Dmitriy Leo, senior pastor of Father’s Blessing Church, shared a word: “How to Stand in Faith Correctly.” An excerpt from the online service “Healing, Freedom, Breakthrough” dated October 30, 2021
I want to teach on the topic: “How to Stand in Faith Correctly.”
It seems like such a simple thing—just believe, and that’s it. But I want to show you something that will help some of you see more answers to prayer.
And if you want this, then pray right now to hear what the man of God will say, so that you may receive more answers to prayer. Because this has been my prayer over the past few months: to see more answers to prayer. Amen.
And there is depth in these words. Answers exist one way or another, but I want to see more answers.
How to Stand in Faith Correctly?
When people ask and receive quickly, others call it strong faith. When someone asks and does not receive, others call it unbelief. I’m speaking about reality. And I have a question.
Abraham waited 25 years. What will we call his faith?! By our standards—by the standards of modern people—his faith was weak. This means we misunderstand something about faith. It means we do not view faith the way the Lord does.
What did Jesus call faith and great faith? Let’s establish these points right away.
The woman with the issue of blood was healed quickly. She had been ill for a long time, but she received healing quickly. She saw that Jesus was passing by. She pressed through and received healing quickly. Jesus called this faith. I will read it.
Matthew 9:22: “But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her, He said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has saved you.’ And the woman was healed from that hour.”
Jesus called this faith. So, if you receive something quickly, Jesus calls it “faith.” Remember that?
Another story. Another woman. Jesus called her faith great.
Matthew 15:28: “Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”
You remember what story this is. She did not receive it quickly; she did not receive it immediately. She had to go and plead with Jesus. Even when He refused her twice and practically told her, “Go away, woman,” she would not let Him go. Jesus called her faith great.
So, from Jesus’ words, we now know how He views faith and what He calls “faith” and “great faith.” But the most interesting thing is that He praised both women. That is wonderful! And this is also an illustration for us.
We must not divide people into categories: this person has little faith, that person has great faith, this one has very great faith, and this one—I have no idea what kind… Jesus praised both women: the one who received an answer quickly and the one who did not receive it immediately. Therefore, we should encourage people for their faith. Encourage people for any faith. Do not say, “Well, your faith is small.”
These two women are an example for us. If you have faith, you will receive quickly. But if you do not receive quickly, you need to move on to great faith! That is, do not let go of Jesus. Do not give up. Do not give up. Do not give up. And this will be a sign and manifestation of great faith. Do you understand the difference?!
Where does great faith come from?!
It is not a gift; it is a decision. It is a transition from faith to great faith. It is when you have asked, but there is no money. And you say, “Okay. Apparently, my faith was not enough. I will be persistent. I will demonstrate great faith until I receive it.” Always do this, because it is right.
But the question is: what if I still believe and have great faith, yet I still do not receive? What should I do? Although I think that most people, once they reach the level of great faith, will receive. Because believe me, not many people have reached the level of great faith. They remain at the level of faith alone but call it great faith. All right, let us set that aside.
What should you do? This also happens. And we do not call it something abnormal. It can be normal—remember that—when you seemed to believe and did everything necessary, but the answer did not come. In this case, you need to know how to act correctly.
If you know the right course of action, you can receive your answer, knowing what to do next. What should you do next? Thank you for that question. I will answer it.
So, you need to move from requests to dialogue with God. This is a signal for us.
I quickly did something—and nothing happened. Okay, fine, I’ll persist: “Bang! Bang! Bang!” Heaven is simply thundering from all this knocking on the door. You are making noise in Heaven. “Who is making all that noise? — It’s Sister; she’s asking for money.” In other words, you are demonstrating great faith. And if it does not happen, this is a signal for you: move from requests to dialogue with God now.
You need advice from God right now. What is happening? You demonstrated faith, and you demonstrated great faith, yet you received no answer. What is happening? Just don’t make accusations! Dialogue! This is the right time.
Many people miss the moment for dialogue with God and continue trying to break down the doors of Heaven. People like this have approached me—and probably you as well—saying, “I’ve been fighting, knocking, asking, and seeking for 10 years, and still haven’t received an answer.” You must not miss the time when you need dialogue with God—and ask the right questions.
Dialogue is not a demand; it is not an interrogation. It is dialogue!
And there are two questions I recommend asking. I learned this through experience, and I’m sharing it with you.
The first question: What am I doing wrong?
Very often, we are stubborn: “I’m doing everything right. I pray. I also fast. I’ve soaked the entire carpet with my tears. Why isn’t God answering?!” This is an accusation. It means: I’m good, and God is bad. Never do this. You need dialogue and the right question: WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? That is the first question. This is the kind of humility we need.
Many people, when they have knocked for a long time without receiving an answer, become discouraged. And they ask, “Why aren’t You answering?” instead of, “What am I doing wrong?” Do you feel the difference?!
“Why did You allow this? Why am I in this situation? Why did this happen to my children? Why?” — accusations instead of the right dialogue and the question, “What am I doing wrong?”
And if the question is asked correctly… Look at Mark 9:28, when the disciples could not cast the demon out of the boy: “And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’” This was the right question! In other words, they were saying, “What did we do wrong?”
It was the right question, and the right answer followed. Jesus pointed out that they lacked faith and were doubting. They did not need to doubt. He said: “Even if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, ask for anything. Even a mountain will move.” In other words, He was essentially telling them: you did not need to doubt. You could have done it.
They began to doubt. We read in another Gospel, where the details are described, that they were arguing with the teachers. When Jesus came down from the mountain, He found them arguing. So what were they most likely arguing about?! Because the healing had not happened. Most likely, they were being told: “Well? Where are your miracles? You can’t do it, can you? See, you need to go to the synagogue. But instead, you went after this rabbi.” In other words, they were arguing about it. All right, that is another topic.
So the first question is: What am I doing wrong?
The second question is: Lord, what are You saying about this situation?
Do not ask God, “What do You think?” but rather, “What are You saying about this situation?” This is very important. God is not obligated to explain to you what He thinks. But God can explain to you what His Word says about this situation. Sometimes, that will be the main answer for you.
“What are You saying about this situation?” The apostle Paul asked something similar.
2 Corinthians 12:8–9. He was in a serious situation. Everywhere he ministered, he was persecuted. He was seized and thrown into prison. And this did not happen to everyone; it happened to the apostle Paul. And three times—three times!—he asked God to deliver him. And this is what God answered him:
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it might depart from me”—that is, the angel who persecuted him and caused trouble, constantly creating various problems along his way. “But the Lord said to me: ‘My grace is sufficient for you…’”
And I will say right away that in Greek, this word “sufficient” means more than enough. In other words, this is not a limitation but, on the contrary, an advantage: “My grace is enough—more than enough—for you.” In other words, He encouraged him. Some perceive this negatively: “My grace is sufficient for you; endure it.” No. God is saying: “For you, it is more than enough. I have given you grace.”
And God answered the question that had been asked correctly: “How do You view this situation? What is happening? What does Your Word say?” He says: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness”—God gives a complete explanation of what is happening in his ministry.
“Therefore I will most gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power (in Greek: remain, live, and work) of Christ may dwell in me.” Hallelujah!
So, let us put these pieces of Lego together. If you asked and received an answer quickly, Jesus calls this faith. If you asked and did not receive an answer, but remained in faith and continued, did not let go, persevered, and achieved your goal—Jesus calls this “great faith.” If you do all this (only in this way) and still do not receive an answer, then go into the “secret place” for a dialogue with God. Not to make a complaint, but specifically for a dialogue. And ask two questions.
I am sure that God will answer you. I use this principle, and I am not the only one. The first question is, “What am I doing wrong?” And the second question is, “What are You saying about this? What are Your plans, and what is Your will?”
In the two cases I read to you, God gave an instruction. In both cases, He gave an answer because the right questions were asked with the right heart. Never raise a finger at Him. A right heart guarantees that the answer will come. God is not obligated to give an account. He may answer you if you have the right tone.
And now my story. I have gone through many different tests of my faith, and here is one case where I saw how this works.
When I needed to hold a crusade in Indonesia, I needed a visa. Everything seemed fine. It is not a problem at all to get a visa in that country. It is not the United Kingdom or France; it is easy to get a visa there. So I calmly went and gathered all the documents.
The documents were perfect. Everything was fine. And I was supposed to fly out in 2–3 days because a major mega-crusade was scheduled at a stadium. I had to arrive on a specific date because people were preparing for the crusade; it was not something casual. I went to the embassy, submitted all the documents, and a smiling officer came out and said, “Your visa is denied for these dates.”
And you have to understand that by law, if you are refused—if there is an official refusal—you cannot say, “Please, please.” If the refusal is recorded, they are not allowed to grant you permission again for those dates. They simply are not allowed to. It is a legal procedure.
And I said, “Please, I have tickets”—I really did have tickets. “Please, I have this and that there...” And they said, “That’s it. Under such-and-such law, your visa is denied for these dates.”
I said, “God, this is Your event. I am going to preach the Gospel in a Muslim country. What is going on? God, intervene! Send fire here. Send angels. God, make it happen.”
I decided to persist. I began demonstrating what I had been talking about—persistence. We kept going around to that embassy. We went there after an hour, after two, after three, and until closing time. And they also had some kind of national holiday. They were carrying food around. They were not thinking about us at all. We could hear things being carried backstage—some plates; they were having some national celebration, and some guests had arrived. I thought, “They are celebrating over there, while I am in distress.”
And we called a consul who was a friend of Indonesia’s ambassador to Ukraine. They were friends. He said, “I’ll try to do something.” He called back and said that nothing could be done, not even as a favor, because the refusal for those dates was recorded in the document system. He said, “Next week—sure. But for those dates, it’s over; the train has left.”
And I remember that I immediately asked our friends, partners, and intercessors to pray. And they gave this word: “This is God’s plan! It is for your good.” And I said, “Hey, you don’t understand! The posters, the stadium—how could this be for my good?! This is evil.” There.
They asked, and they received correctly, but I did not see it yet. I was upset that such an event had fallen through.
And a week later, I got the tickets and flew there. Of course, the big crusade fell through. So I simply had to spend 30 days traveling to different islands, visiting many churches, and ministering.
But by the time the crusade (which had been postponed for 30 days) was approaching the end of my tour, I started having thoughts like these: “Listen, this is actually great. It’s really wonderful that it didn’t happen right away. Oh, how wonderful.” And the closer the crusade came, the more I thanked God: “God, thank You that it didn’t happen right away! Thank You that everything was postponed, that it all happened at the end.” Why?
Because I had to preach in English. An interpreter translated me from English into Indonesian. I don’t speak English very well, and I had to PREACH. I had to express emotions, share testimonies, and respond to the audience.
Yulia helped me prepare various phrases, thank you, just in case I needed them: “Brothers and sisters, who has a testimony?” How do you pronounce that? She wrote it out for me, like at school, using Russian letters to show me how to pronounce it. And at first, when I preached in the first churches, do you know what I did?! I read from my tablet syllable by syllable, and even the interpreter couldn’t understand me. I showed the text to the interpreter. She would read it from the tablet and tell the people, “If you have a testimony, please share it.”
And after the first two or three services, I thought: “Glory to God! Glory to God that the crusade was postponed for 30 days.” Because by the end of those 30 days, after being immersed in it and traveling around, I had learned to speak English fluently.
The interpreter had been with me for 30 days, too, and she had learned all my sermons, all my principles, how I collect testimonies, what I ask, and what I say. She no longer looked at the tablet. I joked, saying, “You can preach instead of me now, because it doesn’t matter what I say—you already know what I mean.”
And then, even when I heard that I had said something incorrectly, she would say it correctly and preach on my behalf. She had already heard that sermon 15 times. And she would finish preaching it.
And so, when the crusade took place, everything was clear. Everything went well. And there were many miracles. Hallelujah! Glory to the Lord!
I want to encourage you to pray. This is precisely a case where we see that faith works and everything should have worked out. But how important it is to receive an answer from God and not resist it. It wasn’t immediate for me either; I didn’t like the answer at first when the prayer ministers told me.
I will leave you with a passage from Scripture—Matthew 6:6: “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.”
When simple declarations of faith and prayers of faith are not working, go into a secret place and commune with God. Perhaps you will receive an answer precisely because you were in that secret place. It does not say, “hearing what you say,” but “seeing” you in secret, He will reward you openly. This is another opportunity to receive a solution from God for your problem. It is an additional factor in your favor.
I want to pray about this now. And let’s pray with me together that we may believe.
“Lord, we thank You that we are learning how to believe and how to fight. We are learning how to move further and further, how to fight, and how to move into great faith. Thank You. You are also teaching us that if something doesn’t work, we should calm down, go into the secret place, and talk with You about what we are doing wrong and what God thinks about this situation—or rather, what God is saying about this situation.”
Let us say: “I have made a decision: to go all the way. If necessary, to walk by great faith. And if required, to move from asking to dialogue.”
And I pray for each of you who heard this teaching, that these principles would remain in you. Because these are working principles; they are biblical principles.
Some of you are currently at the level of faith, and that is normal. I pray that you will receive quickly. Do not stop.
Some of you are at the level of great faith. And I bless and encourage you as well: do not stop; keep pressing on! What God has promised, He is able to give. And He is impressed by our faith. It is true. You can please God with your faith. He commended the woman who obtained what she sought. So obtain it; obtain the answer. And believe me—God will commend you.
Some of you are in a state where you have tried everything, and it seems as though nothing works. I encourage, bless, and inspire you: go into the secret place and engage in dialogue with God. And He will answer you. He will surely answer. In the Name of Jesus.
Let us pray for the right heart:
“Lord, may I never have complaints against You that You are not doing something. May I never complain that You are doing something wrong. May I never have unnecessary questions for You, wondering whether You have forgotten something or failed to do it in time. I acknowledge that everything with You is right, timely, and just. And allow me always to hear and understand this, and to receive instructions from You on every matter. In the Name of Jesus.”
And I prophetically lay hands on you now. And I ask: “May this seed that was sown today take root, so that you would never despair when you do not receive an answer for a long time. May you know that this is not bad news. It is simply God calling you into the secret place, where He has prepared answers for you.”
Sometimes you simply need to stop pounding on the door with your fists, calm down, and listen to Him. And I believe: “Lord, we will grow. We will walk and serve at this level. And we will receive much more.”
And I pray for some of you who have almost suffered shipwreck in your faith. The Holy Spirit is prompting me now that we need to pray for healing. Because some people really did knock and knock and knock, but received nothing and were left disappointed.
I pray that healing would take place, in the Name of Jesus, in your hearts and in your relationship with God, so that your faith would be resurrected. That you would not doubt that faith really works. That you would not doubt that God hears you. That you would simply move to another level of relationship with God. And He is waiting for you in the secret place, where He has prepared all the answers for you.
And may the secret place not frighten you. May it not look like a prison to you. But may it look like a place where you receive answers, a place for your breakthrough. Glory to the Lord. Hallelujah.
To everyone I have spoken to about the secret place, I have often heard this reaction: “Yes, I have nothing against it, but I have no time”; “Yes, I have nothing against it, but I need to work”; “Yes, that is all correct, but I do not have such an opportunity”; “I do not have that much free time.” No, no, no. Otherwise, your fists will all be covered in blood. You will keep knocking on the door, but no one will open it.
That’s it. Knock and knock, knock and knock, ask and ask, enter the room and ask. Communicate. Hallelujah.
It works for me.
Text and image prepared by Marina Serkova
