Creflo A Dollar - Confidence : the missing substance of faith

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 1 The Missing Ingredient

"The Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken." Proverbs 3:26

Do you see results every time you pray? Does your faith always produce that for which you're believing and confessing? Are you seeing the full manifestation of God's promises of healing, provision and deliverance in your daily life?

If you're like most believers, the answer to those questions is a frustrated "no." For many Christians, prayer is more like a roll of the dice than an exercise in faith.

Instead of " Oooooh , give me a seven...," it's " Ooooooh , Lord! Let it work, Jesus! Please God, do something about my situation!"

Other times we resort to "bargaining" with God in an attempt to get Him to move on our behalf. "I'll love you forever, Lord. I'll tithe 15% !..... 20%L.. just help me, Lord!"

Perhaps you've even resorted to a "fleece" in an attempt to gain some assurance that God was going to meet your needs. "Lord, if you're really in this, have someone come up to me today and say the word 'igloo.' Then I'll really know it's you."

You probably recognized yourself in one or more of the above examples. I think we've all been there at one time or another in our Christian lives. I don't need to tell you, all that straining and striving to get God to move on your behalf can be a baffling and disheartening experience. Well, I've got news for you. Not only does that kind of prayer not work very well, it's totally unnecessary!

God never intended His children to beg, plead and bargain for His promises to be fulfilled in their lives. His earnest desire is that you experience the full manifestation of every promise in His Word. That means total provision, prosperity, absolute health, well-being and deliverance from all oppression.

Then why aren't most Christians, in spite of all their confessing, believing and "claiming," experiencing that kind of life? Why are we still bombarding heaven with "roll the dice" prayers and "let's make a deal" petitions? The answer is profoundly simple.

Each of the methods of praying mentioned above has a common missing element. They lack the one key component that will energize your faith and revolutionize your prayer life. That missing ingredient is confidence .

What is Confidence?

Once you start looking for it, you'll be amazed how often the word confidence appears in scripture.

When the Bible uses the word confidence it means "assurance" or complete and total "persuasion." It also closely parallels the meaning of "trust." When you trust something, you have confidence in it.

When it rains, I open my umbrella, confident that it will keep the rain off. I trust it to keep me dry.

Confidence is the quality which leads you to stand up under or endure adversity. It causes you to undertake a difficult task with diligence. You'll never take a firm standing for something without confidence.

Another term closely identified with confidence is "boldness." In fact, boldness can often be used interchangeably with confidence when talking about spiritual principles. That's because, in scripture, both words are derived from the very same Greek root word.

Don't get the wrong idea, though. A lot of us have a distorted concept of what boldness is. Many people think boldness is seeing how loud you can talk and how belligerent you can be. That's not boldness. That's flesh.

Finally, boldness is intricately tied up with the concepts of " yieldedness " and "obedience."

Their can be no true obedience where there is no confidence. Nor can you yield yourself to someone whom you don't trust.

Is confidence the final piece of the faith puzzle for you? Read on and find out.

Chapter 2 The Power of Confidence

I've heard it dozens of times. "Pastor Dollar, I know I have faith, yet my faith doesn't seem to be producing anything."

If you can identify with that complaint, I've got good news for you. There's probably nothing wrong with your faith. You may simply be lacking the vital ingredient of confidence.

Confidence is the force that launches your faith. It propels faith forward like the rocket boosters send the Space Shuttle into orbit. Trying to operate your faith without the force of confidence is like trying to take off in an airplane that has no engines. There's probably nothing wrong with the structure of the plane. It's simply missing a crucial element.

"But, Pastor Dollar! I've confessed prosperity scriptures over and over and my bills still aren't getting paid." Child of God, you can quote scripture until you're hoarse, but if confidence doesn't rise up and propel your faith, it will never reach its destination.

Saying words is not enough. Even acting on those words is not enough. You must have confidence in those words for them to have the power to change your circumstances.

Think of it this way. Have you ever seen a mother take her small child to the bus stop and put him on the school bus? Confidence is the mother that takes faith by the hand, leads it to the bus stop, and sends it on its way to its destination. It is the force that energizes and activates your words.

Just because you say something doesn't mean those words are full of confidence. The difference is often apparent. It's like a singer who stands up on a stage and with a weak trembling voice, squeaks out a song. Then someone else gets up and sings the very same song, belting it out with enthusiasm. One singer sings with confidence, the other just sings.

Fill Up Your Words

Don't misunderstand. Words are important. But words alone cannot change your circumstances. Simply think of them as spiritual containers. Faith is poured into your words by the force of confidence.

Imagine an empty glass beside a pitcher of water. In order for the glass to become full of water, some force has to move the pitcher and pour the water into it.

Confidence is that force which pours the water in the pitcher (faith that comes by hearing the Word of God) into the glass (your words). Simply put, confidence pours faith into your words and the faith-filled words go into action!

The missing link in many believer's faith life is confidence. We've had the faith. We've had the corresponding action that must accompany faith. What we've lacked is the force of confidence to get the whole process moving.

We've wanted the water in the glass but we've not been able to get it from the pitcher into the glass because we haven't understood the importance of confidence.

It's Not Over 'Til It's Over

What does confidence look like? A good example can be found in Habakkuk 3:17 ,18 :

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Now here's a man with confidence. His crops have failed. His livestock is destroyed. Nothing is going right.

But what is his response to these dire circumstances? "Yet..." He says "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord..."

Why is he so optimistic in the face of incredible adversity? Read on:

The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places, v.18

Child of God, it's not over until it's over. And it's not over until you either win or quit. Like Habakkuk, you've got to make sure your confidence isn't dependent upon your surrounding circumstances.

You must knoweven though the light bill is due, the gas bill is due, the phone company is threatening to disconnect you and your paycheck just bouncedthe Lord, somehow, someway is going to bring you through. You've