If you are to replace fear with faith, then you must understand what faith is and how to attain it. The Bible defines faith as “... the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” in Hebrews 11:1. The Amplified Bible adds to this definition:
"Now faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see, and the conviction of their reality. Faith is perceiving as real what is not revealed to the senses."
Faith gives assurance that things promised in the future are true and that unseen things are real. The words “faith” and “believe” are used nearly 500 times in the New Testament and faith is one of the basic Christian doctrines listed by the Apostle Paul in Hebrews 6:1-6.
Faith differs from hope because hope is simply a desire or expectancy concerning things in the future. Faith is the belief in something you cannot see but have assurance you already possess. Hope is in the mind while faith is in the heart:
1 Thessalonians 5:8 "But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
In this verse, faith is associated with the region of the heart as a breastplate. Hope is a helmet associated with the head (the mind). Hope is a mental attitude of expectancy about the future, while faith is a condition of the heart producing belief in God:
Romans 10:10 "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Believing with the heart always produces change in your life. The result is something experienced in the present, not something hoped for in the future:
Faith is not what we see. Faith always goes beyond what we see to what we hope for and to what we believe we receive. That is why we thank God for the answer to our prayer before the answer is seen. When it is seen we thank him by sight-but then we are no longer thanking him by faith.
Faith is not the same as "mind over matter" which teaches that man can overcome problems by using his mind, reason, or willpower. These teachings are man-centered because they rely on self instead of God. Faith is God-centered, not man-centered. It is a gift of God, not something produced through self-effort.
here is a natural faith that most people develop, a trust in things that prove stable. For example, you have faith that when you flip an electric switch the lights will turn on. This confidence is placed in things that you learn by experience are usually dependable.
Biblical faith, however, is confidence placed in what is not yet seen but is declared as fact before it is evident to the natural senses. Biblical faith is not just faith in general, but it is directed faith. It is the faith towards God referenced in Hebrews 6:1. Faith in general can be misdirected. You can misplace your faith by placing it in carnal weapons. David declared in Psalms 44:6, “I will not trust in my bow, nor shall my sword save me”, and proclaimed in Psalms 20:7, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”
David warned in Psalms 146:3, “Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.”
-David knew that even faith in a good friend can be misplaced:
Psalms 41:9 "Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me."
-You can misdirect your faith by trusting in yourself instead of God:
Proverbs 28:26 "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered."
-Confidence in money or position is also misplaced faith:
Psalms 52:7 "Here is the man who did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness."
True faith is directed "toward God" and is a potent spiritual weapon. In describing our spiritual armor the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6:16 “above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." When you face impossible circumstances of life, Satan attacks your faith by sending darts of unbelief into your mind. Faith provides a powerful spiritual defense to these onslaughts. Faith is “above all” the spiritual weapons.
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