At least twice in the Bible, Jesus complimented someone for having great faith. In Mathew Chapter 8 a centurion was lauded as having "great faith" when he said to Jesus that he didn't have to come to his house to heal his servant but to speak the word only and the servant would be healed.
Again, he spoke of the great faith of the Canaanite woman in Matthew Chapter 15 when she requested that he cast a demon out of her daughter. Jesus tried to send her away saying, " I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs." She was persistent and said, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the masters' table." Jesus replied, "Woman, you have great faith, your request is granted."
What did these two people have that we do not have?
Jesus also commented about the lack of faith on several occasions, including when he told the disciples the reason they could not cast the spirit out of a boy was because of their unbelief. What? The disciples had unbelief? They had been going about healing the sick and casting out devils--now suddenly they have unbelief? What happened to their faith?
Evidently we can have faith for some things, but not for others. I mean, didn't we have faith for our salvation? That was a really big miracle, but in most cases, I would say it was not hard to believe for it. (Unless you were really, really bad.) We believed in our heart and confessed with our mouth, and - boom - we were saved. Now, I know that Satan came along and tried to talk us out of it, but we stuck to our guns and believed it anyway. Why can't believing for a miracle be that easy? Maybe because we can't see our soul and it's dirty condition, so we don't have the evidence staring us in the face. When we are trying to believe for healing, for example, we have the symptoms to deal with. It's hard to believe that you are healed when you are still hurting.
Jesus told the man who came to him with his son that "nothing is impossible to him who believes." We know that he does not mean anything our heart desires--it must be based on God's will. So, obviously, first of all, we have to be confident that we know what God's will is.
My Life in the Spirit Study Bible says that true faith is a work of God within our hearts. It involves an awareness divinely imparted to our hearts that our prayers are answered. The Holy Spirit creates it within us; we cannot produce it in our own minds. Since true faith is a gift imparted to us by Christ, it is important to draw near to Christ and his Word and to deepen our commitment to, and confidence in, him. (note for Matthew 17:20)
When God speaks to our hearts and makes his will known to us in a certain situation (revelation), we can have faith for that particular thing. Like Peter did when he walked on water. Jesus spoke to him and said, "Come." When Jesus tells you to do something, he will give you the ability to do it. If Peter had tried to walk on water without that word from Jesus, he wouldn't have gotten as far as he did.
What I need is that God-given faith that would enable me to face a mountain of impossibility and see it move by God's power. In order to receive that God-given faith, I have to hear God speak. In order to hear God speak, I have to maintain a life of prayer and intimacy with God along with obedience to his word. That will lead to great faith and spiritual authority to see mountains moved and miracles take place.
I am confident that God's revelation will activate God's faith in me in order for a miracle to occur.
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