Re: James Norman's question.

God's Word and not our human reasoning answers all these questions.

We were created in God’s image; that is, we are spirit beings who can talk, unlike other living creatures.

When God speaks, things are created.  Here is the Scripture you asked about: “(God) calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17, KJV).

In Ephesians 5:1, Paul says, “Be imitators of God.”

If we are created in God’s image as spirit beings who can speak, and we are; and if God calls things that be not as though they were, and He does; and we are commanded to be imitators of God, as we are; then by the known will of God we can also call things that be not as though they were, as long as we are speaking His words and are aligned with His will.  That does not mean we can arbitrarily decide we want a new Mercedes automobile or anything else material and we can confess it into being unless it is God’s will for us.  But if it is His will for us, we may not get it unless we confess it, and we may miss it if we continually confess lack!

Confession is nothing more or less than agreeing with God and saying what He says.  He has spoken in His Word, and we agree with what He has already said, then we speak His Word.

Confession is just affirming what God has already said in His Word or revealed by His Spirit, in agreement with the Word.  We are just vocalizing our agreement with Him and releasing our faith through our words.  Our words are a major way in which our faith can be released.

Sometimes we must get “violent” in our faith.  Jesus said: From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force (Matthew 11:12, NASB).

This is referring to forceful faith often needed to obtain kingdom benefits.  That is because Satan was given certain dominion in the world at Adam’s fall.  The second Adam, Christ, came to break Satan’s power and restore God’s authority on earth.  This is done through the obedience and faith of Christ’s followers.  The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church, but God’s people must be aggressive in their faith to forcefully seize back what Satan has stolen. Remember: This is spiritual warfare!  (See Ephesians 6:10-18.)  It may seem physical, but it is a spiritual battle.  Satan may not give up easily, even though he was already defeated at the cross.

When results are not seen, do not give up and say, "It's not working."  That cancels your faith.  Hang tough.  Do not ever, ever, ever give up.  Your results may come like the lady with the goiter below.

Our dear friend and fellow Dove, the late Dr. Jean Kincaid, gave me the following story.  It is the story of a woman who was prayed for the healing of a huge, ugly goiter on her neck.  For the next year after the prayer for healing, every Sunday morning at testimony time she would get up and say, "I just praise the Lord with all of my heart for the wonderful healing I received for a terrible goiter on my neck. Praise His wonderful name." She would be standing there with the goiter hanging out in all of its ugly dimensions. Everyone in the church believed that she was strange because everyone could see that the goiter had not changed and had not shrunk at all. One Sunday morning the church had important visitors from the state administration. Sure enough, the lady got up to testify and the pastor felt like crawling off the platform. She said, "I just want to thank and praise the Lord for the marvelous healing He gave me for an ugly goiter that was on my neck." Then suddenly the church members gasped in amazement because the goiter disappeared before their eyes, and her neck was smooth, slender and normal in appearance!  (Thank you, Jean.)

Senior citizen Emily Dotson testifies that she was near death with lupus 13 years earlier.  The doctors had given her only a short time to live.  But after being ministered to by a full-gospel pastor who showed her God’s Word for healing, she began confessing her healing throughout every day, constantly quoting Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24.  It took about 12 months, but she did not give up and was finally and totally healed.  A pastor asked her how many times she had to confess before she got her healing.  She replied, “I never counted it.  I don’t know.  I can only tell you that I did outtalk the devil.”

Jim