If you are interested in learning more about having faith, then reading Hebrews 11 is a great place to start. Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the faith chapter, as this chapter is all about having faith in God. It is often recommended that new Christians read this chapter when they are just beginning their walk with the Lord. Even though the general concept of faith is fairly easy to understand, the actual act of faith is tough in many of the difficult circumstances we face on a regular basis. Our human nature is to be negative and not to have faith, but God wants us to trust him in all of our prayers and daily activities.
Hebrews 11 begins verse 1 by stating “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” It is easy to say that we have faith, but do you really have faith in God to help you in your everyday lives? Most of us trust God for major prayer requests, but what about all of the other decisions we make? Do we stay in constant prayer as we trust the Lord to reign over all of our decisions? The Lord wants us to put our total trust in him!
Verse 3 of Hebrews 11 states “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” God made our world out of nothing and out of chaos. The chaos also existed because God created this too. We are here simply because of the sole powerful command of the words of God. He does not need anything to make things happen. His commands are sufficient to make things come into being.
Verses 4 through 7 talks about having faith before the flood. There were several important historical figures mentioned in verses 4 through 7 that lived before the flood, and this includes Cain, Enoch and Noah. Hebrews states that Abel’s sacrifice to God was better than Cain’s sacrifice. Hebrews states Abel’s sacrifice was simply a greater or better sacrifice than Cain’s sacrifice. Verse 6 implies his sacrifice was better because Abel simply has more trust in God, and this is why his sacrifice is better.
Enoch was taken from this world and did not die. God took Enoch away, and Hebrews 11:5 states Enoch was one who pleased God. It is implied here that Enoch was greatly favored by God because of the faith Enoch placed in the Lord.
Verse 7 mentions Noah as a man of great faith. Noah would have to have great faith to spend the time that he spent building the ark before the flood!
Verses 8 through 22 of Hebrews 11 includes great insight about the faith of Abraham. Abraham has plenty of reasons to doubt God. He was an old man when God said he would have descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac. Many of the promises of God to Abraham were not fulfilled until many years after his death. Abraham continued to believe in the promises of God despite the fact that many of his promises weren’t fulfilled within his lifetime.
If you want to learn about faith, then you should definitely study Hebrews 11, as some of the great men of faith are mentioned in this chapter. God wants to teach us to have great faith, and Hebrews 11 is a great place to begin!
