Faith in action

The word faith is used in varied contexts. We express faith, we have faith in something, and there are acts of faith which is the area I would like to look at. Faith is a curious thing that has the ability to 'move mountains.' I, personally, have witnessed acts of faith that would be classed as miraculous.

The new testament of the Bible indicates that when 2/3 or more people are together and agree on something, it will happen. The collective wills of those who believe that what they ask for will happen bring about the required outcome. Christ indicates that what is agreed in these small groups will be agreed in his court/heaven. So what is it about faith that makes it work? What is it that makes the miraculous occur?

Faith is an unknown quantity that cannot be contained and I find it intriguing. It's power is often linked to prayer, and when answered can be overwhelming. If we have unwavering faith in knowing something will happen, and then it does, this encourages the faithful believer. There are some people who say that the results of prayer are coincidental, but I recall an experiment carried out in the US where they 'tested' the power of prayer. There were two groups of people, all of whom were ill to some degree. One group were prayed for, the other weren't. Both groups were aware that some of them would be prayed for. The results of the experiment suggested that those who had been prayed for recovered more quickly than the others. It was not a religious experiment where a god/God was being assessed, or whether one god was better than another, it was a test of the power of prayer. Those who had been prayed for showed remarkable improvement and the results were looked at. The assessment involved analysing the knowledge that the patient was being prayed for: was it the knowledge that they were being prayed for that helped their condition or was it that receiving the collective good will of people made them better? The results were inconclusive, but there was no denying that prayer worked.

I can recall events when I prayed and the outcome turned out as requested, which reinforced my faith. The feeling was wonderful and I was thankful. I do wonder if we have an ability or access to a power, for want of a better word, that is granted to us. Maybe faith is like the force that the Star Wars films mention. I can imagine faith being attributed to each one of us and when two or more people use their collective faith in unity, the power is magnified. Ghandi reiterated a statement from the Bible, "If you have faith, you can move mountains." Christ says our faith can be as small as a mustard seed, yet mighty. I also believe that although there's power of faith at an individual level, there is a greater resource of this reserved for God's use alone.

We should not put God to the test, but I encourage you to put faith in to action. Pray for people, situations and over events. Use your faith actively. Are there any rules? I believe there are:
Don't go against the Way
Don't be selfish with it
Don't use it to cause harm
Use it for good causes
Work with it
Be aware of other factors
Realise it's not you doing it!

[When I mention being aware of other factors, I am referring to things like weather; Eg. It has to rain as it's beneficial to the land.]

Faith is magical and use it wisely. To use faith is not an act of hope, it's an act of knowing that it will happen. It's like acknowledging that it has already happened in your mind's eye. There will be times when the desired outcome does not occur and you will wonder why, so don't let these times knock you, but understand there are things unseen that we do not know about, other events unfolding which have their course to follow. Then there is the way of things. You cannot go against the Way. There is a natural order. So finding the balance between acts of faith and understanding the Way is important. As you become more aware of this balance, you will begin to awaken to the true nature of things. Understanding this is a pivotal point in your spiritual development.

So practice faith, sharing good will, praying for others and, "May the force be with you."