I really do not like to have this discussion because there are others that explain it so well and so plainly that I'm like, if you cannot see it from their work, you certainly aren't going to get it from me. I am just not as eloquent or as knowledgeable. Ha! Knowledgeable...yea, there's a misnomer for me. If God had to send me to explain this - Word of Faith - to you: You, my friend, are in serious trouble. But here I go and I will tell you my story. Let's change that word (story) to experience. I will tell you my life experience. Story somehow infers that it is just that...something you would read in a book, might be true - might not be true. Faith is true.
Romans 10:17(KJV)
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
I was fortunate to attend for a brief time in my life a church that taught "Word of Faith." They were great and awesome at Bible teaching and still are. If you are ever in Lakeland, FL, I highly suggest to you that if you want to attend a church that really seeks to let the Lord have the service then you need to go to this church - Believer's Fellowship. There are others too, but my life experience involves them. I cannot speak as to the others only to what I know.
At one point in my life, I found myself searching for more. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior at six years of age. I grew up and at the age of 17 found myself flat on my back down for the count. For the next year of my life, I would spend it recovering from a major surgery that went bad and it took over a year for the wound from that surgery to heal. During this time was when I started questioning why was I here on planet Earth. I knew Jesus, but I did not know Jesus and Jesus did not know me. As a Christian, I believe I was saved when I asked Jesus in my heart but Jesus kind of expects us to do a little more than just go to church on Sunday, pray, read our Bibles and that's knowing Jesus. No, that is not knowing Jesus. Knowing Jesus means spending time in His Word, researching, finding out if the Bible is true or not, but most of all, personal relationship. Spending time talking with Him. The Lord, the creator of the Universe, and listening and more than listening, obeying Him. How can we know it is Him? It will never go against His Word. So, my little surgery fiasco sent me on a path of exploring to find a deeper relationship with the Lord.
As most people do, I tried things and went places on this journey of life, and all I can say is God protected me from my stupidity. I went with a friend to a bar, yea, shock, a bar. GASP!!! Not just a bar but a strip bar because well, never mind...but needless to say, I was there because those people looked like they were having fun. Not understanding personality types and characteristic traits because I was too young and had no teaching in those areas, I went along with a friend. I wanted to have fun. I wanted to be like those people who seemed carefree except, older and wiser now, I see just how carefree they are not. But I could not even have 'fun' there...I would sit there and watch, still the same me; still quiet, boring me, not laughing, certainly not having fun, and it was just loud and noisy and smoky and NO! I was not having a good time! But the worst part, the worst part was sitting there and hearing Jesus very quietly say in to my ear "You know, you're really not supposed to be here." And I'd sit and watch my friend have a good time, but I was the wallflower. I was the one who got overlooked. And I was not having fun and Thank God, He was protecting me. But I still heard His voice "You know, you really do not belong here..." and shame.
So, it did not take me long in this phase of life to get past this and really, it was not my cup of tea. I had seen personally the ravages drugs and alcohol can do in peoples' lives and I just really did not want it. As stated above, I could have chosen that path. Thank God I did not. I went back to church, but sitting there, I was like - there has got to be more than this. And that sent me exploring for more and I started attending other denominations. I also started taking Tae Kwon Do and I found myself with a divine appointment.
My instructors in TKD were Christians. It was through them that I started attending BF. I attended other churches but it either scared me or it was just the same, that feeling that there had to be more out there. Where was this resurrection power the Bible talked about? The Holy Spirit moving through people...Before I came to Believer's Fellowship though, I went with a friend, a different friend, to a service where they taught the subject of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues and then they prayed for you to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I had prayer and I did as instructed by them; and not really knowing what to expect, I just told the Lord that I really did not understand all of this. But if He thought it was good for me I would like to have it and if it was not something good for me or that I needed, then I was okay with that too. I went home, not having received the evidence of the indwelling, and went to sleep. I woke myself up at midnight, sitting up in bed and speaking in tongues.
Well now, this is a predicament because they don't speak in tongues in the church that I attended. In fact, it was kind of looked down upon. It was then I decided to try the church my TKD instructor had told me about and the minute I walked in that building, you could feel the presence of the Lord. I know, we don't live by feelings. But there was a lifeforce, energy, almost like when you feel static electricity in the air and I knew there was something different. The people had a driving force, alive energy, not the usual - let's hurry up and get this done with so we can go home and eat or snooze or whatever, kind of like the walking dead. There's no faking it. It's either there or not there. And while we do not necessarily look for that experience and say they have it and others don't, that's not true because we do not live by our feelings, but that church - that church was/is different and the reason why is because they were obedient to follow how the Holy Spirit was leading. It makes all the difference in the world when you have a pastor who will follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, Pastor Wayne (now retired) would say, "We're just going to worship the Lord. The Holy Spirit is moving through the music, we're just going to go with it." ; or he would say, "we're going to pray. Let's just stay in this prayerful state." And we did. Other times, it would be "right in to the Word" and he would preach/teach. It was always about obedience though and we were blessed because when you are obedient to obey the Lord, Jesus will bless your socks off.
Pastor Wayne has a book "One Chance in a Thousand" and I encourage you to buy it and read his autobiography of how God got ahold of him and changed his life. Pastor Wayne studied Reverend Kenneth E. Hagin, Senior's teachings. Now if you know anything about Word of Faith, you will know that Reverend Hagin is considered to be the father of the Word of Faith movement. People kind of diss him too saying he was wrong. His teachings were wrong. As Pastor Wayne always says, "take time to find out if the Bible is true." So, not to doubt Pastor Wayne, but also not really knowing how to answer people when they would make statements about Reverend Hagin, I decided for myself to do one of Reverend Hagin's studies and find out if he twisted scripture. I am happy to report he did not and if you will take time to read the Bible, study out what is being said, you will find out too that Word of Faith is true. I recommend you start off with "The Believer's Authority" which will quickly teach you who you are in Christ and why you can be confident that God will supply what you need and then some. Why you too can be confident in the promises that God gives you in His Word, the Holy Bible.
I sincerely hope you will take time out to read God's Word, read it out loud to yourself so your self can hear it. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. After which you will find your self saying to those circumstances in your life, "be gone, in the name of Jesus." " Peace be still to the storm." You will also know when the enemy is trying to deceive you with falsehood because you have studied God's Word so you will know when someone twist scripture. And let me just make the final statement that "Word of Faith" is not just about prosperity. There is a 'prosperity' message that is in doctrinal error. People term it "Word of Faith" which is absolutely wrong to do so because "Word of Faith' is totally about, to quote Pastor Wayne Friedt again, "believing what our Bible says more than what we can see, touch, taste, hear or feel." In other words, we're going to believe our Bible no matter what. The Bible is true. The Word of God is everlasting. It never returns void. It affects change. Speak scripture over your life. See if God is not who He says He is. Never is there a better time to start than right now.
