The natural world says, “Seeing is believing.” On the contrary, faith says, “Believe and then you will see.” Natural principles are contradictory to God’s principles. The Word of God says in Mark 11:24, “…WHAT THINGS SOEVER YE DESIRE, WHEN YE PRAY, BELIEVE THAT YE RECEIVE THEM, AND YE SHALL HAVE THEM.” Since you receive your answer when you pray, that answer has to be located somewhere until you receive it here on earth. Faith is believing you have something before you get it in a visible form. If you believe, by faith, that you are healed, even though there is pain in your body, you must know where your healing is. It is in the spirit world, because faith is a spiritual truth. You must learn to distinguish between faith and fact.
Faith is a spiritual truth. Therefore, you must know that you get the answer in the spirit world when you pray. The spirit world holds the superseding truths. Believing you have something you cannot put your hands on, and being willing to say you have it, is proof that you believe you have it. This is faith. Having the need to feel or see the answer before you believe it is not faith. That is fact.
One day we are going to a spiritual world called heaven. We are going to have spiritual, eternal life. Because we are going to live eternally in a spiritual world involved with spiritual truths, we should get prepared now. We need to start learning something about the spiritual world and truths. We can learn all about these from the Word of God, because it is a spiritual book. The Word of God contradicts the ways of the world. The doctors can heal you, but the Word says, “HE SENT HIS WORD, AND HEALED THEM” (Psalm 107:20). The Word of God does not compromise with the world. Learn how to separate spiritual truths from natural truths. Realize first, that you have had two births.
You have had a natural birth which provided you with arms, legs, eyes, etc. You have also had a spiritual birth. I have two fathers. I have an earthly father, Elbert Willis, from whom I received human characteristics. One day I was born again of a spiritual birth from a spiritual Father. Like begets like; humans, humans; dogs, dogs; cats, cats. Likewise, spirit begets spirit. I have human characteristics and qualities because of my natural birth. Since I have had a spiritual birth I also have inside of me a spirit which has been born of God. Therefore, I have the divine attributes of God in my spirit. I received the attributes of God from my spiritual birth the same way I received my natural attributes from my natural birth. I have learned how to use my natural attributes, and now I am learning how to use my spiritual ones. I have found that my spiritual attributes are greater than my natural ones, and the spiritual truths supercede and override the natural truths. The sun, rain, troubles, and problems fall on everyone, but because I believe in the supernatural power of God, I can take the problems that come and turn them around to make the result be good. Faith says “WHAT THINGS SOEVER YE DESIRE, WHEN YE PRAY, BELIEVE THAT YE RECEIVE THEM, AND YE SHALL HAVE THEM.” Mark 11:24.
The Bible has nothing to do with believing you have something when you actually get it. Anyone can believe they are healed when the pain is gone. That is not faith. That is fact. Anyone can believe for their husband to be saved when he is there in church praising God. That is not faith. That is fact. Anyone can believe for $500 when they have it in their billfold. That is not faith. That is fact. Anyone can believe that God will give them victory over fear when the fear is gone. However, faith knows you are free from fear when the fears are still coming against you. Faith knows you are healed even if the pain is still in your body. Faith knows you are prosperous even when your billfold is flat. Faith knows you are an overcomer even when everything in the world says you are not. Faith is not based upon natural truths, but upon the Word of God which is always true. Holding to faith truths will get God’s results. Holding to natural truths, or the worldly truths will get what the world has to offer. It is your choice, but your mind must be renewed by the Word of God if you decide to hold to the spiritual truths. Why? I am going to show you how the devil will try to stop you from getting your faith to produce the desired results.
There are two keys in operating in faith. F.A.T. means Faith’s Answer Time, which deals with the spirit or invisible, when you pray. F.M.T. means Fact Manifestation Time, which deals with the material or visible world, now. It is good to have your husband saved by faith, but that will not help you down here. What you need to get is the fact manifestation. It is good to get your healing by faith, but the fact is better. It is good to have all your bills paid off by faith, but it is even better when there are not more checks to write! I am not only going to teach you how to get your answer in the faith world, but I will also teach you how to get it from there to down here.
Chapter I
THE COOPERATING POWERS
Faith, a spiritual power, gets the answer in the spiritual world. However, there are three powers that must operate in order for faith’s answer to become a manifested fact. We are going to deal with the three powers that must operate after you have received your answer by faith.
Satan has two primary ways in which he attempts to break your faith line (or channel) to prevent the fact manifestation. He uses circumstances and or people. Let’s say you pray this prayer. “Father, in the name of Jesus, I claim my husband’s salvation. I believe he is saved right now by faith. My husband is saved.” However, you return home from a teaching at about 10 p.m. and he says, “Where have you been?” You say, “I’ve been at the Teaching Center.” He says, “Nobody goes to church and stays this long, you are lying.” Now you have to decide how you will react. The first thing the devil says is, “Well, he is not saved. Look at him. Look what he said. Look how he is acting.” A few minutes go by and he jumps on you again and you get a little angry. Next, he slaps you on the face. What are you going to say then? You must still say that he is saved by faith even though he may be acting like the devil as far as you can see. You have learned about two truths. One is a faith truth and the other is a fact truth. Therefore, you have a choice to believe either one.
The reason for this battle is that the devil has two ways to cut your faith line. For example, you know your husband is saved by faith, and your faith is working. The devil wants to stop your faith. He tries to do so by using either circumstances or people. These are the only two ways in which he can come against you. The devil cannot touch God, but he can surely work on you down here. Why does he do this? It is because he wants to cut your faith line. He cannot cut it loose on God’s end, because when you give faith up to God He grabs it and doesn’t turn it loose. Therefore, the devil has to get you to turn loose.
For example, as long as the electricity line is joined to my house we have electricity. If someone cuts it there is no longer any electricity. It works the same way with faith. If your faith line is cut there is no channel. As long as the water lines are connected to my house we have water. Cut the water line and there is no water. Saints, get your faith line up and start believing God. No one can stop that faith answer from being a manifested fact except you. God will not stop it and the devil cannot stop it, unless he can get you to turn loose. Remember, the devil works through circumstances and situations to bombard you. He uses people to agitate you so that your faith line will fall. Endurance is the foundation of faith, but let’s start with patience.
A. Patience
The word patience concerns circumstances, situations, and difficulties. It is the grace that comes into operation in the circumstances, situations, and difficulties. Patience also concerns your actions or conduct, which is to be the same always. It is to be constant and consistent during the conflict. Patience does not surrender to outside pressure because it comes into operation with circumstances, situations, and difficulties. It refuses to act differently. Romans 5:3 says, “…WE GLORY IN TRIBULATIONS…” Philippians 4:4 says, “REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS…” James 1:2 says, “…COUNT IT ALL JOY…”
For instance, let us say that you have your faith line up. You have believed God for victory in a particular area. The devil wants to cut the line, so he begins to work through people. You will soon find out if you really believe the Bible, because when the circumstances and situations get tougher and tougher, and the people begin to attack you, are you going to count it all joy, or will you mumble and grumble? You will find out if you are going to rejoice in the Lord always. The devil knows you must get in line with the Word of God, therefore, he must bring enough pressure against you to stop you from rejoicing, counting it all joy, and glorying in tribulations.
Here is another example. You are at your place of worship having a good time and enjoying yourself. Everything is grand and glorious. You are being blessed tremendously. When you walk outside you find that your tire is flat! The devil is watching you. What did that circumstance do to your faith line? If you react as you used to you would kick the tire and grumble, and the devil would win another victory.
Perhaps when you get into your car and put the key in the ignition, you turn it and nothing happens. Patience means you act the same during the conflict. You act the same during the time you are changing the flat tire, or when the car will not start, as when things are going good. Your action must be the same as before the attack. Maybe you will be hammering and you hit your thumb. Will you yell and throw the hammer away? If so, the power and the grace of patience is not operating in your life. You just became impatient. Do you realize what impatience is? It is SIN. Yes, that is correct, and sin always affects one’s faith. The devil begins to work in every circumstance and situation because he knows what it takes to get you upset and angry. Until you get God’s Word inside of you to the point of being able to glory and rejoice in the Lord in any situation, the devil will cause you to sin through impatience and he will knock your faith line down every time.
You wives may be on the telephone telling a friend about God and all at once you smell something. “Oh, I left the fire on and my beans have burned.” Will you throw the telephone down as you jerk the pot off the stove? The devil is sitting over on the side with his demons and he says, “I’ve been doing that to her for twenty years and she still hasn’t learned any better yet.” The Bible talks about the wiles and strategy of the devil. He knows you have your faith line up so he will try to create circumstances and situations that will bombard you and cause you to sin. If that happens, down goes your faith line.
Husband, tomorrow you go to work. When you come home your wife says, “Honey, the washing machine is broken.” Will you walk in the house steaming and mumbling? I believe that you are not going to do that. You keep on rejoicing in the Lord. When will you rejoice? You will rejoice in the Lord always! Yet, God does require us to count it all joy even in situations such as these. When your faith line is up and you are believing God, if you see that your tire is flat and you throw your arms up and start praising God, the devil says, “That guy is crazy…he never did that before, usually he kicks the tire and curses.” No one wants to stay around someone who is crazy. When you turn your key in the ignition of your car and it doesn’t crank, if you say, “Oh Hallelujah! …Jesus! Praise God!,” those demons stick their fingers in their ears and say, “That guy is crazy. Let’s get out of here.” They don’t know what to do with you. They are used to you blowing up, fussing and murmuring.
The devil will work against you, but if you will learn to react according to God’s Word, you will obey God, praise Him, and rejoice always. You will run that devil crazy. He won’t know what to think about you, so he will go and visit someone else’s house. He does not stay around my house. All he hears is my voice praising God and speaking in tongues. He says, “I can’t understand what he is saying. He might be asking God to pour fire down on me. I’m going to get out of here.”
He also knows what you are saying around your house. He hears you griping and he says, “That’s just like they have always done.” He knows how to touch your little button. He may have been touching your little impatience button for ten, fifteen, or twenty years, and you are still giving into the same trap over and over. These same things have been bothering you for ten years. This is how the devil operates. First of all he says, “I’ll try number one. That gets them 90% of the time. If that doesn’t work, number three and four always gets them.” Have you noticed that when you start believing God problems pop up? Do you know why? It is because you have your faith line up and the devil wants to stop you. He knows that once you learn how to get your faith line up and keep it up he cannot stop you anymore. Yes, he knows how to cut it. He uses circumstance and situations where the grace and power of patience must operate.
Patience is being and acting the same way when the tire is flat as you did before it went flat. “Brother Willis, suppose I don’t feel like it inside?” Don’t tell the devil. Don’t be a tattletale. He doesn’t know how you feel inside if you don’t tell him. Under your breath say, “Lord, forgive me for the way I feel inside, but I’m going to put it on for the devil. Hallelujah! Praise God!” He doesn’t know unless you tell him with your own mouth.
If you come in tomorrow afternoon and the refrigerator is out, the devil does not know if it is bothering you unless you tell him with your mouth or by your actions. Maybe you will arrive at the house and you will reach into your pocket and the house key will not be there. You say, “Honey, do you have the key?” “No, I don’t have it.” “Well, where is it?” “It was on the cabinet.” “Well, why didn’t you get it?” The devil just laughs and says, “Look at them. That gets them every time.” He and his demons just sit off on the side and laugh. “They are Christians — Holy Ghost Christians. All I have to do is set up two or three little schemes a day and they will blow it. They will gripe, grumble, and mumble. They think they are going to win people to Jesus.”
The devil doesn’t do that to me anymore. All he ever gets out of me is, “Glory! Hallelujah! Praise God!”
When he comes around me I put him in hot water. He poured it on me for many years and now I pour it on him. “How do you pour it on him, Brother Willis?” By glorying in tribulations, rejoicing in the Lord always, and counting it all joy. Until you do this, dear Christian friend, he is going to use circumstances and situations and difficulties to knock you loose from your faith line.
B. LONGSUFFERING
If Satan cannot get you with situations or circumstances he will work on you in your response to people. This involves the grace of longsuffering. He will test your actions during ill treatment from people. Self-restraint in the face of provocation is that which does not retaliate. For instance, say that you just went and spent $25 on your hair and you went to your place of worship. One of the sisters said, “When are you going to get your hair fixed?” You will say to yourself, “I wonder if she has looked in the mirror lately!” You just got terribly upset and the devil said, “I get them on that every time.” Maybe someone will say, “Isn’t that dress a little short on you? Are you gaining a little weight?” You will retaliate, “Why certainly not. Have you weighed yourself lately?” The devil laughs and says, “Look at them.”
Sister, you have worked all day long at home and your husband comes in and props his feet up and you say, “Honey, do you notice anything different?” He immediately says, “No.” You complain, “That’s just like a man. A woman’s work is never done.” Then you begin to steam and give him the old silent treatment. The devil is sitting off on the sidelines saying, “I get her that way every time.” Maybe you are at home having a beautiful day with the Lord. Oh, God is just blessing you and the devil knows it. However, over on the job the boss is working your husband over, and everything is going wrong. The car breaks down before he gets home. He walks in and says, “Well, what are you smiling so much about? If I didn’t have anything to do but just hang around the house all day long I would be alright too.” You blow your stack and the devil says, “Got her again.
Dear brother, you have been faithful on your job and you have not been late in five years. You walk in one minute late one morning and the boss says, “It’s about time you got here.” You say, “Sure, I have been faithful for five years and I’m one minute late and he comes in griping.” You are not being longsuffering. Rejoice in the Lord when? Count it all joy when? Glory in tribulations when? Always! If you don’t do it always, the grace of longsuffering is not working toward people and your faith line will get cut. Alright, the devil has two ways to cut it: through circumstances and situations or through people.
The grace of patience operates constantly in circum-stances. We are to rejoice in the Lord always, in every circumstance and situation. You must praise and glorify the Lord. The grace of longsuffering operates with people. The devil knows that certain people can say just anything to you and it will upset you. They can look at you and smile and it just grinds your insides. Don’t think that Satan is ignorant of this fact. He knows you have your faith line up so he is out there working on those ceratin people so they will come and touch your little button to cause you to blow the whole deal. If there is an area in which you do not have victory, this means that the devil is manipulating and controlling you by pushing a certain button, or a certain circumstance, or using a certain person to control that area of your life. He knows if one situation does not get you, he will hit you with two or three things that day.
Have you ever said, “When it rains, it pours?” The devil says, “Yeah, that’s right.” You get what you say. Maybe you have confessed, “It seems like when one thing happens everything starts happening.” The devil says, “Yes, it sure does. Yo have just given me the words to work with.”
When you have your faith line up, the devil wants to stop you. Is your husband saved by faith? Are your finances met by faith? Are you healed by faith? Is your son saved by faith? Do you have a promotion by faith? Are your bills paid by faith? If you have claimed any of the preceding, the devil wants to stop you. He will begin to work in circumstances and situations to get to you. For example, old Joe has had a rough day and the devil knows it. He also knows that Joe works over in the area you work in. That afternoon he is on his way home and the devil gets him to stop off at the local beer joint. He doesn’t leave until ten o’clock, and you are headed home also. Joe is so drunk that he doesn’t see that red light and just runs right through it and plows into your car. Oh, you get all riled up.
“Brother Willis, do you think the devil works that way?” I know he works that way. You must get your shield out, Christian friend. He will come at you any way he can to cut your faith line. Do you know the number one area he uses constantly? He turns husbands against wives and wives against husbands. He also uses moms and dads to provoke the kids. The main place where faith must operate is within your own household. This might be a little difficult to believe, but if you will listen to me and start watching you will find out where the devil turns you on and off. There are certain ways that you do not particularly like to be treated and the devil will make sure that someone treats you that way. Maybe he will sit on your bedside tonight while you are sleeping and gouge you. You will wake up sleepy and you will jump on your husband in the morning. While the kids are at school he will be there causing the other children to jump on them so that your kids will come home all riled up to aggravate you. Why does he do this? He wants to cut your faith line.
C. ENDURANCE
Patience works in circumstances and situations. Longsuffering responds to people. Endurance is the holding power in a prolonged stress period. The devil is going to bombard you, hit you, and attack you. He is not going to hit you only one time, he is going to hit you and hit you until he finds out that he cannot knock you down. He will continue to attack until he learns that you are going to stand, and then he will still come back and strike you again. Endurance is the holding power, operating in prolonged stress periods, that undergirds and supports a correct action in situations, and provokes a proper response toward people you encounter.
Getting your faith answer is the easy part. However, the Word must be down inside of you so that you will be able to hold out when the devil causes circumstances and people to come against you.
Chapter II
THE COOPERATING POWERS ROLE
Let us look at how the cooperating powers assist and support you during Satan’s attack upon your end of the faith line. Satan cannot get to God. He cannot do anything with Him. When you are believing God and you have your faith up, Satan cannot get to God so he has to get to you. He has to disconnect that channel. As long as a spark plug wire is connected to a spark plug it will work. If your faith line is up you are in business. God is working. God will not override your husband’s will. However, if you have your faith line up God has something to work with, and He will begin to work in circumstances and situations to bring your husband to the place where he will throw his arms up and say, “Jesus, save me.”
Maybe you have your financial needs met by faith. God isn’t going to rain any counterfeit money down! However, if you will keep your faith working, He will begin to work in circumstances and situations to get you a promotion. He might bring a new company in town to get you a job. He may even deal with your boss to resign and go into business for himself so that you will be able to get his promotion. Maybe He will bring new contracts and sales to you so that you can make more money. God can work in many ways. However, you have to keep your faith line up.
As long as you believe your loved one is saved God has something to work with. Your faith line is up. However, the minute the devil cuts your faith line there is no connection and God stops working on your behalf. When your faith line is up for your healing God is working. I receive my healings by faith even when I am hurting down here. However, if I keep my faith line up, the next thing I know, God has brought the fact to line up with my faith.
This is how most Christians act. They receive their faith answer and get all excited. The devil knows it too, so he bombards them with circumstances, situations, and people. They need to learn to get patience operating and to undergird it with endurance. Lastly, they should start saying, “I have it! It is mine!,” even though the devil is hitting them. Their faith answer will then be manifested.
At this point I will briefly review what I have said so far. Anything you desire, believe you receive it in the faith world, in the heavenlies or the spirit world, because faith is a spiritual truth. You have received your answer by faith. However, a faith answer in the heavenlies will not help your billfold or your husband down here. Satan cannot work on God, so he has to work on you. This is when the graces that God has given you must come into operation. Endurance is the foundation which helps you to stick, to stay, and to hold.
The devil has two ways to work on your faith line. He uses circumstances and situations. The grace of patience enables you to act the same way always. It does not matter how big the problem is or what anybody says about you. You just keep your faith line up. Satan, with his storms and problems, is trying to cause your faith line to wiggle and fall, but when your faith is operating you can say, “It is mine. I don’t care what you do, devil, it is mine, I received it when I prayed and I guarantee you I am going to get it down here. You can fight me all you want to, but I have it.” Be stubborn like an old mule. Some people are trying to take giant steps and the devil hits them and down they go. Take your time and get the Scriptures settled inside. Tell Satan things such as, “I have it. It is mine. My husband is saved. I don’t care what happens, he is saved.” If you get a letter from your son in California and he said, “I hate you. I am never coming home,” just refuse it and say, “Devil, you are a liar. He is saved.” “…He does love me…he will line up with the Word of God.”
Maybe your husband will be gone two days and the next time you see him he is drunk and snarls at you. Dear wife, just say, “Praise God! He is saved.” Perhaps you go outside, crank your car up, and the motor suddenly blows up. Say, “Praise God! I have a new one. It is on the way.” The boss says, “I am going to fire you.” Say, “Praise God! I have a better job…I am trusting God.”
Friend, hold onto the Word of God and don’t let circumstances and situations get to you. As you go along and a circumstance starts hitting you, or people start talking about you, just confess, “I will not turn loose, it is mine. He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world. I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus. Jesus always causes me to triumph. My husband was saved when I prayed and I want to tell you, devil, I will never let go. You just stick around and I guarantee you, you will see him praising God. I got my bills paid off when I prayed.” You are going to have to learn to act this way, because when you start believing God, the devil is going to come against you from every side. If you have not been holding out, realize what has been happening to you. You have been getting your answer, but you have been losing out in not counting it all joy. You are supposed to glory in tribulations. Patience acts the same when the tire is flat as when it is not, when the car is running and when it is not, when your husband does treat you like you want him to and when he does not, and when your kids are good and when they are bad. The next thing you know, the world and the devil will think you are ridiculous. You will not make any sense to them. You do not react the way they think you are suppose to. You do not react the way they taught you, because you have been taught by a new Teacher. You are not living according to the old rules of the world. The old way says, “If someone says something bad to you, straighten them up. If they hit you, hit them back. If they talk about you, talk back.” The Bible says that if they hit you on one cheek, turn the other cheek. It does not say to hit them back. It says to go the second mile. Forgive them seventy times seven times. Remember, you are learning a new way of living. You are learning how to hold and the devil knows it, so he will bring circumstances, situations, and people against you. There is no other way he can upset you, and it is the only way he can get to you. He is the god of this world, so he can use the people of the world. He will use the economic system to get to God’s people as he sits back and laughs. He says, “I use a little ad in the paper about the social security being in trouble and look at God’s people. I cause a little problem around the world causing stock to go down and God’s people start worrying.”
Not long ago, many troubles occurred and God’s people were shaky. The devil sat off on the sideline knowing he had created a little circumstance to shake a big number of Christians. They got back into the natural and began plotting, planning, scheming, and conniving again about how they were going to make it. They got right back into their old rut and the devil just sat back and laughed. All he had to do was to shake Wall Street and so many Christians flunked the test. All he has to do is get a few companies to close up and many of God’s children get nervous and cannot sleep at night like in their past. He works just a little here and a little there.
Chapter III
THE COOPERATING POWERS’ DEVELOPMENT
These cooperating powers must be developed. How are you going to develop them? Romans 10:17 states that, “FAITH COMETH BY HEARING AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD.” You may wonder why you must study the Word. You must study the Word of God so that you can get enlightened by it. Studying the Word will renew your mind and get God’s language into your head. Then God will have something to communicate to you with. “FAITH COMES BY HEARING, AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD.”
“Brother Willis, how am I going to develop this staying power, this sticking power?” Take the Word of God and start confessing it. Tell yourself things such as: “HE THAT IS IN ME IS GREATER THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD (I John 4:4). I AM MORE THAN A CONQUEROR THROUGH CHRIST JESUS (Romans 8:37). I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME (Philippians 4:13).” How does faith come? It comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. As you begin to hear the Word with your inner ear, it begins to build inside of you. Most of God’s children do not confess the Word with their mouths. Therefore, faith does not come and their minds are not renewed. If you sincerely want faith to start working, you have to open your mouth and start confessing the Scripture. Do you need a healing? Confess, “BY HIS STRIPES I AM HEALED” (I Peter 2:24) during the daytime while you are around the house. Say, “GOD SENT HIS WORD AND HEALED ME” (Psalm 107:20). “JESUS BORE MY SICKNESSES, MY INFIRMITIES AND MY WEAKNESSES AT CALVARY” (Matthew 8:17). As you confess it with your mouth you hear it with your inner ear, and it drops down in your heart.
Have you ever noticed that one of the hardest things to do is to confess the Word by yourself? Do you feel strange when you begin to confess God’s Word? Do you feel as if you would like to shut up because you do not particularly want to say it? Do you know why the devil makes you feel that way? He wants to stop you from saying the Word so you will not hear it. He knows that as you begin to say the Word regularly it will become stronger inside of you. God inside of you will then get bigger than the problem outside. It works this way because, “FAITH COMES BY HEARING, AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD.” You have to hear the Word over and over and over until you are almost tired of hearing it. Then you will hear it some more until it cures you. You will hear it until you know it and like it.
Eating ice cream every day soon gets old and you will end up not wanting it for a long time. However, it works in reverse with the Word. If you are at the place in your Christian life where you hear a lot of the Word and you do not really care to hear it anymore, you have not gone far enough yet, because the Word works in reverse from the natural laws. In the natural, when you hear something so much you get tired of hearing it. However, when you begin to get the Word of God inside of you, the more you hear it, the more you want to hear it. I like to confess that, “HE THAT IS IN ME IS GREATER THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD.” Every time I say it something inside of me jumps!
You may say, “But, Brother Willis, it doesn’t happen to me.” That is because you have not said it enough to where it is built up inside of you. You have said it just enough to get tired of it, and the devil stops you. You say, “I am tired of saying that. I have said it a hundred times. I have been confessing that for four years and it has not done anything yet.” That is why it has done nothing. You just said it has not done anything and the devil says, “That is right. It is not going to work for you. It only works for Brother Willis.” God says He is not a respecter of persons. Therefore, if you want faith built in any particular area, get about ten index cards with Scriptures pertaining to that area, and quote them aloud every day for about 365 days. Most Christians run out of gas in about three days and they wonder why it doesn’t work.
“Well, Brother Willis, when do I stop quoting it?” Stop quoting it when the man inside of you jumps every time you hear it. When this happens you will not want to stop doing it. You will like to have them jump so you will just keep on. It is a never ending process, because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. If you are having difficulties with finances, I will tell you why. It is because you have not confessed the Scriptures on prosperity enough to where it has lodged down inside of you so that it can override what you see outside. I have confessed the Scripture, “MY GOD SHALL SUPPLY ALL MY NEEDS ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES IN GLORY BY CHRIST JESUS” (Philippians 4:19) until these words inside of me are bigger than if I had 100 check books and all of them said zero and I owed $10,000. I would look at the check books stating zero, then I would look at the $10,000 worth of statements, and the Word inside of me would say, “Don’t believe that.” However, until you say that Word and quote it so much until it gets inside of you, you will look at the check book and the bills and say, “I missed it somewhere. I don’t know what is wrong.”
Are you having problems with being up and down? I will tell you what your problem is. You are not confessing the Word. You are not confessing the overcoming Scriptures. Maybe you confess the Word sometimes. Then the devil attacks you with two or three incidents and your faith line drops. Keep on confessing that Word until it gets inside of you. Then if fifty people say all manner of things about you, you will just say, “Well, bless their hearts. They just don’t know better. They are letting the devil use them, but I still love them. Father, bless them in the Name of Jesus.”
“Well, Brother Willis, is that a conceited attitude?” No! The Word inside of you makes you hold on to the Scriptures which you have confessed. However, if you do not get that Word inside of you, the circumstances and the situations will become bigger than the Word and your faith line will fall.
Here are a few Scriptures. Luke 8:15 says, “…BRING FORTH FRUIT WITH PATIENCE.” “What does it mean by fruit, Brother Willis?” For an example, let us say you have prayed the prayer of faith for your husband to be saved. When his salvation is manifested, that is the fruit of your prayer. When you have prayed for your bills to be paid off and they are paid off, that is the fruit of your prayer. If you pray for your son to start serving Jesus, when he is serving Jesus, that is the fruit of your prayer. When you pray for your healing and the pain leaves, that is the fruit of your prayer. God says to “…BRING FORTH FRUIT WITH PATIENCE.” The Bible uses the word patience, but the undergirding word is endurance. However, patience must abound also. Patience is the way you act in situations. Long-suffering is the way you act every day with people. When the power of patience is operating you are the same in every situation that comes against you.
Let us say you have been wanting a dress you saw downtown. It costs $50 and you have really been desiring it. Do you act the same way if you get it as when you cannot? I know about these things. I remember when I went into the ministry, my mother bought me a black suit, and that is all I had. I had just faced 60 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, so I had nothing. I did not even have a suit when I told a preacher I was going to start preaching. I bought a pair of grey pants and another tie. About three months later I got a grey suit. That way I could where the grey suit and the black suit, switch pants and coats, and have four changes. I bought that grey suit at Steins and I was so proud of it. It cost $40! I was as proud of that one as I am now of a $125 one. Do you know what happened? I only had that suit a couple of weeks and a nail snagged it. I did not know anything about patience then, I just did the best I could. Listen, brothers and sisters, I have been there too. I know how it is to be there, but I know that faith will bring you from there to where I am today. We must “BRING FORTH FRUIT WITH PATIENCE.” When situations such as this one come my way now I say, “Devil, you are crazy to think you can bother me. I am not going to let you do anything that will interfere with my faith or with my relationship with God. Listen devil, I am going to laugh a little bit more for you. Ha, ha, ha.”
You may say, “Brother Willis, you sound like you are crazy.” Friend, if you will do the same thing to the devil, he will leave you alone more and more. If you get around someone who acts like they are crazy, you don’t like to stay around them, do you? Well, the devil gets around me and I just go into a tantrum — a Holy Ghost, shouting, praising God tantrum! How long do you think he stays around? He leaves because I just laugh and laugh.
Luke 21:19 says, “IN YOUR PATIENCE POSSESS YE YOUR SOULS.” What is your soul? That is your mind, will, and emotions. Through the powers of endurance, patience, and long-suffering you control your mind, your will, and your emotions. You quit letting the devil control it. He controls 99% of Christians’ souls 99% of the time because he works in circumstances and knocks them down. He also uses other people on them to knock them down. Dear Christian friend, I want you to remember this verse. It says, “IN YOUR PATIENCE, IN YOUR ENDURANCE, IN YOUR LONG-SUFFERING YOU CONTROL YOUR MIND, YOU CONTROL YOUR WILL, YOU CONTROL YOUR EMOTIONS.” When you snag that suit or that new dress, you control yourself and say, “Glory! Hallelujah! Praise God! I am in control! I rejoice in the Lord! I count it all joy!” You control yourself, you possess yourself. However, most of you do that a while, then the devil takes over because you lose control. You are a Christian and you are supposed to be rejoicing, but instead you let the devil take control. When he uses a flat tire, some people lose all of their control. If someone says something to them they do not like, they are mad for a month!
Many believe that Romans 5:3 says, “Knowing that tribulation worketh faith.” Friend, if tribulations and troubles built faith we would all have a greater faith than Jesus. Troubles do not build your faith. The Bible says that “FAITH COMES BY HEARING AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD.” The Word is faith food. Food for your body is one thing and food for your spirit is another. The natural food of the earth feeds your body and gives you strength. The Word of God feeds your spirit and your faith operates to produce. Romans 5:3 says, “…KNOWING THAT TRIBULATION WORKETH PATIENCE.” Patience cannot operate unless it has something to operate against. Most people say, “I just wish I could be more patient.” God says, “All right,” and He backs off and the devil hits you. God says, “You wanted to be more patient. Here is your opportunity.” How can you be patient unless you have a situation or a circumstance to be patient in? You cannot exercise patience for a flat tire when it is not flat. You cannot exercise longsuffering if everybody says only good things about you.
The only time long-suffering can come into play is when someone is coming against you. The only time patience can come into operation is when circumstances and situations are coming against you. Anyone can rejoice when everything is going your way. That is the test. That is when patience and long-suffering and the power of endurance takes hold. You want to have patience, don’t you? Well, get ready for problems! How can you be patient without them? God has been giving you various opportunities to exercise patience and you have been blowing every one of them. You want to be long-suffering, don’t you? How can you learn to be long-suffering with people if people don’t jump on you? How can you find out if you have it or not? You cannot find out until something that you do not like happens to you. I am long-suffering because I get checked out very often.
“Brother Willis, do you ever get upset?” Well, sure. “What do you do, Brother Willis?” I go to I John 1:9 and say, “Father, in Jesus’ Name I ask You to forgive me. Forgive me for acting the way I did and for saying what I said. I had no business doing it.” Friend, I am quick to repent.
This is what happens, you have your faith line up and the devil starts hitting it. He knocks it down a little. When he does this, be quick to repent. Say, “Father, forgive me.” If you were in your car right now going to Houston and you ran out of gas, you would not have to go all the way back home. You would just go to the nearest service station, get some gas, and go on. However, if you blew a motor, chances are, you would have to go back. In other words, if you blow the whole situation completely, you have to go back and say, “Father, in the Name of Jesus, forgive me.” Next, just claim it again, get your faith line up, and go on. If you are going along and just have a flat tire, you do not have to start all over. You have an extra, don’t you? You have I John 1:9 to confess and get your faith line back up. Christian friend, Satan is going to attack you, but you do not have to start over just for a flat tire or for running out of gas. However, if you blow the motor you will have to go back and start all over again.
Romans 8:25 says, “BUT IF WE HOPE FOR THAT WE SEE NOT, THEN DO WE WITH PATIENCE WAIT FOR IT.” Faith gets what you are hoping for. When you have something by faith, you are hoping to get that which you do not see. Then wait for it with patience.
James 1:3 says, “…THE TRYING OF YOUR FAITH WORKETH PATIENCE.” When your faith is tried it works patience. You learn that you can stand. You find out that you can endure. As your faith is tried and you hold and hold some more, the next thing you know you say, “Praise God! I can believe God for anything. I can hold because He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world.” Patience is working in you, along with endurance, steadfastness, and longsuffering. It does not make any difference what the circumstance is or what people do to you. Just say, “I believe God, I am going all the way with God, I am not going to let anything stop me.”
James 1:4 says, “BUT LET PATIENCE HAVE HER PERFECT WORK…”, Hebrews 6:12 says, “…THROUGH FAITH AND PATIENCE INHERIT THE PROMISES.” Through faith and impatience you get nothing. Through faith and patience, through faith and endurance, through faith and long-suffering, you get the promises. You receive the answer by faith. However, to get the fact, patience, long-suffering, and endurance must hold out. If faith, patience, and long-suffering are not operating you will not get anything, dear Christian friend. This is where you have been missing it. I missed it for years before I found out, but you can learn from my mistakes. You can be teachable and learn very quickly.
Hebrews 6:15 says, “AND SO, AFTER HE HAD PATIENTLY ENDURED, HE OBTAINED THE PROMISE.” When did he get the promise? After he endured. “Well, what if you don’t patiently endure, Brother Willis?” Some people endure, alright. Some people endure people, but they are not long-suffering about it. When you are enduring a situation with patience you are smiling and praising God. On the other hand, if you are just enduring it you are not smiling. There is a difference between enduring and patiently enduring. Maybe you have not been long-suffering with people, but you have just been putting up with them. Long-suffering means you act toward them in tough times the same way you do when everything is going smooth. There is a difference. The Word says, “AFTER HE HAD PATIENTLY ENDURED,” after he had endured properly, then he obtained the promise.
Hebrews 10:35-36 says, “CAST NOT AWAY THEREFORE YOUR CONFIDENCE, WHICH HATH GREAT RECOMPENSE OF REWARD. FOR YE HAVE NEED OF PATIENCE, THAT, AFTER YE HAVE DONE THE WILL OF GOD, YE MIGHT RECEIVE THE PROMISE.” You will receive the promise after you have done the will of God and by believing you received it when you prayed. After you have done the will of God, you have need of patience. Let us go to the 38th verse. “NOW THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH: BUT IF ANY MAN DRAW BACK, (turn back, give in) MY SOUL SHALL HAVE NO PLEASURE IN HIM.”
When you let the devil override your faith line the Father says, “Son, I love you. Daughter, I love you. Do you not believe? Do not let the devil do you that way. Do not disappoint Me that way. Do not embarrass My Word that way.” Hold. Cast not away your confidence, dear Christian. When you pray, at that moment you have great confidence, right? Have you ever noticed that when you first pray for something you are so excited? What happens two or three weeks later? The Word says not to throw away your confidence. Do not give up. Hold fast!
