Have you ever stayed “in faith” for something and prayed and prayed and prayed and it seemed like nothing happened? It just seemed like it was never coming to pass. When Jesus spoke, things happened instantly. Why did Jesus’ faith work instantly, but sometimes it seems like ours doesn’t?
Many times we fail to take the time necessary to get revelation knowledge to obtain a word from God. You must have the Word of God living in your heart in order for the Word to be alive and accomplish something as it comes out of your mouth.
Jesus put a great emphasis on words. Every time He did something, He spoke. So what’s the big difference between Jesus and us? Granted, Jesus is the Son of God. He was, is, and always will be the Son of God. He is a part of the Godhead.
However, when Jesus operated here on this earth, He operated with the same power that you and I have access to. He operated under the power and the anointing the same way we can. Jesus wanted to make it very clear: “The same works that I do, you will do and even greater ones” (John 14:12).
Where are the greater works? What’s the difference? Jesus had the living rhema word inside of Him. Jesus said He never said anything unless the Father spoke it first. And He said He didn’t do anything unless the Father spoke it to Him. That’s what He said. That means He had the living Word within Him. Jesus said, “My words are spirit and they are life.”
When we hear the Word in our head, we must get it in our heart. In the Bible, there are two different types of word that it talks about in the New Testament. There is logos and rhema. Logos is the written Word of God. Rhema is the living Word of God. This word changes from logos to rhema in your heart, not your mind.
If you take a scripture and you read it and you know about it, it’s logos. But when that scripture suddenly comes alive to you and you know it beyond a shadow of a doubt, then it becomes rhema. When it becomes rhema, then you have faith. Then the words you speak are not empty words, but they are words of faith and they will accomplish the thing that they go out to do.
God does not respond to an echo. God does not respond to a parakeet. God and His angels respond to the spoken Word of God that’s alive coming out of your mouth. They respond to faith, not intellect.
There are some reasons why we have problems making the Word come alive in our mouth. One is familiarity. We become so familiar with the scripture that we act like we know it when we don’t really know it. You don’t know what you don’t know, but sometimes we think we know something that we don’t know.
You can say to some people, “You know what the Bible says.” They say, “Yeah, I know what the Bible says. But just lay hands on me for deliverance. Get me out of this thing.” But that’s not always the key. We must speak the rhema Word of God from our heart and act on it in faith in order to have the Word of God come alive and produce something.
Let me give you an example of the difference between believing and being in faith. Years ago there was a man who crossed over a great waterfall on a cable that was attached to the bank on each side. To make it interesting, he pushed a wheelbarrow ahead of him on the cable. Belief would say, “He can do it!” Faith would get in the wheelbarrow.
That’s the way some Christians are. We mentally believe the Word of God. We’ll even speak the Word of God and we’ll say that we believe the Word of God, but when it comes time to really rely on it because we have our back up against the wall, we don’t want to get in that wheelbarrow. The only reason you won’t get in that wheelbarrow is because there is doubt that it will make it to the other side safely. Doubt and faith cannot co-exist.
Doubt will keep you from putting action to your belief and hinder your faith. We must believe the Word of God all the time. When the Word of God is alive inside of you as rhema word, then you are full of faith and God’s Word will accomplish what you sent it to do!
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Dr. Larry Ollison is founder and Senior Pastor of Walk on the Water Faith Church and founder of Larry Ollison Ministries. With over forty years in the ministry, he is a very popular speaker nationally and internationally and ministers the Word of Faith through radio, television, Internet, and daily e-mail devotionals. As the author of twelve books (including The Power of Grace, The Practical Handbook for Christian Living, Breaking the Cycle of Offense, Life is in the Blood, and recently released The Paradise of God), he is in frequent demand for radio/TV interviews, book signings, and magazine publications.
Dr. Ollison was raised a Southern Baptist. While majoring in theology at Southwest Baptist University, he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. For many years he traveled extensively speaking at Full Gospel Business Men's meetings and conventions. He later earned an M.A. in Theology and a Ph.D. and Th.D. from Life Christian University.
Currently President of International Convention of Faith Ministries (ICFM), Dr. Ollison is also Vice-President of Spirit FM Christian Radio Network, Missouri State Director of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), and a Trustee on the boards of several international ministries. He is also the host of The Cutting Edge Radio Broadcast and authors The Cutting Edge Daily Devotional.
As the owner of a marine dealership, his extensive business background brings a unique flavor to his teaching. He founded and served as chairman of the Missouri State Marine Board, President of the Marine Dealers’ Association, Vice-President of a bank holding company, along with holding several directorships in various corporations.
Dr. Ollison's strongest areas of teaching are the blood of Jesus, faith, relationships, the Hebrew language, the Holy Spirit, the end times, and heaven. During ministry, he operates freely in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. His use of humor and his ability to make a theological concept simple makes it enjoyable and easy for everyone to understand. Countless testimonies have been received from people who say their lives have been changed after experiencing Dr. Ollison's unique ministry.
Dr. Ollison is a pastor, pilot, teacher, and author. His number one goal is to meet the needs of the people through the teaching of faith in God's Word. He and his wife, Loretta, have two children and six grandchildren.