Lesson 1: Real Faith Versus Fake Faith

In the past 2 years since my mother got sick, I have seen 3 residents who shared a room with her pass away and one that was taken off life support. This made me wonder why there are so many psychics and faith healers claiming to do miracles, while many like these women waste away and die. Not once in all this pondering did I see myself as someone who can make a difference in this area. I mean, I don't even consider myself a Christian anymore. Why would God or the Holy Spirit want to work through me?

Then one day, I got tired of hoping that someone would come along to do a miracle for my mom, so I picked a bible and started doing my own research. What I learned convicted the heck out of me. And nowhere did Jesus say that his teachings were limited only to people who have a "Christian" title. Maybe there was hope for me after all.

According to Webster.com, here are a few definitions for faith:

1 a: allegiance to duty or a person: loyalty b

(1): fidelity to one's promises
(2): sincerity of intentions

2 a (1): belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2): belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion
2 b (1): firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2): complete trust

3: something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially a system of religious beliefs

All of these definitions explain different aspects of what faith is, but from what I've read, neither seem to be enough to produce miracles, not even number 2. Now don't get me wrong, I do believe that believing and trusting in God is a necessary step. However, I found that you have to take it a few steps further then this. In Mark 11:22-24, Jesus says:

22 "Have faith in God," Jesus answered.
23 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (NIV)

As you can see, one of the first things Jesus expects us to do is to have faith in God. However, he goes on to add 2 extra steps that we must take in order to produce miracles like he did. He tells us: