The Power of Faith
     Few things in this world are more powerful, and few things in this world have so confounded the world as faith. But what is faith? What is its power? What does it mean to have faith, and how does its measure affect our lives? These are the questions we will seek to answer in this treatise.

Faith is Trust
     Faith in its most basic understanding carries the meaning of trusting. Faith takes many different forms. Almost every activity in life requires a level of faith, most of the time without our even thinking about it. For example: Based on past experiences and understanding, when I sit down in a chair, I am trusting that it will hold my weight and not break from beneath me.
    But according to Scripture, faith is equivalent to power and can open many doors. It was faith that enabled our Master Yahshua the Messiah to heal – both His faith, and the subjects of His ministry. Faith was crucial to everything Yahshua taught and every miracle He performed. “For he who comes to Elohim must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Heb. 11:6) – faith, without which it is not possible to please Him. (New American Standard Bible used throughout, unless otherwise noted.)
    And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven,” Matthew 18:2-4.
    With regard to faith, we need to be as humble, little children … trusting Yahweh, as a child does his parents. We need to have faith that Yahweh knows best and that He is leading us correctly. And much like a child believes that their mother or father can heal their wounds, so, too, must we believe in Yahweh’s power to heal.
    This is the faith we see, every time Yahshua healed someone of their ailments. Let’s look at a few examples: In Matthew 8:5-13, we read of an example of healing by faith. The centurion’s faith was marked by his trust that Yahshua could heal his servant with but a word, spoken in authority. He knew and understood how authority works, having authority himself.
    In Matthew 9:27-29 we read, As Yahshua went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Yahshua said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Master.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith, Matthew 9:27-29.
    Yahshua went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and [began] to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Master, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and [began] to bow down before Him, saying, “Master, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Master; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Yahshua said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once, Matthew 15:21-28.
    Like the centurion of our first example, this woman of Canaan hailed from a pagan culture, yet Yahshua acknowledged her faith. Interestingly, Yahshua perceived a stronger faith come of those to whom He had not been sent (the gentiles) than from His own people, the Jews. What prompted Yahshua to grant this Canaanite woman’s petition, was her understanding of a Torah principle: That the promise of blessing was given fi rst to Israel (Rom. 3:1-2), but that Israel was purposed to become a blessing to the nations … a light drawing in the nations (Gen. 18:18; Deut. 4:5-8; Gal. 3:8). This woman appreciated that by faith, she could receive a blessing.
    When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Yahshua seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but Elohim alone?” Immediately Yahshua, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying Elohim, saying, “We have never seen anything like this,” Mark 2:1-12.
    What sets the centurion, the Canaanite woman, and the four men bearing the paralytic apart from other subjects of Yahshua’s ministry, is that they believed Yahshua would honor their entreaties in the behalf of others.
    Did you notice, “Yahshua seeing their faith?” This is what makes prayer effectual. Because Yahweh can use another’s posture of faith through their intercession to accomplish a work according to His will. This is also what happens when we summon the Elders to be anointed for healing (James 5:14-15). The Elders’ prayer is offered in faith. However, one ought not to rely solely upon their faith. He for whom prayer is offered should also believe and have faith that Yahweh will work through the Elders for his healing.
    It is the opinion of this writer, that if one comes to the Elders for prayer, but reserves his intention to seek the intervention of a physician, his faith may be questionable. We are informed by the writer James, But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Master, [being] a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, James 1:6-8.
    Don’t make the mistake of King Asa about whom it is recorded, “became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek Yahweh, but the physicians, so Asa slept with his fathers …” (2 Chron. 16:12, 13). Indeed,
    Thus saith Yahweh, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from Yahweh. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, and a land of salt without inhabitant. Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh and whose trust is Yahweh. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the head comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit, Jeremiah 17:5-8.
    The Evangelist Luke provides us with yet another example:
    And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. And Yahshua said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.” But Yahshua said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.” When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, Luke 8:43-48.

The “ACCORDING TO” of Grace and Faith
     Every gift that is received from Above is always according to the Grace that is given, and according to the proportion of our faith (Rom. 12:6). Consider the last thing Yahshua said in these narratives: It was always according to the measure of the recipient’s faith.
    As an aside, in the case of the woman suffering from a chronic hemorrhaging, her “touch[ing] the fringe of His cloak” is a direct allusion to Malachi 4:2: But for you who fear My Name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. “Wings” is H.3671, kanaph (kaw-naf’), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, which means “edge or extremity … (of a garment or bed-clothing) flap.”
    What was it that the woman touched again? The fringes or tassels of His garment which would have been His kanaph, “wings.”

Emunah!
     The Hebrew word for faith is Strong’s, H.530, Emunah (em-oo-naw’), which means “firmness, (figuratively) security, faith, (morally) fidelity” and rendered in the text, as faith (-ful, -ly, -ness, [man]), set office, stability, steady, truly, truth. The word Amein shares the same primitive root as emunah. The Greek equivalent to emunah is the word, pistis. Emunah is a verb … an action word. Faith then, is action … expressed very well in Habakkuk 2:4: Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith. Faith is living. It’s a daily action. Simply believing mentally isn’t enough. Thus, the reason James says, Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, [being] by itself. (Read James’ complete discourse on the subject in chapter 2, verses 14-26.)
    Now, let us consider some Scriptural examples of Emunah, beginning with Abraham. How did Abraham believe Yahweh? Genesis 26:5 tells us the answer, because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.
    Abraham obeyed Yahweh. Obedience, too, is an action. Abraham trusted Yahweh’s promises and acted upon that trust. He lived according to the faith he held. We see this in the narrative when he moved from Haran to Canaan at Yahweh’s command (Gen. 12:1), and Yahweh rewarded his faith (action) with a promise to give Abraham the land and make his descendants as numerous as the dust on the earth (Gen.13:16-17). Throughout Abraham’s life, we see his faith. Of him, the Apostles Paul gives witness, that,
    He staggered not at the promise of Elohim through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to Elohim; and being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform, Romans 4:20-21, KJV.
    Another example of emunah in action is Noah who, when warned by Yahweh of the coming flood, believed and upon being commanded, built an Ark by which all creatures that had the breath of life would be spared extinction (Gen. 6-8). Had Noah ignored Yahweh’s command to build the ark, he would have shown he did not believe Yahweh’s warning. But because of Noah’s faithful action we are all alive here this day.
    Then, we have Joshua and the people who were commanded by Yahweh to march once around the city of Jericho for six days, and seven times on the seventh day, and then upon a great shout and trumpets blasting were promised the walls would come down. He Who had forty years earlier divided the sea, would now through the faith of blowing the shofarot and with a great shout of the people, bring down the walls of Jericho (Josh. 6).
    A third example of emunah occurred at the River Jordan when the Aramean Naaman who was a leper, obeyed the instruction to dip himself seven times – his washing, symbolizing spiritual perfection – to be cleansed of his affliction (2 Kings 5:1-14).
    Naaman believed the Word of Yahweh spoken by Elisha just like all who were healed by Yahshua Messiah believed and acted upon what was commanded for their healing.
    In the New Testament, we read of a man born blind.
    As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Yahshua answered, “[It was] neither [that] this man sinned, nor his parents; but [it was] so that the works of Yahweh might be displayed in him. We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came [back] seeing.
    The blind man, like Naaman, acted upon the command of Yahshua to go and wash. The man’s reward for his obedience was sight. What I find interesting about this narrative is that Yahshua used clay. Perhaps it may not seem apparent at first, but considering Yahshua made the world including man, and that man was made from the dust of the ground, is it possible that Yahshua created new eyes for the blind man?
    One of the most powerful and symbolic acts of emunah occurs in the matter of the bronze serpent about which we read in Numbers 21:4-9:
    Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against Elohim and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food. Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh and you; intercede with Yahweh, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Make a fiery [serpent], and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
    Yahweh told the people in this incident that if they looked upon the bronze serpent they would live, and those that obeyed, lived. This serpent is also symbolic of Yahshua. Yahshua Himself confirms this in John 3:14 saying As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
    So, too, they who look to Yahshua for salvation, shall be saved.
    In Hebrews, chapter 11, we have provided us a digest a record of several heroes of emunah, and about whom it is written,
    “Who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection …” (Heb. 11:33-34, 35) and of others, too, who were nonetheless faithful, even unto death, and “were tortured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35).

O Ye of Little Faith
     All that has been examined so far, are acts of faith and what defines faith. But Scripture allows accomplishments “according to the proportion of faith” (Rom. 12:6, KJV). We have examples of small faith in Scripture. As in Matthew 8:23-27,
    When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves; but Yahshua Himself was asleep. And they came to [Him] and woke Him, saying, “Save [us], Master; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you timid, you men of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
    The disciples were chided by Yahshua here because of their lack of faith in Yahweh for their safety. We can see the difference in this narrative between small and strong faith by comparing Yahshua to His disciples. While they were panicking Yahshua trusted in Yahweh His Father so much, that He slept without concern for the storm around Him. Fear has torment, and is not of faith (1 John 4:18). Fear comes from a lack of trust in our loving Father in heaven. “But perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). John proceeds to say, that “There is no fear in love … and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”
    The disciples had not yet been perfected in love, because they were fearful and did not trust Yahweh for their safety. And that bespeaks us, sometimes. We, too, experience storms in life where it seems like our proverbial boat is about to sink. So often, we, too, act like the Apostle Peter when he attempted to walk on water. We’ll say, as he, “ Master, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water” (Matt. 14:28). And then, when He says, “Come,” we, like Peter, get out of the boat and proceed to walk on the water to the Master. But then we, as he, “seeing the wind” become frightened, and beginning to sink, we’ll cry out, as he, “Master, save me!” (Matt. 14:30) and receive, as he, His reproof, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt. 14: 31).
    Peter’s mistake, and ours, too, is that he took his eyes off the Master. He was distracted by the storm, and his distraction caused him to sink and fall. We, too, become distracted and take our eyes off the Master, giving more attention to the storm than to the One who protects us through the storm. But just like Peter, when we doubt, if we turn back to Him for help in our turmoil, He will reach out His hand to us and save us. Nevertheless, the fewer times we take our eyes off Him and learn to avoid worldly distractions, the fewer times will we cry out to save us from peril. More noble is he, and more noble is his faith, who can and will, in times of distress, recall the words of Moses’ exhortation to the people after they had crossed the Sea and saw the army of Pharaoh pursuing them, Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of Yahweh, which He will perform for you today, Exodus 14:13.
    Yahweh will fight for us and deliver us. He is our shelter and strong tower. He will not allow us to be tempted or tried beyond our ability (1 Cor. 10:13). So, we should trust Him even when it’s hard.
    Having little faith prevents us from being able to exercise the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit. Though the disciples were sent out, with power to exorcise unclean spirits, their want of faith prevented them from casting out a demon from a young boy.
    When they came to the multitude, a man came up to Him (Yahshua), falling on his knees before Him and saying, “Master, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Yahshua answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Yahshua rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. Then the disciples came to Yahshua privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you,” Matthew 17:14-20.
    “Littleness of your faith?” Yahshua even went so far to emphasize that had they faith but the size of a mustard seed they could remove mountains. A mustard seed is a very tiny seed that’s just a bit bigger than the tip of a ballpoint pin. If faith the size of a mustard seed can remove mountains, imagine what could be accomplished if one had faith the size of a mountain!
    Another thing little faith can prevent is the fullness of its potential being achieved. Mark 8:22-26 supplies us with this example:
    And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to Yahshua and entreated Him to touch him. Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I am seeing [them] like trees, walking about.” Then again, He laid His hands upon his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and [began] to see everything clearly. He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”
    Why did this man need to be touched twice by Yahshua to be healed? Why was his healing only partial after the first time? Perhaps, because his faith was small. A want of faith can affect our prayers from being answered, because we must trust that Yahweh will grant our petition. As we read before in James, a man who doubts must not expect to receive anything from Yahweh (James 1:6).
    A want of faith also causes us to be unfruitful in our walk and hinders our spiritual growth. Little faith takes many forms. Small trust in Yahweh’s power is just one form. Unbelief in His Commandments and Word is another. The Ancient Israelites did not enter into the promised land because of their unbelief.
    Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living Elohim. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is [still] called “Today,” lest any of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Messiah, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, while it is said, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.” For who provoked [Him] when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt [led] by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So, we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief, Hebrews 3:12-19.
    The Epistle to the Hebrews makes it plain that disobedience to Yahweh’s Law is unbelief. Thus, walking in faith is more than just trusting in Yahweh’s power to heal and to save. It is also believing in, and obeying, His Word and His Commandments.

Conclusion: Great is Thy faith
     In contrast to little faith, or even the want of faith, strong faith has the opposite effect. Strong faith gives us power with the Holy Spirit of Yahweh and our fruitfulness will abound day by day and remain, too … even in the face of great trials. The cares of the world and the affairs of life, and the fear these produce will not weigh us down because we believe and trust Yahweh has something better of enduring substance prepared for us.
    We have already examined some great examples of strong faith, but in closing we shall look at a couple more.
From the Book of Daniel, we read an account of king Nebuchadnezzar commanding all his subjects that at whatever time the sound of music should be heard, they should bow down and worship a golden idol he had set up. But the Hebrews, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah defied the king in order to obey Yahweh’s commands, replying to the king,
    O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be [so], our Elohim Whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But [even] if [He does] not, let it be known to you O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up, Daniel 3:16-17.
    The consequence for defiance was known to the three – death by being cast into a fiery furnace. Yet, we see their resolve and response. They were trusting in Yahweh to deliver them knowing He was able to do so, but content dying, if it must be in order to obey Yahweh. They were faithful to the end. These three are an example of incredible faith in action, and their faith was duly noted as they emerged from the midst of the fire with not an “hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them” (Dan. 3:26, 27) in addition to, while enclosed within, “four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire … and the form of the fourth is like the Son of Elohim” (Dan. 3;25). How many of us can say that we would exercise the same resolve, even in the face of death?
    Again, from the Book of Daniel, we read that a decree which no man could nullify, had been issued by Darius that no man should pray to any mighty one but to the king only. But Daniel did not fear but continued to pray to Yahweh three times a day with his face set toward Jerusalem. The punishment for violating the king’s command was being cast into a den of lions, yet Daniel continued to pray trusting Yahweh to deliver him. (You can read this account in Daniel 6:16-23. Daniel was saved by Yahweh because he trusted in Yahweh.
    We should strive to possess such faith like these, our examples, being counted among those of whom this world is not worthy (Heb. 11:38). Faith is an active choice we make, whether that be trusting Yahweh for our healing or for help in times of need, or whether our faith should assume the form of obedience, faithful to the end. The Master said, in Matthew 24:13, But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. Let us make sure our faith endures to the end, trusting and obeying Yahweh, and remember that He works with us and rewards us in a measure – “according to our faith!”
    He who has ears to hear, let him hear!