Faith vs. Feelings

// Kenneth E. Hagin

TOO MANY people try to get acquainted with God through their feelings. When they feel good, they think God has heard their prayers. When they don't feel particularly good, they believe He has not heard them. Their faith is based on their feelings, while it should be based on God's Word.

A 'Thomas' Faith

JOHN 20:24–29

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Thomas was one who based his faith on his feelings. He said he would not believe unless he could see with his own eyes the prints of the nails in Jesus' hands and touch these nail prints with his hands. He relied on what he could see and feel.

We have many "Thomas Christians" today—those who only believe what they can feel, see, hear, or touch. Real faith in God is based on the Word of God. Real faith says, "If God says it's true, it is." Believing God is believing what is written in scripture. If God's Word says He hears me, I know He does, because His Word cannot lie.

If our faith is based on feelings, we are using natural human faith, and we cannot get spiritual results with natural human faith. We have to use scriptural faith—Bible faith—which is believing in God's Word.

Once I prayed for a woman who had been through many healing lines, but she had never received her healing. After I prayed, she immediately said, "I haven't got it yet. Pray again." I prayed again, and when I was finished, she said the same thing.

After praying a third time with seemingly no results, I asked her, "When are you going to start believing you are healed?"

"When I get healed," she replied.

"Why in the world would you want to believe it then? It seems to me that you would know it then," I told her.

Anyone can believe what they feel, hear, or see. We live and operate in the physical realm, and obviously, we have to walk by sight. But when it comes to spiritual things, we don't walk by sight, we walk by faith.

Healing Is Spiritual

God's healing is spiritual healing. If medical science heals, it heals through the physical. But when God heals, He heals through the spirit.

Spiritual healing—or divine healing—is received from God in the same way that the New Birth, which is a rebirth of the spirit, is received.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

When you are born again, it is not your body that is born again. When Paul said, "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature," he was not talking about your body being made new. You still have the same body you always had. The New Birth doesn't change the physical in any way. After you are saved, it's your inner man—your spirit being—that is born again. And it's the man on the inside that is supposed to dominate the physical body.

The New Birth is the rebirth of the human spirit. Jesus said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). You cannot tell immediately what happens on the inside of you when you are born again, because it takes place in your human spirit. However, if you walk in the light of what you have, it will become evident in the process of time.

When some people come to the altar, they are very emotional. They cry, jump up, and hug everyone. Then there are people who come to the altar for salvation and are not emotional at all.

I certainly believe in feelings, but I put them last. God's Word comes first; faith in God's Word second; and feelings last. Too many people turn it around and put feelings first, faith in their feelings second, and the Word of God last. These people will never make a success of anything.

When walking in the natural, we have to go by our physical senses. For example, if we are crossing a street and our eyes tell us that cars are coming, we must wait until they pass. Too many people try to believe in God with that physical, natural faith. If their physical senses tell them it's not so, they believe it's not so.
Our physical senses have nothing to do with the Bible. Psalm 119:89 says, "For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." God's Word is true, regardless of our feelings or the circumstances.

Formula for Faith

Here is a formula that will enable your faith to work for you. First, have God's Word for whatever you may be seeking. Second, believe God's Word. Third, refuse to consider contradictory circumstances, i.e., what your physical senses perceive. Fourth, praise God for the answer.

Follow these four steps, and you always will get results. You'll receive deliverance, healing, answered prayer, or whatever you may be seeking from the Lord.
[Editor's Note: This article was adapted from a faith lesson in the Kenneth E. Hagin Legacy Bible.]