or evil, it will eventually come out of your mouth and produce after its kind.
You may make negative statements and not even believe it at first. But if you continue to speak them they will eventually produce evil fruit in your life.
In Romans 10:17 Paul is speaking specifically of faith in God and in His Word: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The opposite of that statement would be: Faith in the devil comes by hearing the words of the devil and giving voice to them. Faith in the devil is perverted faith, which we call fear.
Shield of Faith or Doubt
The Apostle Paul said, “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” (Ephesians 6:16)
You are able to do it. The opposite end of that truth is that you can take the shield of doubt and quench all the blessings of God. Remember that Jesus said on more than one occasion, “As you have believed so be it done unto you.”
It is a fact from God’s Word that if you take the shield of faith you can quench all that the enemy brings against you. Then it must also be true that you can take the shield of doubt and quench all the blessings of God – and many have.
What they are saying is producing fear. Their own words are producing the very thing they don’t want to happen.
I had always thought that the shield of faith was just a figure of speech, but as I was praying in the spirit one day, the Spirit of God said this to me: “When you speak God’s Word it produces an aura around you.” The shield of faith is like a spiritual Plexiglas™ canopy that encircles an individual and moves with him to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
You build and strengthen that shield, or you weaken it, by the words you speak. If you speak fear, it insulates you and stops the blessings. Fear-filled words will produce more fear and attract evil forces, which the devil will use to quench the blessings of God.
Sometimes people say, “I don’t understand these people going around saying their needs are met according to His riches in glory, or saying they have abundance, when I know for a fact that their rent’s due and they don’t have the money. I believe they’re just lying.”
No, they are speaking their faith. They are calling things that are not as though they were. (2 Corinthians 4:13, 1 Corinthians 1:27-28, Luke 6:38) If you have been obedient to the Word of God, and have given, the Bible says it is given to you – good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. That’s not necessarily talking about what God gives to you. It is referring to you having favor with others. It says, “Men shall give unto you.”
If you go to buy a car, the dealer may give you the best deal in town and not know why he did it. But the Word says, … he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. (2 Corinthians 9:6) By speaking the promise out of your mouth, you implant that promise within your spirit. It becomes a part of you.
There are so many Christians who know the Word, but don’t have any confidence in their faith. They always want someone else to pray the prayer of faith for them.
One of the keys to having confidence in your faith is confessing God’s Word until it becomes a part of you.
The words that come out of your mouth have more effect on your spirit than the words of others.
Faith Is The Victory
“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...” (Romans 10:8) “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
Faith in God’s Word comes more quickly by hearing your voice speak what God said. Faith in the devil comes by hearing yourself give voice to what the devil said.
The Apostle John wrote, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
(1 John 5:4)
Faith is the victory that overcomes the world, and that victory comes through faith in the Word of God which abides in you. “If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7 AMP)
When the Word of God abides in you, you have faith. I’m not referring to head faith; I’m referring to heart faith. When the Word becomes a part of you, every time lack shows its head, the first thing out of your mouth will be, “I have abundance, my God has met my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
You should resist pain in your body when it first starts. Resist it the way you resist the devil. That is with the Word of God.
Faith is the victory. But just because you have faith does not necessarily mean you are going to operate in that faith. It could be in you and be dormant or passive. You must have enough confidence in your faith to act on it.
Resist Pain like you Resist the devil
So many people have faith in someone else’s faith. They always want others to pray the prayer of faith for them, and they never develop faith in their own prayers.
You had to have faith to be born again. The Word of God was the source of that faith. God gave you His Word; you received it as truth and acted accordingly. Salvation was the result of your faith in action.(Romans 10:9-10)
But faith won’t do anything for you if you don’t put action to it. A person can go to a grocery store with money in his billfold. The money will give substance to things he hopes for. But if he is not willing to release some of it, he won’t be taking any groceries home. He must act on what he knows to do by releasing part of his money if he is to take the goods. Faith is the substance of what he hopes for, but it must be released to possess it.
It is through faith in God’s Word and acting on what we believe that we overcome the problems of life. Faith in God causes the Greater One (Jesus) to live big in us.
“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:23) “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
According to John, we have already overcome the antichrist, the world, the flesh, and the devil because the Greater One is in the born again believer.
Speaking God’s Word after Him will cause you to have faith in His Word. Speaking the promise as though it were already yours will cause you to have confidence in the faith you received from the Word.
Put your faith in God’s ability to deliver you, bless you, heal you and prosper you. Choose to believe His Word over the words of the enemy that bring fear.
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For more on this subject, check out this 3 part teaching by Charles Capps in CD or M3 format.
