HEART FAITH AND ITS MENTAL ASSENT

Many people see what God’s Word says and they agree mentally that God’s Word is true. But they are just agreeing with their minds. But mental agreement with the Word is not what gets the job done. It is heart faith that receives from God. That is why the Bible says, “For with the HEART man BELIEVETH…” (Rom. 10:10).
Jesus talked about believing with the heart in Mark 11:23.

MARK 11:23
23 … whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his HEART, but shall believe [in his heart] that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Notice that the Bible never said one word about doubting in one’s head. You can have doubt in your head and still have faith in your heart. But it is believing in your heart that will cause you to receive from God. People ask, “How can I tell whether I have faith in my heart or whether I’m just believing mentally in my head?” You can tell because mental agreement or mental assent says, “I know God’s Word is true. I know God promises me healing and the answer to my prayer [or whatever it is you need], but for some reason I can’t get it. I can’t understand it! Why then don’t I have the answer to my petition!”

Folks who say that are just in mental assent, not in real Bible faith or heart faith. Faith – real faith in God’s Word says, “If God’s Word says it’s so, then it’s so. The promise is mine; I have it now!” Faith always says, “I have it even though I can’t see it.” Now notice what the text said: “Faith … is the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Someone said, “Well, yes, but the thing that I’ve been praying about, I don’t see. It hasn’t come to pass yet.” But if you already had it, you wouldn’t have to believe it; you would know it then. In order to come to that place of knowing, you have to take that step of believing without seeing, based only on your faith in the integrity of God’s Word.

Many people want to know it first, and then believe it. That is, they want to know it from the natural standpoint of having it come to pass first. However, we know we have received what the Word tells us is ours because God’s Word says it is ours. When we believe God’s Word without seeing anything manifested in the natural realm, then what we are believing God for materializes.

Jesus said in Mark 11:24: “. . . What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Notice that the having comes after the believing. Most folks want to turn that around and have first and then believe. But in common everyday language, Jesus was saying that you have to believe you have your petition before you get it.

I don’t know about you, but I have never been able to receive healing for my body without first believing that I had received my healing – even when every symptom in my body was crying out, “You don’t have your healing. You aren’t healed!” I would just simply say to my flesh, “The Bible says, `… let God be true, but every man a liar’ [Rom.3:4]. So if you say I’m not healed, you are a liar because God’s Word says I am!”

Then when I act in faith on God’s Word instead of acting on what I feel, results are always forthcoming! It works one hundred times out of one hundred. But if you are going to sit around and groan and sigh and gripe and complain and wait for something to come to you, you will never get very far in faith – that is, real Bible faith

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