Step Four: Learn To Believe
Step four in spiritual development is closely associated with learning to pray. You must also learn to believe God and His Word.

The prayer of faith just won’t work unless you believe. How do you believe? It’s simple. Jesus said in Mark 11:24: “. . . What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, BELIEVE that ye RECEIVE them, and ye shall have them.”

We often fail to receive what we’ve asked for because we walk by sight instead of by faith in the promises of God. We say, “When it comes to pass — when I can see I have it — then I’ll believe it.”

But that’s the “Thomas” kind of faith! Thomas said, “. . . EXCEPT I SHALL SEE in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I WILL NOT BELIEVE” (John 20:25).

Believe: 4100. pisteuo, pist-yoo'-o; from G4102; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. credit; by impl. to entrust (espec. one's spiritual well-being to Christ):--believe (-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.

On the other hand, we can walk by the “Abraham” kind of faith. The Bible says that Abraham “. . . against hope believed in hope . . . according to that which was spoken. . . . And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body . . .“ (Rom. 4:18,19). Abraham “considered not” the natural circumstances. He believed he had received God’s promise many years before he actually saw the answer to his prayer and his wife bore him a son.

(Rom 4:18-21 KJV) Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. {19} And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: {20} He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; {21} And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

Staggered: 1252. diakrino, dee-ak-ree'-no; from G1223 and G2919; to separate thoroughly, i.e. (lit. and reflex.) to withdraw from, or (by impl.) oppose; fig. to dscriminate (by impl. decide), or (reflex.) hesitate:--contend, make (to) differ (-ence), discern, doubt, judge, be partial, stagger, waver.

Unbelief: 570. apistia, ap-is-tee'-ah; from G571; faithlessness, i.e. (neg.) disbelief (want of Chr. faith), or (pos.) unfaithfulness (disobedience):--unbelief.

Believe that you receive when you pray, and you will have it. It’s the most difficult thing in the world to make people understand this, because they are usually so bound up in the sense realm with human reasoning. Most people want to have their answer first, and then they will believe they have received it.

Jesus is the One who said, “. . . What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). I didn’t write that verse; I just believe it! Why add to or take away from the Word of God? Why not just take it for what it says?

Believing according to the Word requires a conscious decision to live beyond your five senses. Faith is a sixth sense, so to speak. Faith is believing God’s Word in your heart or spirit. That’s what Jesus said in Mark 11:23: “. . . Whosoever . . . shall not doubt IN HIS HEART but SHALL BELIEVE [in his heart] that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” Believe where? In his heart.

You see, your head will fight you if it hasn’t been renewed sufficiently with the Word of God. Your own mental thinking will try to keep you in the natural realm. But if you’ll just persist in believing God’s Word in your heart, you’ll grow strong in faith. And no matter what your head tells you, you’ll get results. The Bible says so. I know from experience. I’ve proven the Word to be so time after time in the midst of tremendous opposition.

If you want to grow spiritually, you must learn to believe God’s Word regardless of natural circumstances.