Faith Comes by Hearing

When I was in the US, a friend came over and shared an amazing testimony with me that really re-affirmed to me the power of hearing God’s Word.

Jon shared that some time back, he developed excruciating pain in his back that would run down his leg.  When the doctors ran tests, they discovered that Jon had two herniated discs that had ruptured.  These discs were pushing on some nerves, causing extreme pain.  Jon was unable to sit.  He would go to work and stand for 8 hours as he worked.  When he came home, he would just lie flat on his back, unable to do anything.  In the middle of the night he would wake up in unbearable pain.

The doctors told Jon, the only cure was surgery.  They said that without surgery, Jon was likely to become paralyzed.  But even with surgery, the prognosis was not good.  Surgery was very risky with a low success rate.  They said even with surgery, there were chances Jon would become paralyzed.

Jon decided against surgery.

Despite the pain, Jon and his wife continued to attend church and continued to pray for a miracle. 

Just as Jon was beginning to feel discouraged and lose hope, the pastor in his church started a series of messages about healing.  For an entire year, every Sunday, the pastor would preach on healing.  And Jon told me that is what made the difference.  During the week, Jon would be in excruciating pain.  And just as he would begin to lose hope, Sunday would roll around and Jon would go to church.  In church, the pastor would preach a fire-filled message on healing.  Jon said, immediately his faith would rise and he would have the hope and strength to face another week.

And as Jon’s faith rose, one day in January, one of the associate pastors in his church had a word of knowledge.  He said, “Someone has a slipped disc problem in the left side.  God is healing it right now!”  And from that moment onwards, Jon’s pain completely disappeared!  Jesus healed him!

In Romans 10:17, the Bible tells us, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  As Jon heard the word of God every Sunday in church, his faith increased.  And eventually he received his miracle.

Many people wonder why they need to attend church.  They say, “I believe in God.  I pray.  That is enough.”  But attending church is important, because there we have the opportunity to hear the word of God.  And that is how faith grows.  And faith is a key ingredient to seeing miracles in our lives.  We should never be satisfied with how much faith we have…we should always want more.  There is no such thing as “too much faith.” 

In addition to attending church to hear the word of God, we also should read His word.  Now, you may say, the scripture says “hearing” results in faith, not “reading.”  But, my little three year old nephew put it best when he said, “When we read the Bible, we are speaking it to our heart!”  So, our heart is hearing the word…and faith comes!

So today, if your faith is weak…if it is wavering…if it is lost…or even if it is strong…I encourage you to “hear” the Word of God.  As you do, faith will come…and when faith comes…so will your miracle!