The Bible tells us to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12). There wouldn’t be a fight if there were no enemies! The enemies of faith aren’t what most people think they are. Many look for enemies in the natural realm, but that’s not where they are!
1) Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The greatest hindrance to faith is a lack of knowledge of God’s Word. Because faith comes by hearing the Word, all enemies of faith are connected in some way with our lack of knowledge.
When you know God’s Word, faith comes. As soon as the light of the Word comes, faith is there. It accompanies knowledge. Knowledge of what God has said comes first. Then faith automatically accompanies it.
People often pray for faith saying, “What I need is faith.” But what they need is knowledge of God’s Word. People who pray for faith are attempting to get through prayer what the Word alone can give.
2) One of the most prominent enemies of faith is a sense of unworthiness. All of us have battled it. Feelings of unworthiness and a sense of lack of faith go hand in hand. These two are perhaps the most subtle, dangerous weapons of the devil. But we can find the answer to these feelings in God’s Word: Your worthiness is Jesus Christ!
God does not heal your body or baptize you in the Holy Spirit based on your worthiness. If He did, no one would ever receive these blessings from God because no one is worthy in themselves.
By not knowing the Word, many Christians allow feelings of unworthiness to defeat them. People have told me they were sure they wouldn’t be filled with the Holy Spirit because they weren’t good enough—they were unworthy. Praying with people for healing, I ran into the same situation many times.
The trouble is that Christians are acquainted with all their shortcomings, mistakes, faults, and failures. They look at themselves from a natural standpoint rather than from a biblical perspective—the way God looks at them.
People who pray for faith are attempting to get through prayer what the Word alone can give.
The Word Brings Light
I struggled with unworthiness when I was a teenage invalid and thought I was being humble! I didn’t know I was just being stupid. “I’m weak and unworthy,” I thought. From the natural standpoint that may have been true, but it wasn’t from the biblical standpoint.
Psalm 119:130 says, “The entrance of thy words giveth light.” Once the light is in your spirit, it can’t be removed, even though the devil will do his best to confuse you. He will try to keep you from walking in the light by saying, “The prayer of faith works, but you can’t pray it because you aren’t good enough. You are too unworthy.” He did that with me while I was bedfast. Not knowing any better, I agreed with him and remained an invalid several months longer.
I came to a different conclusion after reading Second Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Paul said, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:10). We did not make ourselves new—He did.
I asked myself, “Did God make an unworthy new creature? Would He make a new creature that wasn’t good enough to stand in His Presence?”
Then I saw where I made my mistake. Instead of believing what the Bible said about me—the real me, the man on the inside—I looked at the outward man and my physical shortcomings. I passed judgment on my situation when I should have accepted God’s estimation of it. I knew He did not make any unworthy new creature. If He did, that would have belittled His work.
Our worthiness is in Christ Jesus. I look a lot better in Him than I do any other way! And that is how God sees me: in Him. He doesn’t really see me; He looks at Jesus and sees me in Jesus. When I learned this truth, it was a giant step toward releasing my faith and having faith to receive physical healing.
The Word of God will help you rid yourself of this sense of unworthiness; and when it is gone, the sense of a lack of faith will leave. They are tormenting twins of the enemy that rob you of the blessings Christ secured for you!
Accept No Substitutes
3) Another enemy of faith is substituting either hope or mental agreement for real faith. That is why so many people are defeated. They say, “Well, I’m hoping and praying . . . .” The Bible does not say that God hears the prayer of hope! “The prayer of faith shall save the sick” (James 5:15). If James had said the prayer of hope would do it, we would all automatically have results!
Jesus taught, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). Believe—not hope—that you receive. Hope is a human reaction. You may call it believing, but that doesn’t make it so, any more than calling a Model-T Ford an airplane would make it a plane.
You may say, “I believe God is going to do something for me. I believe He is going to heal me. I believe God is going to hear and answer my prayer someday.” That isn’t faith! It is hope because you are postponing what you want to the future.
Faith is present tense. Blessings are already provided for us in Jesus. The Bible tells us that God “hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). God doesn’t have to do one thing more; it is already done.
Get your believing in line with what the Bible says. Quit hoping. Start believing—not because you feel like it or see it, but because God’s Word says it!
In Summary
Faith Enemy #1—Lack of Knowledge of God’s Word
Solution: Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God.
Faith Enemy #2—A Sense of Unworthiness
Solution: Your worthiness is Jesus Christ.
Faith Enemy #3—Substituting Hope or Mental Agreement for Faith
Solution: Keep faith in the present tense—faith believes now!
Author
Kenneth E. Hagin
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