Contributor:
Terry Whitson
directed by an angel to go down from Samaria to a desert road in Gaza; while there he saw a
Ethiopian eunuch sitting in his chariot reading the prophet Isaiah. The Holy Spirit spoke to
Phillip and told him to go up and join the chariot. From those scriptures Phillip preached Jesus
to the eunuch and he wanted to be baptized. Phillip responded and said, “If you believe with all
your heart you may”. The eunuch said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” and
Phillip baptized him. You see for the message of the Gospel to have any effect it must be
received with the heart. This is true concerning salvation and it’s true in receiving anything from
the Lord, we must believe with the Heart!
My Testimony
I was born and raised in Kingsport Tennessee and was taken to church while growing up. I
attended Sunday school as a child and was a member of the church youth group in my teen
years. While in my teen years I went through classes and completed Methodist church
confirmation. If you had asked me when I was 20 years old if Jesus was the Son of God I
would have said “yes”. If you had asked me if Jesus died for our sins and was raised from the
dead I would have said “yes”. If you had asked me if I was born again, I would have told you “I
don’t know what you mean”. I had no clue what born again meant, I had head faith and no
heart faith. I had mentally agreed with the truth of God’s Word and the truth had no impact on
my life. Mentally agreeing with God’s Word is head faith and head faith is lifeless, powerless
and worthless.
Faith is of the Heart
The truth of God’s Word must penetrate the heart as it did for those who heard Peter preach on
the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Peter preached “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the
Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God
performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, delivered over
by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of
godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony
of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power…”. As Peter finished preaching
it says in v.37 “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter
and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and
each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all
who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words
he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse
generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were
added about three thousand souls.” Those who heard were “pierced to the heart” another
translation says, “they were cut to the heart”. The Word of God had convicted their hearts and
they received the Word into their hearts, 3,000 received Jesus, were baptized and became
children of God that day (John 1:12) This is a clear example of heart faith.
U.S. Marines and Heart Faith
My brother finished his last year in the Marines in Vietnam. He came home while I was in
college and badgered me about enlisting. Before his tour in Vietnam he had served abroad ship
traveling to numerous European ports. I was disenchanted with college and was looking for
adventure, so I joined the Marines the last day of August 1972 hoping to see the world. After
basic training I was stationed at 29 Palms California, I began my adventure in the Mohave
desert. While off duty I traveled to different cities, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Fransisco, Los
Angeles. I walked the streets of Hollywood and soon said to myself, “Is this it, is this all there
is? There must be more to life than this”. As a 22 year old I began to question the purpose for
life. I was at this time a Military Policeman serving on the main gate to the base. I identified
who could and could not come on the base. One October morning and older lady pulled up to
the gate, gave me a smile, handed me a piece of paper and I waved her on through. After I got
off duty that morning I went to the base library with that piece of paper and entered a very
small reading room to be alone. What I read that morning was a Gospel track telling me Jesus
loved me that He stood at the door of my heart knocking, if I would open the door He would
come into my life. That morning I repented of my sin opened the door and ask Jesus to come
into my heart and life. I was immediately changed; changed in Heart, desire, direction and
destiny. That morning I agreed with the truth in my heart and it brought dramatic results.
With the heart we Believe
Romans 10:9-10, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised
Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in
righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation”. It’s with the heart we
believe and that’s not just true concerning salvation that is true concerning all the
promises of God. We must believe with our heart and receive with our heart whatever we
desire from the Lord. As a believer your heart must be convinced of any given promise. Here’s
an example, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus.” Your head can say yes to this bible promise and you can pray agreeing with it but is
your heart convinced? When your heart (your spirit) in you is convinced of the promise, you
have a knowing an assurance of it’s reality. Just agreeing with a promise can often simply be
head faith and head faith will not produce results! We are not just praying words, rather there
must be true conviction, we must know this bible promise and have it settled in our heart.
When we have it in our heart, we pray with heart faith and this produces results.
Settle it in your Heart
So you may ask, so how do I get Heart faith? That is an excellent question and heres the
answer. Understand first of all that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So
give attention to listening to good teaching/preaching over and over on any given subject and
faith will come. Secondly, if you have a need, find the scriptural promise that pertains to your
specific need. For example, let’s say your need is wisdom concerning making a big decision.
James 1:5 promises “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all
generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” Instead of immediately praying
and agreeing with this scripture, take a day or two and meditate on this verse. Let this scripture
become real to you, let it become yours, let it settle in your heart. Let your heart become
convinced, let your heart say, “God has said, if I lack wisdom ask and He will give to me
generously”. Once it’s settled in your heart and you know it’s yours, then pray reminding the
Lord of this specific promise and you will have exactly what you asked for. Practice this
principle and you will be operating in Heart faith and you will have great results!
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