Faith Comes By Hearing

Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  This verse has spurned Bible study and even organizations dedicated to the audible scriptures.  As a believer raised in the Baptist Church my Christian life has always revolved around the Bible, its study, memorization and application.  As Hebrews 11:1 affirms, faith is something “unseen” therefore when I didn’t feel “faith” swelling up in my life I had confidence in what I believe, (that I do grow in faith), rather than what I observe (a stagnant faith).  Honestly, I felt the measure of faith in my life was dependent on how many times I read the Bible. Over the years I heard a different message relating testimonies to growing our faith, but I didn’t understand it until I was with a leader from Australia named Niel Dowling.

Niel was speaking at our church in Phnom Penh and during the testimony portion of the service, which often just turns into a bragging session. . . , something special happened.  A man had a testimony about a wrist which hurt and he prayed for it, and felt instant relief.  Niel stopped the service, which would normally been followed by a nice clap and proceed on to the next testimony.  But Niel said something to the effect of “Did you feel the faith growing?”

Then he did something bizarre for my Baptist background.  He told the person giving the testimony to ask if anyone else in the church has a sore wrist and to pray for them right on the spot.  Two people said they had sore wrists and came up.  This man, not known for his faith or Christian example, prayed for these two ladies.  One woman was very dedicated in the church and another just shows up whenever there are foreign visitors.  He prayed and instantly they were both healed.  Why? Faith comes by hearing.  When we heard the testimony of what God had done, faith grew.  When faith grew in their hearts, Jesus could heal more!

So, this last week I had a little miracle happen to me personally.  About six months ago I had a growth form on my hand.  It was the size of pea and grew out of my left thumb.  No one could see it, but it irritated me and gave me a bit of concern.  I went to three doctors about it (fearing the worst) and even had an x-ray taken to see if it was tissue or bone growth.  It bothered me and two of the doctors discussed that I may need to have it surgically removed if it kept growing.  I prayed for it many times and even ask others to pray for it.  It was not healed any of those times. But, it was not a huge deal to me, just annoying and giving me a slight concern as to why something would grow where it should not grow.

Then last week I heard some amazing testimonies of God’s power in Ethiopia.  I wrote them down and many people read the one about being “raised from the dead”, but few read the other amazing stories (probably because of the titles).  I highly recommend you read them. The four stories were:

Raised from the Dead:  This was a story about one leader who was asked to pray for a lady who had died as the result of a demonic attack.  After several hours and already growing cold and stiff, she rose from the dead after the leader prayed for her.  This testimony will give you faith in the power of God! I would highly recommend you read this story.

First You Suffer, Then You Win:  This is a story about an evangelist who has been beaten for his faith many times, yet after being beaten many come to Christ.  This story of faithfulness in adversity will grow your faith.  I would highly recommend you read this story.

Serpent Attack:  This is a story about the physical manifestation of a giant snake to attack a man who just led a whole family to Christ from Muslim background.  As this giant snake attacked him God sent a supernatural eagle to save him.  This testimony will grow faith in you over the power of God to defeat the demonic.  I highly recommend you read this story.

Assassin: This story is about a leader, who only a month ago, was preaching to 25,000 people when a hired assassin came up behind him and attempted to decapitate him.  God used amazing power to protect him in front of 25,000 witnesses.  This testimony will amaze you with God’s protection.  I highly recommend you read this story.

Why do I highly recommend you read these stories?  Because faith comes by hearing.

As I wrote down these stories, faith was growing in my heart.  I knew God could heal anything.  I was looking for someone to pray for to see God’s power.  Then I realized something was different with my hand.  The growth on my thumb had vanished!  Through the faith that grew, God healed me, even without my asking.

Faith comes by hearing!

I hope your faith grows after reading these testimonies.  Ask God for your miracle!