Faith: In Agreement
Agreement is synergistic. One can chase a thousand, but two can chase ten thousand. Something happens in both the natural and spiritual realms when we come into agreement with others. Agreement is a dimension of unity, but deeper.
Agreement is to come into a place of harmony—much like a symphony—where all the instruments are one with each other. When we combine faith with the power of agreement, the impossible becomes probable! Let’s look at this important aspect of faith from a story in Mark’s gospel.
Four men of faith bring their paralytic friend to Jesus for healing (Mark 2:1-12).
Many have gathered at the house of Simon Peter. Rumor has spread that the “Healer” is back. When Jesus is in the house, everyone wants to gather!
Imagine if our churches became full of His presence. The buildings wouldn’t be large enough! Throughout church history, we see moments and places where this has occurred. It is often called revival or awakening, but the result is the same; when Jesus’ presence is strong in our midst, people gather in large crowds and lives are forever changed. But why wait for “revival?!” Let’s cultivate a place of God’s presence in our churches; people are hungry for the Lord’s presence!
Notice in verse 2 that “He preached the Word to them.” Jesus knew the importance of building faith in the people for healing and the miraculous, but Jesus also demonstrated the Word He preached to them through demonstration of the reality of God’s Kingdom. I shared in last week’s message and article, Faith: In Action the importance of us functioning in similar manner today.
Faith is an important key for the release of healing and miracles.
To be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with faith. Abiding in the Holy Spirit and God’s Word builds faith.
For most people, it’s not a lack of faith in the greatness of God that hinders their miracle, but rather doubt in their hearts. Many lack God’s faith and perspective on their situations.
You can believe a promise, but at the same time lack the faith to appropriate it!
Faith is not intellectual, but spiritual. It is primarily in the heart, not in the mind, that faith flourishes. Learn to ignore your senses and your feelings; they will deceive you and faith does not originate from them. Faith originates in our spirit, by the Holy Spirit, as we learn to wait upon the Lord.
Genuine faith learns to hear, see, believe, obey, and act as God leads!
Faith can be received only as it is imparted to the heart, by God Himself. Either you have faith, or you do not. We can take practical steps to develop and grow our faith, but the originator of faith is the Lord. It is an aspect of His grace for those who believe. And for that matter, even the unbeliever is given a portion of faith, thus enabling them the choice to believe in Jesus.
There are many factors that affect faith: 1) your theology, 2) past experiences or present circumstances, 3) and the testimonies of others.
Wrong theology will hinder that faith. Theology with an anti-supernatural bias quenches the Holy Spirit and impedes belief God will move in miraculous ways—whether for provision, healing, etc. Remember, the Bible is a supernatural book! God is still a miracle-working God today!
A lack of experiences in God can restrict faith. We may conclude that because we haven’t observed God as healer or provider that He is neither. Sometimes, our present circumstances or trials can hinder our faith. When we place our eyes on the “storms” of life and fail to trust God’s Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit, we quench the Spirit and our faith!
Replacing these factors with God’s truth builds faith.
Knowing that God is God Almighty or El-Shaddai builds Faith!
Consider Abram and Sarai,
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty (El-Shaddai); walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” (Gen. 17:1-2 NIV)
Abraham worshipped, and God changed his name from Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah, declaring through their names that His promise will come to pass!
“God Almighty” or “the Almighty God” translates as “El-Shaddai.” Shaddai, as a divine title, is used forty-eight times in the OT. Most often, it appears in Job (thirty-one times).[1] El-Shaddai is the God of Israel understood according to his absolute power. [2] El-Shaddai is one of the names of God, emphasizing His power, might, and ability to provide and sustain. It conveys the idea of God as the all-sufficient, all-powerful, and nurturing One.
They were incapable of having children, but God moved supernaturally upon them with His very life.
“And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken.” (Gen. 21:1 NKJV)
He is God Almighty, El-Shaddai, the all-powerful God who is enough! He can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves!
What is the key? Stay in the secret place with the Lord. Stay in worship. Stay in His Word. Fix your eyes on Him, not your circumstances or senses. Your faith will grow!
Consider what the Psalmist wrote, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty (Shaddai)” (Psalm 91:1 NIV).
When we rest or trust in God fully, we abide in His presence, or the shadow of His love, power and might! God then, as El-Shaddai, can breathe His life upon our situations and bring forth what only He can do!
Believing can take opposite forms. It can be faith or doubt.
Jesus said to the disciples regarding the withered fig tree He cursed the day before,
“Whoever says to the mountain … and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done…” (Mark 11:23-24 NKJV)
Doubt is the reverse of faith. Doubt tells you that God does not exist or that He is unloving or uncaring about your need.
Faith is an imparted grace to the heart. “Faith comes by hearing (understanding) and hearing by “a” word (grace given) of God” (Rom. 10:17 NKJV). There is a measure of faith that God gives (Rom. 12:3), but then there is faith by grace.
I like what the late Oral Roberts said regarding faith and doubt,
“Doubt and do without; with faith believe and receive.”
Expectancy opens your life to God and puts you in position to receive – salvation, joy, health, finances, peace, etc. So, expect God to move and expect for miracles to occur!
The four men brought the paralytic to Jesus; he was healed after they had broken through the roof. The four men had faith; they wouldn’t give up.
There is no mention of the paralytic’s faith. There is a “mystery” of faith that affects the mystery of healing. For example, there can be different levels of faith with those involved:
1.) Faith of the person receiving prayer, 2.) faith of the person praying, 3.) corporate faith with a group of people, 4.) and the gift of faith that God at times gives when He is about to work a miracle.
Notice in Mark 2:5 how it says, “When Jesus saw their faith …”
Many times, the people we are trying to get to Jesus for healing or breakthrough have little or no faith. Jesus saw their faith, their persistence, and their agreement for the man’s healing.
There is strength in unity. Consider these verses:
In Deuteronomy 32:30 and Joshua 23:10, we conclude that “one can chase a thousand, but two shall be able to put ten thousand to flight.”
In Luke 10:1 Jesus appointed 70 other disciples and sent them two by two before Him into every city.
Acts 13:2 says, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul…” again, we see two by two being sent out.
In Acts 3, Peter and John were ministering to the lame man, and through the strength of their unified faith, the miracle was done in his body.
I’m mentioning these verses and cases to show you that there is authority and power in the prayer of agreement.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” (Matt. 18:18-19 NIV)
‘Agree’ in verse 19 is from the Greek ‘symphōnéō’, which means “to agree or be in harmony with, like a symphony. It means to come to terms or agreement (legal).[3]
Whatever you bind on earth literally will already have been bound in heaven. When united in prayer and obedience, the Church will affirm on earth what God had already decided in heaven. This can happen if two on earth agree about something they might ask God because it will be done for them by the Father in heaven (Matt. 18:19).
This is not a legalistic proposition by which any two people can force God into a line of action. Rather, where two or three people who trust God come together in Jesus’ name, He will be present there with them (Matt. 18:20). In the Biblical world, to do something in a person’s name meant more than simply pronouncing that name over the event. It meant to carry out the action in accordance with the purpose and character of the one whose name they invoked.[4]
Faith and the prayer of agreement are important factors for God’s power to be released. There are cases in which the person is unable to reason or is too sick to grasp these truths or listen to the word of God. Maybe they are not present.
In such cases, two believers can agree in prayer, and the promise is: “it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.”
Final Thoughts
The faith and compassion of four men, coupled with their agreement on earth, cooperated with heaven for their friend’s miracle.
Four men had a revelation that all things are possible with God. What about you today?
Is there someone you can come into agreement with through prayer about your situation or a miracle that is needed? There is power in the prayer and faith of agreement!
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” (Eph. 3:20 NKJV)
Jesus is our breakthrough; the roof is off, Church! It’s His miracle power at work with and in us, He is El-Shaddai, God Almighty! Only believe!
For a deeper look at this topic, watch the Passion Church message “Faith: In Agreement”:
[1] Victor P. Hamilton, “2333 שַׁדַּי,” in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 907.
[2] The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017).
[3] Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, and Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1985), 1292.
[4] Roger L. Hahn, Matthew: A Commentary for Bible Students (Indianapolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2007), 225–226.
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