Regardless of what storms may come our way, the Father’s Word cannot fail. In that kind of atmosphere, faith is free to move and overcome whatever Satan has put in our way. James 1:12-21 says:

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

In order to properly develop the power of patience, we must know what the Bible says about testings and trials. The Greek word translated temptations in these scriptures is the same word for “trials” and “testings.” It is vitally important that we know, from verse 13, that God is not tested by evil, and He doesn’t tempt or test men with evil. We are warned to never say that we are tested by God.

Verse 14 explains what a test or trial is. It’s anything that applies pressure on the lusts or desires of the flesh. Any pressure that draws us away from God’s Word is the beginning of a test. If we then act on that lust, sin is the result. Still, we have a way of escape, because the Word says we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. He is faithful to forgive us our sins when we confess them. (See 1 John 1:9.) We are still more than conquerors in Jesus. When Satan applies pressure on our bodies to make them sick, we don’t have to succumb to that pressure. When he presents us with financial ruin, we don’t have to yield to the temptation to turn to the world and borrow. Most of the time, this only makes matters worse. Thank God, we can turn to God’s Word in Philippians 4:19 and use our faith. Then, regardless of circumstances, we exercise the power of patience and continue to stand fast in the liberty to which we have been called (Galatians 5:1).

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Faith is developed as we act on the Word of God. Hebrews 12:2 states that Jesus is the Author and Finisher, or Developer, of our faith. It doesn’t say Satan is the developer of our faith.

It is vitally important we realize the difference between the developing of faith and the developing of patience. Faith should be developed on the Word of God before the trial or testing comes. Jesus says in Luke 6:47-48 that a man who acts on His words is like someone who builds his house on a rock. When the floods beat on that house, the house does not fall. Notice the man has to dig deep. This is where his faith is developed. His patience is developed during the storm. He knows his house will stand because it’s built on rock. Remember, Jesus says the man builds on that rock. He acts on the Word. His faith is developed before the trial comes. The force of patience is developed in the trial or tribulation and undergirds, or keeps the door open, for faith to work and to overcome whatever is put before it.

The definition of patience is “being constant” or “being the same way at all times.” James 1 says we are to be single-minded. We must always respond or react in every circumstance of life the same way—on the Word of God. Regardless of what may be thrown at us, we must become so Word-of-God-minded that we don’t act in fear or doubt, but always on what the Word of our God says. The Word says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Jesus has always and will always respond to the Word rather than to circumstances, reason or fear. This is the way we should be.

Being sound in patience is to answer every doubt and fear with the firm assurance and confession that God’s Word is true, no matter what we feel, hear or see.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Almost everywhere you find faith mentioned in the Bible, you’ll also find patience. Faith and patience are power twins. Together, they produce every time.

Patience is a working power. When faith has a tendency to waver, it’s patience that comes to faith’s aid to make it stand. The power of patience is necessary to undergird faith. Hebrews 6:12 says, “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” And James 1:2-4 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

Patience without faith, however, has no power to call into reality the things desired. Since faith is the substance of things we hope for, patience without faith has no substance.

On the other hand, faith without patience many times will fail to stand firm on the evidence of the written Word that gives “title deed” to things not seen. Jesus told Peter He had prayed for him that his faith fail not. Without the power of patience at work, sense knowledge—the things we see—can overwhelm our faith that is based on what the Word of God says. Patience, then, undergirds our faith and gives it endurance to persevere until the answer comes.

Faith is a powerful force. It always works. It’s not that our faith is weak and needs strength, but without the power of patience, we stop its force from working in our lives because of our negative words and actions. It’s our faith, and we can either put it into action or stop it from working.

Traditionally, we think of patience as just “knuckling under” and being satisfied with whatever comes our way. That’s not at all what patience is. It is a real force that has to be developed. Titus 2:2 says that we are to be sound or developed in patience.

Faith also has to be developed. The same scripture says we are to be sound in faith. Patience and faith work together the way faith and love work together. Each force plays a unique role in our Christian lives.

It is dangerous to confuse the roles of these two forces, substituting one for the other. For instance, Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the substance of things hoped for. Hope without faith has no substance. People say, “We are hoping and praying.” This sounds good, but has no substance. In this case, hope is being confused with faith. Without the substance of faith, that kind of praying will not produce results. You can see that in a critical situation this would be dangerous. We need to have our thinking straightened out according to the Bible, so we can use these forces properly and produce God’s perfect will in our lives.

One of the most common traditions and mistakes in this area of believing is that trials and tribulations develop faith. Trials and tribulations do not develop faith. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Trials and tribulations develop patience. We have already learned from James 1 that this is true. The Apostle Paul says the same thing in Romans 5:3.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

When a person lives out from under
the curse and is walking uprightly
before God, he has the power of God
in his corner. He has the power of the
Spirit Himself backing him. The Word
of God states very clearly in Hebrews
7:22 that Jesus is the surety, or the
guarantee, of this new covenant. Jesus
Christ of Nazareth will have to fail before
the covenant can fail, and in Him
there is no failure. Why? Because Jesus
is love and love never fails.

Go to the Word. That is what it is
for. That is why it was written. It is
a copy of your contract—your covenant—
with God. It sets out the things
God promised Jesus that He would do.
Hebrews 1 speaks of Jesus’ inauguration
as Lord of the universe. It says
that He is upholding all things by the
Word of His power. If you want to be
upheld, get on the Word.

Once you make Jesus Lord over
your life, you become a covenant man
under the new covenant. Remember
God said, “As for Me, these things
are so.” He said, “As for Me, you are
healed. As for Me, you are redeemed
from the curse of the law. As for Me,
the blessing of Abraham is upon you.”
The only reason these blessings are not
operating in your life is because you
have not stood up and said, “Well, as
for me, it is so, too!”

Make this confession from your
heart before God.

“Father, in the Name of Jesus, I
believe in my heart that Jesus has been
raised from the dead. I make Him Lord
of my life now with the confession of
my mouth. I am His and He is mine!
Jesus has redeemed me from the curse
of the law. Sickness will have to depart.
Disease will have to depart. Poverty
will no longer be in my house, for I am
redeemed from the curse of poverty.
I am a believer and not a doubter. I
have the Name of Jesus and the power
of the Holy Spirit. Thank God, darkness
is over. The storms of life will no
longer be victorious over me. Jesus
is my intercessor. The Spirit of God
strengthens me. You, God, are my very
own Father. I praise Your Name!”

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

In the Great Commission (Mark
16:15-18), Jesus did not say, “These
signs shall follow those that believe…
they shall pray for the sick and they
shall recover.” Jesus did not mention
praying for the sick. He said,
“Lay hands on the sick, and they shall
recover.” There is nothing wrong with
praying for the sick, but many times
we have our minds so rigid that we
miss the reality of the words. He said,
“Go ye into all the world, and preach
the gospel to every creature.” Jesus was
saying that the gospel would do the
job. When we preach the gospel—the
good news, the Word of God—then
we can expect the sick to be healed
when we lay hands on them. First, we
must preach the truth—“that God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them.” And that He who knew
no sin was made to be sin for us “that
we might be made the righteousness of
God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:19-21).
Preach the truth…the signs will follow!

What is a pair of crippled legs that
they would not obey the voice of the
righteousness of God? What are blind
eyes that they would refuse to see after
Jesus said in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me…to preach…recovering
of sight to the blind”? God is the Creator.
He is the Father. Satan has no right to
run roughshod over God’s children.

“Ought not this woman be loosed,
seeing she is a daughter of Abraham?”

You can apply this to yourself
because “if ye be Christ’s, then are ye
Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to
the promise.” Ought not this man be
loosed from financial bondage, seeing
he is the seed of Abraham? Ought not
this woman be loosed from arthritis,
seeing she is a seed of Abraham?

Jesus spoke the words, “Woman,
thou art loosed from thine infirmity.”
Then in honor of the Word of God, He
laid His hands on her. The power it
took to enforce God’s Word came into
action and immediately the woman
was set free! Praise the Lord!

I have used this fact of being redeemed
from the curse many, many
times. When Satan would come at me
with some problem, I would open my
Bible to Galatians 3:13-14 and say,
“Praise God! I’ve been redeemed from
that. Satan, you are not going to put
that on me. I’ll not stand for it!”

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Let’s look at Luke 13:10-12: “And he
was teaching in one of the synagogues
on the sabbath. And, behold, there was
a woman which had a spirit of infir-
mity eighteen years, and was bowed
together, and could in no wise lift up
herself. And when Jesus saw her, he
called her to him, and said unto her,
Woman, thou art loosed from thine
infirmity.”

Notice that Jesus did not say, “I am
going to loose you” or “Be loosed.” He
said, “Woman, thou art loosed.” Jesus
did not waste words; He used them.
Words had an extremely high priority
in His ministry. “And he laid his hands
on her: and immediately she was made
straight, and glorified God.”

When the ruler of the synagogue
questioned Him about healing on the
Sabbath day, Jesus said, “And ought
not this woman, being a daughter of
Abraham, whom Satan hath bound,
lo, these eighteen years, be loosed
from this bond on the sabbath day?”
(verse 16). That woman was a daughter
of Abraham, and therefore had a
right to be loosed from that infirmity.
You see, she had lived with her infirmity
for eighteen years because she didn’t
know the blessing of Abraham—the
blessing that would set her free!

This same ignorance of God’s covenant
caused Israel to live in bondage
for 400 years.

The Word of God was just as valid
and real when they went into bondage
as it was the day they were set free.
The only problem was, they didn’t
know it. God had to call Moses and
explain the covenant to him so that he
could lead them out of Egypt. Moses
went before Pharaoh in behalf of that
covenant and led the Israelites out of
bondage. It was the same God, and His
Word was just as true 400 years before,
but the people had lost sight of it.

Jesus did not pray for that daughter
of Abraham. He told her that she was
loosed, and then He laid hands on her.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Deuteronomy 28:7-8 says, “The
Lord shall cause thine enemies that
rise up against thee to be smitten
before thy face: they shall come out
against thee one way, and flee before
thee seven ways. The Lord shall command
the blessing upon thee in thy
storehouses….” In Ephesians 1:3,
the Apostle Paul wrote that God has
“blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ.” When I
first realized this, I thought, Lord, I’ve
been trying to get You to bless me when
You have already commanded the blessings
upon me through Jesus Christ.

As a believer, you have a right to
make commands in the Name of Jesus.
Each time you stand on the Word,
you are commanding God to a certain
extent because it is His Word. In
Isaiah 45:11, the Lord says: “Ask me
of things to come concerning my sons,
and concerning the work of my hands
command ye me.”

Whenever an honest man gives you
his word, he is bound by it. It is not
necessary to order him around because
a truly honest man will back his
word. When you stand on what he has
said, he is “commanded” to do it. In
the same way, you put a command on
God through His Word. He said, “Put
me in remembrance” (Isaiah 43:26).
Sometimes I just hold the Bible up to
God like a mirror and say, “Father, this
is Your Word and I am standing on it.
You have said that no weapon formed
against me will prosper, so in the
Name of Jesus I expect it to be according
to Your Word.” This places a command
on God. Now I don’t say, “Look
here, God, You have to do this because
I said so!” No, that’s ridiculous! I
simply go before Him in the Name of
Jesus and remind Him of His Word.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

The promise God gave to Jesus has
now been given to the believer. We
are to receive the blessing of Abraham
written in Deuteronomy 28. As the
seed of Abraham, I intend to receive
everything that is mine by Christ Jesus
as a glory to God. God’s Word tells us
that we have a right to pray and expect
God to answer, not because of what we
have done but because of what Jesus
has done for us! God said, “If ye be
willing and obedient, ye shall eat the
good of the land” (Isaiah 1:19). Obedient
to what? The Word of God, the new
covenant of God. The old covenant
was fulfilled by Jesus on the cross. He
walked perfect and upright before God,
then took the penalty for breaking the
covenant. He went to hell and paid the
price for our sin. But because He was
sinless, because He had not broken the
covenant, hell could not hold Him! He
whipped Satan and took the keys of
death and hell! (Revelation 1:18).

You can expect God to move because
of His Word, because of His
promise to Abraham’s seed. Find out
what the covenant says. Put the Word
first place in your life. Matthew 8:17
says, “Himself took our infirmities,
and bare our sicknesses.” That is God
speaking directly to you, the believer.
Christ has redeemed you from the
curse of the law so that the blessing
of Abraham will come on you through
Jesus Christ, that you might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The blessings of God belong to every
born-again believer. All you have to
do is stand on God’s Word and allow
these blessings to manifest themselves
in your life.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

If Jesus Christ is the Lord of your
life, then you are Abraham’s seed.
Notice the word seed in verse 29 is
singular as it was in verse 16, when it
was referring to Jesus. The promise is
to you and will work in Jesus’ Name
every bit as well as it did for Jesus in
Galilee. You have put on Christ. You
are one with Him. Jesus has passed the
promise to you as His joint heir! You
have the right to function exactly the
same way Jesus functioned in the earth
by using His Name. It is your promise.
He has given it to you.

With this understanding, let’s look
once again at Galatians 3:13-14.
“Christ hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law…that the blessing of
Abraham might come on the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ; that we might
receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith.” We have always read
this thinking that “the promise of
the Spirit” referred to receiving the
promised Holy Spirit, but there is more
to it. The Holy Spirit is a part of the
promise, but this verse actually means
that through faith we might receive the
promise that the Spirit made to Jesus.
It is referring to the entire promise of
God given through Abraham.

This promise of God should be so
real to you as an individual believer
that you will receive it and act upon
it the same way Jesus did! However,
you must realize that you have to work
it according to the Word of God, not
according to how you think or feel.
The natural mind does not consider
prayer answered until the answer can
40 Our Covenant With God be seen. But prayer is answered the
moment you receive the answer by
faith from the authority of God’s Word.
Quit dealing with the problem and
begin to deal with the answer from
the Word of God. Start confessing
the answer before you can see the
manifestation. This is what Jesus did!
He spoke the end result. Romans 4:17
says that God speaks of things that are
not as though they were. We should do
the same thing!

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

In the old covenant, we can see
that the power of sin was very much
in force. Satan took the authority that
Adam had given him and perverted
it, using fear and death against men
instead of the life and faith they had
in God. The power of sin was operating
throughout the Old Testament.
A man could make the decision to
live in line with God’s Word, but sin
would still plague him night and day.
For instance, Noah performed the
greatest act of faith known to man
and then got roaring drunk! This is
why the decisions of the Old Testament
saints spoken of in Hebrews 11
were such outstanding feats of faith.
The power of sin was still inside them
and spiritual death was lodged in their
hearts. Then Jesus came to earth. He
bore the penalty of spiritual death,
broke its power, and was raised from
the dead, triumphant over Satan and
his kingdom. When you made Jesus
your Lord, the power of eternal life
enveloped your spirit and a new man
was born inside you: “Therefore if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new. And all things
are of God” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18).
This is the new covenant!

Wherefore then serveth the law? It
was added because of transgressions,
till the seed should come to whom
the promise was made; and it was
ordained by angels in the hand of
a mediator. Now a mediator is not
a mediator of one, but God is one.
Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid: for if there
had been a law given which could
have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But
the scripture hath concluded all
under sin, that the promise by faith
of Jesus Christ might be given to
them that believe. But before faith
came, we were kept under the law,
shut up unto the faith which should
afterwards be revealed. Wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster to
bring us unto Christ, that we might
be justified by faith. But after that
faith is come, we are no longer
under a schoolmaster. For ye are
all the children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus. For as many of you as
have been baptized into Christ have
put on Christ. There is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither bond
nor free, there is neither male nor
female: for ye are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye
Abraham’s seed, and heirs according
to the promise (Galatians 3:19-29).

Kenneth Copeland Ministries