"So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." (Mark 11:22-26, NKJ)

Everyone is looking for a formula, a quick fix. The problem with formulas is that they are easy, they require no commitment of oneself. You simply follow directions and 'ZAP' you have what you want.

What Jesus is telling us about faith in God is often made into a formula. Here is the formula: speak and you shall have what you say! Unfortunately this formula often frustrates those who use it because they don't understand what Jesus is really saying.

Jesus says you must start and end in faith: believing God is working in you, in your heart, or in the very depth of your being, His perfect will and purpose! Once you believe in your heart, then you speak to the mountain, or the problem, and it will be moved!

The problem so many people have is that they are not enjoying the reality of the truth of God's Word because their confession has them bound! While they confess God's Word, they do not really, truly, completely believe what they say, so their confession is powerless because it is wishful thinking instead of by faith!

"A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth, from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (Proverbs 18:20-21, NKJ)

When you love what you say, it means you believe what you say! In other words, the words you speak that you love or believe will bear fruit, and you will have what you say that you really believe!

"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so." (James 3:6-10, NKJ)

You cannot tame the tongue through natural methods! There has to be a change of heart! A change of faith, from the natural to the spiritual!

"For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.' For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For 'whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'" (Romans 10:11-13, NKJ)

To be afraid to act or confess God's Word, His will and purpose, before you see the manifestation is to doubt God's Word!

Here are five confession that will begin to build your faith! When these confessions become a part of your life they will move you from formula into faith, believing God's will and purposes for you!

#1 - "JESUS IS LORD!"

"Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11, NKJ)

Jesus is Lord of your life, your circumstances, your future, and your past! This is the foundation of being a Christian! Jesus is Lord over Satan through us as we confess Him, His Words, His Name, and resist Satan in Jesus' Name!

In every circumstance, and on every occasion, make the confession to yourself that Jesus is Lord. As this is built in you, when trouble comes your immediate response will be that you are not moved because Jesus is Lord at every moment and in every circumstance!

#2 - "I DON'T HAVE A CARE!"

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:6-7, NKJ)

Jesus told us that the cares of the world will choke out the Word of God in our life!

Jesus told Martha, Luke 10:41-42, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful! That one thing is to strive to be in the presence of Jesus.

Jesus told us to "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be added to you."

Cares can take many forms. As believers we need to be aware that we can make God's promises a care in our life! Remember to always seek the giver and you will always have the gift!

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7, NKJ)

#3 - "THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I DO NOT WANT!"

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; he leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalm 23:1-6, NKJ)

"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJ)

Jesus is sufficient! He will always make a way of escape for those who believe on Him!

Psalm 23 is not a funeral psalm! It is a psalm for the living! Listen to what David says...

HE LEADS ME... HE RESTORES MY SOUL... HE IS WITH ME... HE PREPARES A TABLE BEFORE ME IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES... HE ANOINTS MY HEAD WITH OIL... MY CUP OVERFLOWS... I WILL DWELL IN HIS HOUSE FOREVER.

When you die and are found in heaven, you will not have any enemies! The devil is not in heaven! The devil in on the earth! When David says, God prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies, he is talking about in the earth! This is a psalm for the living! PTL!!

#4 - "EVERY SIN, SICKNESS, SORROW, GRIEF WAS LAID ON JESUS SO THAT I COULD BE FREE FROM THEM!"

"He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; he was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:3-5, NKJ)

Settle this into your consciousness now: SICKNESS IS NOT MINE!

Some people actually believe that God's gives them sickness to teach them. I have two responses to this claim. One, If God gave it to you, then you are in sin to seek out a doctor or treatment to relieve you from the symptoms and end of the disease! Two, if there is no sickness or disease in heaven, then where does God get the disease to put on you?

Sickness is under the curse! Jesus nailed the curse and the sickness that is a product of the curse to the cross when He was crucified! The prophet Isaiah makes this very evident!

Some people have made sickness their friend! They use it to manipulate people for attention and status. If offered a cure they would refuse it, because they would lose their "star" status!

YOUR CONFESSION THEN SHOULD LINE UP WITH GOD'S CONFESSION OVER YOU! I AM FREE OF ALL SICKNESS AND DISEASE!

#5 - "JESUS IS MADE UNTO ME WISDOM, RIGHTEOUSNESS, SANCTIFICATION, AND REDEMPTION!"

"But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God-- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption -- that, as it is written, 'He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.'": (1 Corinthians 1:30-31, NKJ)

The Greek word here for wisdom is sophia. Sophia is more than knowledge, gnosis,\. Sophia involves understanding! For example, I can take a car engine apart and reassemble it. What ever parts are left over I would simply throw away, because I do not have mechanical understanding! I have gnosis, not sophia! Jesus is made unto us wisdom, sophia, so we can understand the things of God and what we need to understand to live in this world!

Jesus is made unto me righteousness! I am a sinner saved by grace! Nothing good dwells in me, but in Christ I am forgiven and whole -- complete, lacking nothing!!

Jesus is made unto me sanctification! I am in the world, but not of it!

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20, NKJ)

Jesus is made unto me redemption!

"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NKJ)

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10, NKJ)

"Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:19-23, NKJ)