Everybody has a defining moment that will determine whether they will be great or whether they will be mediocre. You can’t have great things or do great things until you are a great person, and great faith will make you great.

When Jesus was on this earth, there were two people in the Bible that He described as having great faith.

Matthew 15:21 describes the event when the Canannite woman, whose daughter had a demon, approached Jesus. He answered her not a word. Sometimes when you ask God for something, you don’t hear anything. Jesus tells her, “I’m sent to the lost sheep of Israel.” What did she do? She came and worshipped Him. When you hear something that isn’t the way you wanted, worship God anyway. You may find something in the Bible that sounds like it disqualifies you, but I know that Jesus says in John 6:44 that if anyone comes to Him, He will in no way cast him out. To as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. You need to understand more than just one verse. He’s testing her faith. He’s seeing what this girl is made of. He didn’t say I can’t or won’t heal your daughter, so she presses in.

Great faith is worshipping God in spite of your feelings.

Then Jesus calls her a dog. She says, “Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat off the crumbs, which fall from their master’s table.” You may call me a dog, but you’re still my master. When it looks like the door is shut here, go around and look for another door. There is a way. The Bible has a doorway for your miracle if you’ll only keep looking.

Great faith has great persistence.
Great faith is undeniable.
Great faith will be tested.

Then Jesus said to her, “Woman.” This is a big promotion. Every time there’s a little progress, thank God for it. Jesus then said “Great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.”

That was great faith. The second place in the Bible where Jesus shares that someone has great faith is the centurion in Matthew 8:6-10. The centurion tells Jesus to “Just say the Word....”

Great faith is not deluded by a sense of personal importance.

The centurion says, “I don’t need to have dinner with you. I don’t require much. I just need you to speak the Word.” Great faith is believing it when you don’t see it. Great faith respects the authority of the spoken Word.

Jesus says of this man, “I have not found so great faith, not even in all of Israel.” Jesus says, “Go thy way and as thou has believed, so be it done unto thee,” and the servant was healed at that very moment.

Great faith caused it to happen that very moment.

Work on having great faith. Don’t work on having the thing you’re believing for. Work on believing what Word God says, and when it becomes great faith, you’ll have it momentarily.

The common thread that ties these two people’s situations together is that both of them directed their faith for somebody else.

Great faith isn’t great faith until it touches someone else’s life - when it does something for someone else.

We’re stepping out of good faith – how to believe God for our deliverance, our healing, and our prosperity; but now we need to demonstrate that we are in this thing to be a blessing.

Hebrews 11: By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Abel said with his offering, "I offer you the first fruits." Cain gave over a course of time. He said “I can’t afford to give God the first fruits.” Abel offered the first of everything he had.

Great faith gives sacrificially.

Great faith for every day:
Now, as you continue to build your faith by hearing the Word of God, enemies of faith will try to come in and keep your faith little; and we need to know the schemes of the devil. What are those enemies?

Worry
Fear
Doubt
Condemnation
Hard Heart

How do you win over these enemies?

1. Make time for the Word.
In the first few moments of your day. Jesus says in Rev. 3:20 “Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

2. Free your heart from clutter.
Many times there is too much interference and we busy our lives with so much, that we can’t hear God’s voice. You need to free your heart from the cares of this world, concerns, and even some relationships that aren’t godly. You need people who are running to God’s Word. Tune in so you can hear Him.

3. Under pressure, say what God says.
Speak His Word. Say what He says. Believe like the centurion. Jesus only had to say the Word. He’s given you His Word. All the promises of God are yes and with you is the amen. Speak it and agree with it.

4. Resist the devil.
And resist until he’s gone. David in Psalm 18:37-42 shows us we are to crush our enemies – we need to utterly destroy those enemies of fear, condemnation and a hard heart, so there is no way they can rise again.

5. Guard your thoughts.
You’ll never gain victory over your word life until you gain victory over your thoughts. Think God’s thoughts. Renew your mind with the Word of God.

Believe you are who God says you are, and that you have all that God says you have. Faith is the way we access the invisible and turn it into the visible. You have in you all that you need already. Make a decision that you are going to take the simple steps to be a man or woman of great faith TODAY!