Overcoming Unbelief

We must deal with unbelief in order to operate as fully mature Sons and Daughters.

One aspect of unbelief is that which arises out of ignorance.  This type of unbelief can be corrected by hearing the Truth and the related facts.  Once you hear the Truth, you are no longer ignorant of the situation.

The second type of unbelief occurs where you have wrong teaching.  Religious teachers who promoted man’s doctrine, often based on self-interest, have kept many of their members in unbelief.  What has been the result?  There has been a lack of fruit in their doctrine. 

As an example, in the early 1970’s many denominations did not believe in the Baptism of The Holy Spirit but I was ignorant of their teachings since we did not attend church much in my younger years.  I was ignorant of their doctrine so when I decided to pursue this Baptism, with hardly any teaching other than what I read in Scripture, I easily received It.  I did not know that I wasn’t suppose to!  You couldn’t convince that Tongues had been done away with… it was too late.

Wrong teaching is harder to overcome than no teaching.

I have had to unlearn doctrine that was a subtle departure from The Word.  With very few exceptions, most faith teachers promoted faith over Love in the 70’s and 80’s.  Clearly they did not focus on 1st Corinthians chapter 13.  Their message of faith was often tied to money in the most subtle way.  Yes, I have been in services where they took up multiple offerings as well as coercing the people into publicly expressing financial pledges.  I am sure that Jesus was saddened by the fleecing of the flock.

The nefarious ones who are of the devil use this tactic to promote lies to the public.  If the public is ignorant of the facts and truth, they will tend to believe what is told and then when the real truth is expressed, they often resist the truth and cling to the lie.  This is why we must be sensitive to The Holy Spirit and be shown the Truth in all situations.  Presidents in the U.S. have led us to war based on lies and it is well documented.  Most people don’t want to be told that they have been duped because it exposes their pride.

Miracles still happen today so don’t let a religious leader tell you different.  These writings are meant to correct the wrong teachings of the past.  We need to accept the fact that we have been misled and move on!

The third type of unbelief is based on our natural use of our five physical senses which have served us reasonably well since birth.  Our natural belief systems have relied on information gathered through our five senses.  This natural unbelief results from being unable to tap into the spiritual.  This is challenging to many believers and the adversary relies on our immaturity in this area.  I would suggest that it takes commitment for most to overcome this natural unbelief.  The disciples had this issue as revealed in Mark chapter 9.

It is written by The Holy Spirit in Mark chapter 9:

17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”

The demon intimidated the disciples by his power over the son.  They saw the demonstration and did not overcome their unbelief.  Jesus was not pleased with them.

19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” 20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”

And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Jesus was not moved by the demon at all and He revealed the issue with the boy’s lack of healing: unbelief.

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

Jesus was not moved by the boy’s apparent death but instead raised him up.  Following this event, the disciples knew they needed correction so they asked Jesus the following:

28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”

29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

Was the intent of prayer and fasting to focus on demon deliverance?  No.  The requirement of prayer and fasting was and is to deal with removing our unbelief.  The disciples were operating in natural unbelief where they relied on seeing is believing.  Jesus was training them to overcome the natural with the power and authority of the supernatural.  How many miracles did they need to see before they were to realize that the supernatural is where they need to operate from?  The same question applies to us.

How do we eliminate unbelief?  It is by prayer and fasting.  If you spend most of your time taking in what the world is promoting, you will continue to walk in unbelief.  However, if we immerse ourselves in The Word and Prayer, we will chip away at unbelief until there is none left.  This is when we will walk in the fullness of power and authority as mature Sons and Daughters.  Our fruit will abound!

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