The gift of faith is a ‘power gift’; it demonstrates God’s power. This supernatural impartation of faith creates miracles. A seed of God’s faith released into your heart can move any mountain. The Charism of faith miraculously instills the assurance of answered prayers into our hearts, even before we see it come to pass with our natural eyes.
Last year, I was in Dimapur, Nagaland, heading towards the convention area. Fr. Biju Koonan VC prayed over the sound system, asking God in Jesus’ Name for the rain to stop. I thought, “What if the rain does not stop…?” But what we saw was a miracle! It rained, but only outside the convention grounds. Later, when I asked about this miracle, Father said, “I felt a conviction within me at that time, that if I prayed, the rain would stop.”
“In Lystra, a man who had been crippled from birth listened to Paul speaking. Paul looked at him intently, seeing that he had faith to be healed, and said in a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ The man sprang up and began to walk,” (Acts 14:8-10).
Believers receive different types of faith. There is faith to believe in God and in His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. All believers are given a measure of faith.
The ‘power gift’ of faith can be distinguished from other types. It is released in us for a particular time or moment to establish God’s desire. This supernatural faith, this impartation, is not always given but only as the Spirit wills. You can sense the faith in you at that moment. The Holy Bible and the Living Tradition are full of demonstrations of the Gift of Faith.
Faith Demonstrated in Tradition
A man in Rimini refused to believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. St. Anthony could not convince him with words alone. The man made a deal with St. Anthony: he would believe if his mule did. The man starved his mule for three days and brought it to the town square, while Anthony brought Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. If the hungry animal went to Jesus in the monstrance rather than the bucket of food, the man would accept the Church’s teachings and believe that Jesus was truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.
On the third day, the man brought his hungry mule to the town square. St. Anthony approached from the other side with the Sacred Host. Many people, both believers and unbelievers, watched to see what would happen. The mule ignored the bucket of oats and fragrant hay. Instead, it approached our Saint and fell on its knees before the Blessed Sacrament to adore Jesus! True to his word, the man made a profession of faith in the real Presence because his mule had believed first.
The Power of Faith in Action
This kind of demonstration comes with the manifestation of this kind of faith. The Saint surely sensed the faith for miracles when he took up the challenge.
The gift of faith moves aside all impossibilities. It changes natural circumstances into supernatural breakthroughs in a few seconds.
A few years ago, Kerala experienced a severe lack of rain. Everyone started grumbling and praying for rain. When it began raining heavily, everyone was glad, but soon, the rains did not stop. Fields flooded, houses broke, and transportation wrecked. In that situation, while I was praying for my friends in the Gethsemane Chapel one morning, I felt the need to pray about the rain. I led the group to pray corporately, commanding the clouds over Kerala to move away. I told the group, “Watch the newspapers regarding the rain.” Forecasters predicted it would rain for many more days. When I left the chapel, I found that the rain had stopped, and the clouds were clearing. It never rained again that season. Glory to God! This kind of faith is actually God’s own faith in action through a human instrument.
Speaking Words of Faith
This gift usually operates through a spoken word and has creative power for God’s purpose on the spot.
Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you,” (Mark 11:23).
We put this faith to work by our words. In any situation, when this kind of faith is released in us, we need to speak it.
Jesus, by His spoken Word, raised the dead.
“… And Jesus looked upward and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’ ” (John 11:41-44).
Jesus, by His spoken Word, calmed the storm.
“On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side. And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith.’ ” (Mark 4:35-40)
Examples from Scripture
Peter spoke and the dead were raised.
“Peter put all of them outside, knelt down, and prayed. He turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive.” (Acts 9:40-41)
Paul spoke and the demons fled.
“But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And it came out that very hour,” (Acts 16:18).
Manifesting Faith
When the gift of faith is manifested, we should speak, and miracles will happen. Prophet Moses is a perfect example of this gift of faith.
“By his words he performed swift miracles; the Lord glorified him in the presence of kings,…,”
Elisha performed twice as many signs when he was filled with the Spirit. These signs took place with every utterance of his mouth. The gift of faith can manifest when you sit in personal prayer, when you are praying alone and sense that you are being imparted faith for a particular situation. You need only to speak it while praying.
While praying in a group, we can receive an impartation of this kind of faith. We need to boldly speak it, and it will come to pass. When we are in ministry preaching or with someone in need, and we recognize the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in our heart for a miracle, giving us complete confidence for a miracle, we need to speak it.
Faith Through Prayer and the Word
We may also receive the impartation when interceding for others, whether in their presence or far away. This supernatural faith is released when we read the Word, hear the Word, or when the Holy Spirit brings the Word into our spirit. Sometimes, when talking to someone, the Holy Spirit can bring a Word of faith into our spirit. When we speak that Word, miracles will happen.
These ‘power gifts’ manifest in us when we walk in love. Walking in love is a crucial ingredient for moving in the ‘power gifts’. Humility is another key for moving in this gift of faith. When we humble ourselves and walk with God, we will receive this kind of impartation repeatedly.
