4 Major Keys to Walk by Faith and Not by Sight
Have you ever wondered how to practically walk by faith and not by sight?
This is a quote from the Bible found in 2 Corinthians 5:7. But what does it actually mean and how do we do it? Why should we walk by faith? How do we know when we are walking by faith?
Over the years, the Lord has taught me so many things about how to walk by faith and why it is so important.
Here are 4 Major Keys to Walk by Faith and Not by Sight:
1. Faith Is Present Tense
As long as you are believing something is going to happen one day, you’re not in faith. Any thoughts that tell you “one day it will happen” are not from God. You see, God has already done it.
The work Jesus did is a finished work. He has freely given us all things. Therefore, when you know you have received it, you have now entered into faith.
This is a major mistake that so many people trying to believe God make. You can go into almost any Christian church and you will hear from the pulpit what God is going to do. But faith is all about what God has already done.
Jesus has already healed us, already forgiven us, already blessed us, already provided for us, already set us free. We are not trying to get God to do these things. He already has. Walking by faith is agreeing that He’s already done these things.
Hoping and wishing for something is not faith. Believing that something is going to happen one day off in the future is not faith. Faith is now. Faith has it now.
I see people all the time believing that God is going to do what they are believing for one day. This mindset is the reason they usually never see what they are believing for. They never switched from hope into faith. Faith receives what it is believing as a ‘now’ reality.
God has already done it. Our faith receives it and believes we have it now.
For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7
2. Faith Is Not Based On Feelings
Feelings come and go based on our thoughts about the circumstances. Feelings can be based on truth or not based on truth, depending on what our thoughts are focused on.
Spiritual things can only be perceived by our spirits. You cannot feel the spirit through your natural senses. They are totally different worlds, or realms, of reality.
We must take what is real in the spiritual world, and choose to focus on that, thereby controlling our emotions and actions accordingly.
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14
This is key. If you are trying to determine whether or not you have faith by your feelings, you will always feel like you are failing.
The physical senses can’t discern spiritual things. We must access what God has provided in the spirit realm by faith.
I know so many Christians that depend on their feelings rather than faith. Feelings are not wrong. God gave us feelings to enjoy. But we cannot let them be the boss. Feelings can lie.
When we know what God said in His Word, we agree with it, even if our feelings don’t feel like it’s true. So many people don’t feel like His Word is true, and therefore, don’t believe it. This is not how it works. Faith comes before feelings and needs to always be superior to feelings.
As we keep our minds focused on the truth, it will eventually produce the right emotions, but being led by feelings is a huge hindrance to walking by faith. Faith is a real substance and all the evidence you need.
3. Faith Speaks The End Result
Faith speaks as if the outcome has already been established (because it has in the spiritual realm). This is key. Faith doesn’t say “it’s going to happen”. Faith says it’s done and speaks in accordance.
This is the way God operates. When He wanted there to be light, He looked at the darkness and said “Light, Be” (Genesis 1:3).
God calls things that are not yet in the natural realm as though they were in order to bring them from the spiritual into the natural.
…God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; Romans 4:17
Some people think faith is acting like something is true when it really isn’t. They think that they are operating in faith by speaking some wishful statement, hoping that it will become a reality. That is not faith, that’s just lying.
Speaking your faith is speaking something that is 100% real, just in the unseen realm. It is not faith to speak that you are going to marry someone else’s wife. Jesus has not provided that for you through His finished work. It is not a spiritual reality; it’s just your lust.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
Faith is a real substance. It is the evidence of things not seen yet in the natural. They do exist in the spiritual, and your faith is the evidence of that.
It’s important to note that this verse doesn’t say “things that don’t exist.” They actually do exist. They just aren’t visible in the physical realm yet.
There are unseen realities all around us in the natural world that we all accept without hesitation. For example, the wifi you use to connect to the internet or the cellular signals you use to make phone calls. We can’t see them, but we know they exist and even speak about them.
The spiritual realm also exists in the unseen and is just as real as the cell phone signals. In fact, everything that has been created in the natural realm first existed in the spiritual realm. The spirit realm is eternal.
while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18
4. Faith Works by Love
Galatians 5:6 tells us that faith works by love. What does this mean? This means that our faith works when we know His love for us.
When we know how incredibly loved and cared for we are, faith is easy. When we understand how powerful His love for us is, and how He displayed it at the cross, faith is a natural byproduct.
It’s not hard to believe what He’s done when we have a revelation of His love for us. It’s not hard to believe that He provided healing for us when we know His love as a Father.
Would you heal your child if you had the power to do so? Of course you would. Would you provide your child with food if they are hungry? Of course you would.
How much more did God provide everything we could ever need. God is pure love. The most powerful stuff in the universe. And it’s aim is toward you. You are incredibly loved more than you can imagine.
My five year old child does not have to work up his faith to believe that I will provide for him. He simply hears me say that we are going to have tacos for dinner and he believes it, expects it, and knows that he’s having tacos for dinner. He even tells his friends that he gets to have tacos for dinner without a second thought of whether or not it will actually come to pass.
This is the simplicity of faith. We hear what our Father says that He has provided for us and we believe it and speak it until we see it become a physical reality in our life.
Whether or not we will see it is not in question. It’s only a matter of time before we see it. The principles of faith work every time.
What Does the Bible say about Walking by Faith?
When it comes to the Kingdom of God, everything is given to us by grace and received by faith. This is why the Word tells us that without faith it’s impossible to please God. God is happy when we receive His grace- and the only way to receive it is by faith.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrew 11:6
Our very salvation is given to us by grace and received by faith. Walking by faith is the only way to live a victorious Christian life.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, Ephesians 2:8
Hebrews 11 is full of examples of people who did great things on the earth. Notice that every example starts out with “By faith…”. Everything of value that we do on this earth will be done walking by faith!
The Bible even says that whatever is not from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). Wow! Walking by faith is a big deal.
What is Walking by Faith?
Walking by faith is living your life based on what you believe instead of only what you see with your physical eyes.
Walking by faith is a decision to live in agreement with what God’s Word says rather than only what the natural circumstances are telling you. When we live by what we can see, taste, hear, smell and feel in the natural realm, we are walking by sight.
We do not have to deny the facts that are in the natural world, but we do recognize that there is a higher reality in the spiritual realm.
Walking by faith doesn’t deny what’s happening in the physical realm; it just refuses to let physical truth dominate spiritual truth. True faith will change physical truth to match the reality of spiritual truth.
Walking by faith is simply the means by which we see what is spiritually true become physical truth.
There is more to reality than only what you can see, taste, hear, smell, and feel. In fact, this is what the Bible calls “carnal” rather than spiritual.
How Do We Get Faith?
Faith comes from hearing the Word of God. When you heard the Word of God concerning salvation, you received the faith necessary to be born again.
Faith is a gift from God that comes from the Word. Every believer has been given the same amount of faith as another.
…as God has dealt to each one the measure of faith. Romans 12:3
If everyone has been given the same measure of faith, how is it that some people seem like they have so much more faith than another? This has to do with their knowledge of the Word of God and their time spent feeding their spirit the Word of God.
Our faith cannot extend past our knowledge of the Word of God.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17
Faith is based on our knowledge of the Word of God. When we hear the Word, faith comes into our heart from that Word. The more we hear the Word of God, the more our faith is strengthened.
When we exercise our faith, or put it into practice, it is strengthened, similar to how a muscle is strengthened through use.
Why We Should Walk By Faith
Faith is the only way we can receive from God. Everything we receive from Him is by grace through faith.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, Ephesians 2:8
Grace means it’s freely given to us based on what Jesus has done. Faith is our believing that it’s true and already accomplished.
Unless we are walking by faith, we can not expect to receive anything from God. This is not because He’s withholding from us, but because this is how the Kingdom is set up. There are truths put in place concerning how we receive from the Kingdom.
God loves to do things in subtle ways that requires us to use our faith to perceive. He is humble and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29). He’s all powerful yet wants to relate to you in a heart to heart way. Just amazing.
Look at the way God came to earth. When people looked at Jesus’ physical body, it took faith to believe that He was God. There was nothing about His physical appearance that signified that He was the God of the universe.
The level of humility that God operates in is hard to comprehend. He is Love. His true nature is quite different than most people believe.
How Do We Walk by Faith?
Walking by faith begins with knowing God. Receiving salvation is the first step. Being baptized in the Holy Spirit is a critical second step which opens your spiritual eyes to see what has been freely given to you.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 1 Corinthians 2:12
After these first two steps, learning the Word of God is next. With the revelation that comes from the Holy Spirit, we can begin to understand the scriptures and what has been provided with our precious salvation. Everything we can ever need has already been given to us.
as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue 2 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, Ephesians 1:3
Knowing that all things have been provided for us is the start of faith. God has blessed us with every blessing and they are a reality in the spiritual realm.
When we decide to set ourselves in agreement with what has been provided and speak those things out, faith begins to operate and bring those spiritual realities into our physical lives.
How To Know You’re Walking By Faith
When you are truly walking by faith, a byproduct will be that you have a rest in your soul (mind, will, and emotions) about the situation. This is the rest of God that is promised to the new covenant believer.
For we who have believed do enter that rest, Hebrews 4:3
When you really believe something is a finished work, there’s no more striving. No more begging God, no more wondering. It’s done. And that fact produces a rest inside you.
You will know in your ‘knower’ that what you’re believing for is a done deal, a finished work. You will not be pleading with God or wondering about the situation.
You will have peace about it and know that it’s only a matter of time before you see in the physical realm what you already know is true in the spiritual realm.
This rest is our promised land. A land where everything is provided. There’s no more work to do to earn God’s blessings.
We simply believe what God has done and operate in our dominion on the earth from a place of rest. God says that we are kings on this earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Revelations 1:5-6
Kings aren’t worried about things being accomplished. They simply make a decree and know that it is done. This is the kind of authority we have on the earth. We make a decree with Heaven’s authority behind us, and we expect it to be carried out on the earth.