"...God hath dealt to every man the MEASURE OF FAITH" (Rom. 12:3).

Some Christians want to pray for faith. They don't seem to realize that if they are born again, they are already believers, and they already have faith; they just haven't developed it.

Actually, the Bible says that every person is given a measure of faith. It also says that faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). So as a believer, you do have faith, but faith has to be exercised so that it can grow and develop.

The same principle is true in the natural realm. For example, if you want to develop your body, you have to exercise and lift weights. There is no use trying to lift 500 pounds if you can't even lift 100 pounds! It could even be dangerous because you might tear a muscle that may take months to heal.

Things work much the same way in the spiritual realm. You are not going to get your faith to work if you don't exercise it. People who haven't taken time to develop their faith have weak faith. So if they try to believe God for something beyond their level of faith, their faith fails them, and they are hindered for months. Then they think they don't have faith when really they have just never developed their faith!

If you are a believer, you do have faith. So start where you are in faith. Start believing God where your faith is developed right now.

For example, if you were trying to climb a ladder, would you start at the top rung? No, you'd have to climb the ladder one step at a time, beginning at the bottom rung. No one can take one step and climb to the top rung of a six-foot ladder. But it is very easy to climb a ladder when you take just one step at a time.

It's the same way with faith. Start developing your faith now for the things you need from God. But first you're going to have to know what God has said in His Word. If God hasn't said it, then you can't believe for it. But if He promised you something in His Word, then you can believe Him to bring it to pass in your life.

The Bible says, "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: HATH HE SAID, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Num. 23:19). Whatever God says that you can have, you can have!

Faith is not sight. Faith is not feeling. Faith is based on the fact of what "God hath said" in His Word.

Some people confuse faith with feelings. They are always waiting for a feeling before they will believe God. In essence, that is telling God that His Word is a lie. But that's not how faith works. First, you have faith, and then the feelings come.

God promised that if we believe His Word, we can receive from Him (Mark 11:24). So our assurance must be in God's Word. We don't need feelings when we have the facts - the facts of God's Word. If God said it, shall He not do it? He watches over His Word to perform it (Jer. 1:12). He will certainly make His Word good in our lives if we will just believe Him!

Source: From a Pastor's Heart by Kenneth E. Hagin. Jr.
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications