Do you desire more faith, an extraordinary faith? This story in Mt 8:3-13 has five keys.
The Centurion’s servant is ill. He approaches Jesus to heal his servant. But when Jesus offers to come to his house, he replies in a remarkable way this is not necessary ; Jesus only needs to say the word and he will be healed.
The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
So what can we learn from this passage about outstanding faith?
1.It’s not just for leaders
The Centurion wasn’t the leader of a synagogue. In fact he was a Roman and a Gentile and part of the invading force! But he showed extraordinary faith.
2.Practice exercising such great faith
Just like in any other field of learning eg. learning to drive, a sport, a musical instrument etc we must practice more difficult things to improve. The Centurion could have simply accepted Jesus’ offer to visit his servant to heal him, but the Centurion chose a more difficult route, asking for something more difficult.
3.Believe that God likes and affirms us when we exercise greater faith.
Jesus so loved the Centurion’s response that he immediately commented about it in front of everyone. He said Mt 8:10
I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
4.Understand that Jesus is under authority.
The Centurion gave the example of his own life. He exercises great authority because he is under authority. Jesus exercises all the authority of his Father, so we can see great things by asking in his Name (Mt 28:18, Jn 14:13). We too can exercise extraordinary faith by believing that Jesus has all authority.
5.Understand the prayer of faith and practice it.
The Centurion exercised this. He makes the request based on his experience of authority and then doesn’t ask again but trusts in the response. He doesn’t need to ask again because Jesus told him that he would receive his request.
The famous missionary James Fraser practiced the prayer of faith. He worked amongst the unreached Lisu tribe in China. He prayed for 6 years that there would be a mass movement of conversions, that is more than just one family. Then God confirmed his request and after this Fraser didn’t ask anymore because it was done. He only thanked God in prayer.
When God answered 129 Lisu families came to the Lord, that is 600 people. Today the Lisu are the most Christian tribe in China with 200,000 followers because of James Fraser’s outstanding faith.
Let’s apply these 5 keys and begin to exercise extraordinary faith.
What now?
Here’s a book that will help you on your journey of faith:
GRACE OUTPOURINGS: 21 DAYS REVIVAL DEVOTIONAL which has lots of revival stories to build your faith and for a great devotional experience
Also see FAITH THAT MOVES MOUNTAINS: 5 WAYS TO SEE THE IMPOSSIBLE