9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The easiest way to get faith is by hearing the spoken Word of God. Yes, it is good to read the Scriptures, for the Word admonishes to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). You can read to believe when the light of the Word breaks forth inside you, but it is easiest for faith to come to you by hearing the Word preached unto you. You can then study the Word of God to solidify your conviction. To build faith, you must receive the Word, that is, hear the Word of God. Romans 10:13-14 makes it explicitly clear “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” This means there has to be hearing before there can believing. Faith for salvation, faith for healing, faith for prosperity, faith for everything comes by hearing the Word of God. So, the Word must be preached to you and then you hear and believe it.
Remember at Lystra, in Acts 14:7-10, where Paul preached the gospel. The Bible records the account of a man, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked. Verse 9 says “The same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.” The impotent man heard the Word, his faith was activated, and his healing materialized thereafter. He would have remained in that condition if the Word of faith had not been preached unto him. For faith to come, the Word must be preached to you and you must hear the Word. In Acts 10:44 “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.” Notice, the Spirit fell on those who heard the Word, not on those who read the Word. In Galatians 3:2, the apostle Paul speaking by the Holy Ghost said, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” The hearing of faith comes as you hear the Word regarding that thing that you are in faith for. Thank God for recorded messages, video messages, audiotapes accessible online. Get a message and listen to the Word.
SOLID FRONT (YOUR CONFESSION):
In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I declare that I am committed to hearing the Word daily. I listen to the Word with rapt attention until my faith is fully built up. Amen!
Further Meditation:
Acts 20:32; Psalms 119:105.