Jesus Christ asked an important question about faith in Luke 18:8. “[W]hen the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”

As we draw closer to the return of Jesus Christ, very few people have faith. Do you have faith? Do you know what faith is? Most do not!

God’s Word defines what faith is. “Now faith is the substance (assurance) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith comes before possession. Once you receive what you have asked for, you no longer hope for it.

You have probably heard the expression, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” But faith is believing God will perform His promise before He performs it.

Faith simply means believing God will do what He has promised to do. Yet people often want some sort of evidence that God will do what He has promised.

Notice what Herbert W. Armstrong wrote in his booklet on faith: “[W]hat we see—what we feel—is not the true evidence. Having the thing—seeing it—is not faith. Faith precedes possession because faith is confidence—assurance—you shall possess it.”

Faith is simple reliance upon God’s Word. It has nothing to do with what you see or feel. Faith is the assurance that God’s Word is true and He will do what He has said in His Word.

God will do what He has promised every time! But what your human nature wants you to overlook is the fact that God did not promise when or how He will fulfill His promises. Sometimes you may have to patiently wait for God to fulfill His promise. But that builds valuable character! (James 1:3). And God will often fulfill His promises in ways you don’t expect. He is working miracles, after all!

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that “we walk by faith, not by sight.” Either we believe God’s promises or we believe what we can discern from our physical senses.

Consider the example of Abraham’s wife Sarah. Hebrews 11:11 says that she “was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” Sarah believed God’s promise to her, even though all physical signs pointed to the fact she was far too old to have a child. The only evidence that she could have a child was that God made a promise to her. Faith in God’s promise was her evidence. And God fulfilled His promise. Read Hebrews 11 for more amazing examples of faith!

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). You find God’s will by studying His Word. What has God promised? Make sure that you study to find out! Then you can trust Him to keep all His promises. You can have faith in God and His Word! You can walk by faith!

Mr. Armstrong wrote about how to get more faith: “Draw closer to God. Get to know God. Surrender all the way to Him, and do His will. And then pray. You get to know Him in prayer. We are too close to the material things. Through prayer, much more prayer, you can come closer to God and the spiritual things. And what a happy, joyous experience it is, once you have really done it!”

To study further into this vital topic, request Herbert W. Armstrong’s free booklet What Is Faith?