Wigglesworth was quoted as saying, “If you wait to get faith when you need faith, you’re too late.” Another man said, “Late faith is unavailing. There’s little use accepting arks once the rain begins to fall. Death is such an instant storm that by the time you reach for an umbrella, you already need your water wings. ¹ These words are are certainly true. It’s best to build your faith in God when days are peaceful. It’s then, you can learn some of the nuances involved for a vibrant believing of God’ Word. One of which is this issue of getting your faith into the right tense.

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The Power Triplets: Faith, Hope and Love

1 Corinthians 13:13 (KJV)
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

• This passage in 1 Corinthians lays out three important elements to the Christian experience faith, hope and love.
• The Greek word ‘abide’ here means to continue, to remain, to last, to stay, to persist.
• Faith is not going away.
• It is the way of heaven and the way of earth in all your dealings with God.
• If you don’t learn to live by faith here in this life, you will learn it in heaven.
• There is no one in heaven who does not move by faith.
• Love is not going away.
• God is love. How can God go away?
• Finally, hope is not going away.
• There is always a tomorrow to reach for, to plan for.
• And if there is a tomorrow, there has to be hope.
• If these three areas continue and remain, then they are the areas we must pay attention to.
• Opportunities to walk in faith, gender hope, and grow in love abound everywhere.
• As long as there’s a kingdom of God to build, there are opportunities for faith.
• As long as there are people breathing God’s air, there will be opportunities to walk in love.
• As long as there is a plan for your life, there are opportunities to engage in the hope of the fulfillment of that plan.
• Now, the Bible lists these as separate areas but they are not separate. They work together.
• They flow out of one another.
• These three areas are related areas.
• You can call faith, hope and love, the power triplets.
• They are triplets because they are intertwined.
• For example, the Bible says faith works by love.

The Faith and Love Connection

Galatians 5:6 (KJV)
6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

• The word ‘works’ here in the phrase ‘faith works by love’ means to be active, to operate, to be effective or to produce.
• Knowing this gives us one possible way to troubleshoot the prayer life.
• If you’re praying about an area you know God has promised in His Word, and you are not receiving the manifestation of what He promised, then first, check up on your love-life.

1 Corinthians 13:1–2 (TNIV)
1 If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

• Are you striving and conniving?
• Are you fussing and unforgiving?
• If you are, your faith won’t work.

Mark 11:23–25 (TNIV)
23 “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

• Did you notice how Jesus was talking about faith in versus 22, 23, and 24 and adds on the back-end of this discussion a warning against unforgiveness?
• If you’re holding a grudge, it affects your ability to speak to your mountains by faith.
• Love is everything in God.

[Tweet “There are three important elements to the Christian experience; faith, hope, and love.”]

Matthew 22:36–40 (KJV)
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

• Faith weaves its way through the miraculous realm of God’s love.

The Faith and Hope Connection

Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

• What does the phrase mean, ‘faith is the substance of hope?’
• In the Greek, the word substance means ‘title-deed.’
• What’s a title deed?
• A title-deed is a legal document to effect the transfer of property or to show the legal right to possess it.
• In our day, we shorten the hyphenated word ‘title-deed’ down to ‘title’.
• It’s like the title you have for a house or a car.
  • The title shows you own it.
  • The title shows it’s your personal property.
• Faith is a title which shows you own something.
• What do I own?
  • The promise of God for the thing I am desiring or hoping for.
• Faith shows ownership of the thing which is promised.

The Title-Deed of Divine Health

• For example, God promised you divine health.
• He promised it to you in many places in the Bible like 1Peter 2:24, Ex. 15:26, Isa. 53, Ps. 107:20, Ps 103:1-2.
• God promised it to you. But it’s just words on a paper until you on purpose believe it with your heart.
• You first have to believe it, then you take ownership of it.
• Believing this means you take ownership of it.
• So, it goes like this.
  • “I believe by His stripes I was healed and that promise is mine.’
  • ‘Since I WAS healed that means I AM healed right now.’
  • ‘It’s mine I have it now.’
• So, first you have a hope to be healed.
  • Then you believe in the promise.
  • Then you possess the promise as yours.
  • When you do the last step, you are now the owner of healing.
• Having faith for healing means the health you need is transferred to you legally.
• The same is true for any Bible promise.

The Title-Deed of Long Life

• Long life works the same way as any other Bible promise.
• God promised you long life.

Ephesians 6:2–3 (TNIV)
2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

• You have to claim ownership of this promise or again, it’s just nice words on a piece of paper.
  • You first find the promise.
  • Then, you believe it, that is, you believe those words are true that God didn’t lie about it.
  • Then you claim ownership of it and see it as yours.
  • That means you act like it’s yours.
  • You talk like it’s yours.
• And, here is the part we want to hone in on for this podcast.
• If it’s yours right now, you are not going to refer to it in the future tense.

Faith’s Time Element

• The time element is to be considered, when looking at these power triplets.
• The time dimension is a critical component in the faith life.

What Time Dimension is Faith In?

• Well, we already read Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is…”
• Faith is in the Now Dimension
• Faith is ‘today’ according to this passage in Hebrews 11:1.
• When we believe God, we are to believe Him now.
• We trust in God now.
• It is very important when you are believing the Lord for something in your life, to get the time dimensions correct.
• So, you take ownership of a promise, not just a promise, but a promise from God, not just a promise from God, but a promise from a God who cannot lie.
  • You own it. You claim it by faith.
  • You don’t have it physically yet but that’s a formality because you are believing a God who does not lie.
  • The transfer of property is on the way.
  • You can account for it in your assets.
  • You can plan your life around it.
• It’s like your paycheck.
• It’s Monday. You know you are going to get paid Friday. You are already planning on Monday what you are going to do with the money before you get it. That’s faith in that company.
• Faith in God’s promises is the same way.
• You take ownership on Monday, so to speak, but you know Friday is coming.
• If you are praying about a need and you are releasing your faith for that need, the time dimension your faith should be in is the ‘now’ dimension.
• I believe I receive it now.
• If you put your faith into the tomorrow time dimension, it won’t work.
• What does the tomorrow dimension look like?

Putting Faith in the Wrong Dimension

• I believe God WILL do it.
• I believe God WILL heal me.
• I believe God WILL deliver me.
• I believe God WILL bless me.
• What’s the problem with these statements?
  • The problem is you believe God is going to do something when faith says He has already done it.
• You have to get your saying in the right tense.
• Once you believe God, once you release your faith in His Word, it is poor taste to say what you believe He will do.
• Instead, you should believe what He has already done.
• Confession statements set in the future need to be re-examined.
• If it’s ‘not now’, it’s not faith.
  • “I believe God WILL do it”, won’t work because it is in the wrong time dimension.
    • The correct dimension is, “I believe God HAS ALREADY done it. The answer is on its way.’
  • “I believe God WILL heal me” confuses today and tomorrow.
    • The Word of God teaches it this way, “I believe God HAS ALREADY healed me and I receive it right now.”
  • “I believe God WILL deliver me” mixes up today and tomorrow.
    • The scriptures teach deliverance in the past tense because of Jesus victory at Calvary.
    • We should rather state, “Because He HAS ALREADY delivered me, I am free now.”
  • “I believe God WILL bless me” again fails to differentiate between today and tomorrow.
    • The Bible declares that you HAVE ALREADY BEEN blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Eph. 1:3).
    • Our confession should be “I’m blessed, I’m blessed, I’m blessed, right now.”
• You may not feel blessed, you may not feel healed, you may not feel victorious, but this is a faith proposition.
• And faith is not motivated by sight.
• Nor is it moved by feelings.
• If you say, God is going to give this to me sometime, that’s not faith.
• Faith says I already have it. I have it now.

[Tweet “I believe God WILL do it” won’t work. It’s the wrong tense. Correct is, “God HAS ALREADY done it.”]

Mark 11:24 (KJV)
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

• What does Mark 11:24 say about having an answer to prayer?
• When will you get the answer?
• You get the answer, ‘after you believe you receive it’.
• You have to believe you receive first and THEN you get the answer.
  • It’s not the other way around.
  • You don’t believe it after you get the answer.
  • What good is that?
  • If you have the answer, you don’t have to believe anything.
  • No, the ‘believing that you receive’ comes first, then comes ‘and you shall have it’.

Watch What You Say

• Take an inventory about what you are saying.
• Do you have your tenses correct?
• When you hear yourself speak, check the tenses of your conversation with regards to the promises of God.

Marking Your Mouth: Good Bible Order

Psalm 17:3–5 (KJV)
3 You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.

Psalm 39:1 (KJV)
I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.”

Proverbs 21:23 (KJV)
Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

James 1:26 (KJV)
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

• Don’t discard the other parts of faith.
• It’s not just watching the tenses alone.
  • It’s going to the Word and finding a promise which covers your case.
  • It’s meditating on that promise until faith comes.
  • It’s releasing your faith by saying and or by acting.
  • And once you release your faith, watch your tenses.

As You Read the Bible Watch the Tenses

Ephesians 1:3 (KJV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

• What tense is ‘has blessed’, past, present, or future?
• It’s past tense meaning God has already blessed us.
• So if you stand up and declare ‘I believe God is going to bless me’, your tenses are out of line.
• If you say God is going to bless me that means it’s out in the future. It means he hasn’t done it yet.
• So, has God already blessed you or is He going to do it in the future. Which is it?
• You will find many blessings of God fall into the past tense meaning God has already provided the blessing for you. All you have to do is reach out and receive it.

1 Peter 2:24 (KJV)
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

• What tense is ‘’by whose stripes you were healed’, past tense, present tense, or future tense?’
• Again, it’s past tense.
• What does this mean?
• It means you don’t have to seek God to be healed because He has already healed you.
• There you are in the doctor’s office and you receive the bad news from the MRI or the blood work or whatever test they are running.
• Let’s say the report is cancer.
• Now what? How do you respond?
• Well, what did God’s Word say?
• It said I was healed.
• If I was healed, I am healed. And If I am healed then I am well right now.
• So, I don’t have to seek and implore God to heal me because He has already healed me.
• All I have to do is release my faith in what He said by acting and by saying what God said.
• If He said I am healed, then I must be.

Call to Action:

Do you have your believing in the right tense? That is are you certain you have read the promise of God clearly and acted on it just like it’s written? If you are struggling to receive, this is one area to do a faith check-up. The more we walk in line with God’s Word the more things will work for your benefit.

Episode Resources

For more resources on the subject of healing please see the following:

1. Why is Faith Important and Who Has It? [Podcast]
2. How to Release Your Faith with Words [Podcast]
3. More How to Release Your Faith with Words [Pocast]

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If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at energized1@outlook.com.

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Questions: Have you ever misread a verse of scripture and when you realized it, adjusted yourself and received the blessing? Please share your experience with God’s Word in the comments section below.

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