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           God is always true to His Word because Hebrews 6:18  “it is impossible for God to lie,” so we should act on His promise before seeing the deliverance.  We often hear, “I’ll believe it, when I see it,” but Jesus would not agree with that statement, and told the nobleman John 4:48, “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.”  We will see it, when we believe it first.

            Faith is a factor when all we have are words.  When we hear of an event, but have not seen with our eyes, we have the choice to believe, or not believe, it happened.  God’s Word is a true statement of facts.  If something actually took place, our rejecting it does not change anything—it is still true.  Everything the Bible says about God is true, and everything it says about us is true.

We are to believe the promises in the Bible before we actually see them 2 Corinthians 1:20—promises that say we are delivered when we pray in faith, and then act in faith.  John 14:13 ”Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”  Believing does not perform the healing, because the Atonement of Christ has already paid for the victory.

The spiritual battle with the devil is about faith in the Word of God.  Satan wants to cause doubt, but God wants to inspire faith.  The centurion believed before seeing and replied to Jesus Matthew 8:8 “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.”  He knew that God would back up His Word, and that Jesus would heal his servant.  It is all about whether God was able to make good on His promise.  If He is, then we are to believe the facts, accept His Word, and act in faith.

            When we are willing to believe God first, His Spirit inspires faith in us next, so we can accept the facts.  God says, Do not be afraid, because when fear is rejected, His Word is accepted.  Jehoshaphat had to decide if the victory was already won.  2 Chronicles 20:17 ”You will not have to fight this battle.  Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you.  Believing the facts, granted the victory—25 “they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.”

            When we have confessed our sins to God, we are to act in faith on His Word.  We are not to play sick, but to act well on His Word and promise 2 Corinthians 1:20.  Not acting in faith, is not believing God’s Word.  We are to believe without seeing, because we know that God will back up everything He wrote.  Mark 11:24 ”Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

            It should be the easiest thing to believe God, because His divine love for us, and His awesome power to deliver us, are ready to be given.  When we are willing to believe before seeing, He gives us the power to act on the Word.  God first says do not be afraid, because He conquers the enemy.  2 Chronicles 20:17-18 ”You will not need to fight in this battle.”  It was their decision to accept, or to reject, that promise.  ”Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.”

            They decided to believe before they saw that the battle was won, and the victory given—just as certain as the day they entered the Valley of Praise.  Jehoshaphat told them 2 Chronicles 20:20 to ”Believe in the Lord your God”—before seeing the deliverance.  He urged them to not limit God’s power, but to believe, and choose victory—that is why 26 they assembled in the Valley of Berachah to praise and glorify God.

            The moment God’s Word is accepted as true, His power can work to deliver us—the Atonement sacrifice of His Son guarantees that victory.  God’s Word is a statement of facts, and He is able to make good on every promise—Hebrews 6:18  “it is impossible for God to lie.”

            Believing before seeing example; Matthew 8:5-7 ”When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.  ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.’  Jesus said to him, ‘I will go and heal him.’”  8-9 ”The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.  For I am a man under authority.”

            The centurion probably had things in his life to correct and sins to confess—like all of us, but with one statement of faith, on believing before seeing, he is promised salvation.  Jesus’ reply speaks volumes of truth.  Matthew 8:10 ”When Jesus heard this, he was astonished [marveled] and said to those following him, ‘I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

            11-13 ”I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.  And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”

            When we are willing to believe God’s Word without seeing first, everything else will adjust itself.  We may ask others to join us in prayer for the victory, or fast and pray all night, but just believing the Word, before seeing the victory, is all that is required.  The Word is sealed by the Blood of Jesus Christ, and God is able to make good on His promises—that is all anyone needs to know.

            Another example John 4:46-47 ”There was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.”  The man begged Jesus to “come and heal his son, who was close to death.”  Jesus did not mention the man’s past sins, his lack of faith, or his many previous failures, because the foundation of all sins is the unwillingness to believe.

John 4:48 ”Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.”  Jesus got to the root of the problem.  He did not say the man had cheated, lied, or committed secret sins, and instead referred to the work of the Holy Spirit.  John 16:8-9 ”He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me.”

            We often want to believe God, but Satan aggravates symptoms to reverse the situation and destroy our faith.  The devil wants us to see before we believe—reversing God’s plan and hindering His power.  Satan will exacerbate symptoms, attitudes, or conditions to cause confusion or unbelief.  All too often the devil has Mark 4:19 ”the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”

            The only group of four, that receive the promises of God, are those Luke 8:15 ”which in a honest and good heart, having heard the word [listened to the Message with open minds and in a right spirit], keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”  Not believing the Word has always been the problem.  Even the Jews Romans 11:20 ”Because of unbelief were broken off.”

            The man had only the Word.  John 4:50 ”Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way; your son lives.’  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.”  The man was many miles away, and could not see whether the boy was better or not.  He had asked for the healing, and Jesus said it was done, so the man chose to believe before seeing and acted on the Word.

            The entire matter depended on whether God was able to make good on His promise.  Was the Word sufficient—was the question to be answered.  John 4:51-53 ”While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living.  When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, ‘The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.’  Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’  So he and all his household believed.”  He would have praised God for the victory!

            The attitude the man was willing to take, cancelled every sin, and erased every wrong he had ever done.  His willingness to believe the Word, before seeing the answer, gave him a short cut to righteousness, health, and victory. 

The love, mercy, and power of God, keeps us in the land of the living.  Lamentations 3:22-23 ”Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

            The man lowered through the roof tiling, right in front of where Jesus was speaking, was willing to believe before seeing his victory.  He believed what Jesus told him, acted in faith, and was delivered from Satan’s power.  Mark 2:5 ”When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’”

            It required a true repentance and a believing faith on the Word to get up—considering that he was carried there and unable to even stand on his own.  The man got up in full dependence on the divine power in back of the Word.  He was willing to believe before seeing, and received a miracle of healing.

            Mark 2:10-12 "But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"—He said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’  Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God!"