Faith That Gets God's Attention: Just Speak a Word

Nov 02, 2025

Devotional

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“Seeing that this mindset makes sense in a world that's built on proof, evidence, and visibility. Because we all want to see results before we invest. We want to see change before we believe it's real. We want to know that something is sure before we put in energy and effort into it. However, what would happen to that belief system if I told you that faith doesn't work this way? While we naturally hold on to the idea that seeing is believing, faith in some instances would suggest something else. Faith seems to flip the script and says believing is seeing. Faith says I don't necessarily have to see it to trust it. I just hear it and I believe it because it knows that faith is developed by hearing the word of God.”
“Faith challenges what we would naturally believe. And in a strange but beautiful way, it teaches us that it doesn't wait sometimes for visible proof. Instead, it moves on this invisible promise. It's the kind of faith that trusts that the word which proceeds from God's mouth shall not return void. And I think that this is why Charles Spurgeon would say that faith is the eye of the soul. It sees what the natural eye cannot and believes. What reason cannot comprehend.”
“But if we're honest this morning, something happens as we grow older. I guess we can blame life because life has a way of dulling that childlike faith. Disappointments, delays, and denials can make us more cautious, more skeptical. When you've been let down enough, you'll start believing that you can't afford to trust without proof. And so the faith that once came. The faith that once came naturally begins to fade gradually.”
“However, I want to lift this morning that while God works with all types of faith. And God will respond to any type of faith. If I had to say, because of the sake of this series, which one really gets God's attention. It would be the type of faith that takes God at God's word. It's the faith that believes even before the evidence appears. It's the faith that was exhibited by this man in our text. This morning who said, Lord, you don't have to come to my house. Just speak a word.”
“The miracles that Jesus performed in these two chapters are fascinating because even though they serve to authenticate Jesus's lordship. They also demonstrate Jesus's compassion. They show that the authority of Jesus. Is not confined to just his words. But extend to and through his works. To which sickness, storms, spirits, and even sin all bow to his command. And I believe, I really still do believe that this is what we really should love about Jesus. We should love that he doesn't just speak about what Jesus can do. What he can do. He shows it.”
“And I believe that this is the mystery and the majesty of the incarnation. It's when John says that that word became flesh because it forces us to see that in Jesus, word and deed are never separated. Right? Right? When he speaks, he performs. What he promises, he produces. And we've literally seen this throughout the scripture.”
“And if we're honest this morning, we've seen him do the same thing in our own lives. You prayed for strength and Jesus just didn't promise it, but Jesus gave it to you. You asked for peace. And he didn't just point you to the scripture about peace, but he became your peace. You cried out for healing and he didn't just speak comfort. No, Jesus showed up and with divine healing and he showed you that you can now believe the report of the Lord. Whose report will you believe? I'll believe. I'll believe the report of the Lord. This is the Jesus we serve. He's the one whose word works.”
“And that was Jesus as I said again Jesus his authority doesn't depend on proximity but it operates through the power of perception in fact I believe he understands that just as the Roman empire backed him up the god of the universe backs Jesus up therefore he understands how much authority Jesus has in a sense he says to Jesus I know how authority works I know you got more power than anybody it's because I don't have to see my soldiers to make my soldiers move all I got to do is speak to them and they obey my command all I got to do is speak and things happen just speak from where you are.”
“I love this church I love this Lord have mercy because this man helps us realize something about Jesus he teaches us something and that is Jesus doesn't have to be physically present to be powerfully active you don't have he ain't got to walk into your living room to bring peace into your home he ain't got to sit in your hospital room to send healing to your body he ain't got to show up at your job to open the next door all he gotta do is speak and this teaches us that faith for the day is not faith that waits sometimes to see what God will do instead it's faith that trusts what God has already said.”
“I lift this because when you trust what God has already said you can stand ten toes down even when you might want to let doubt whisper lies into your ears when God said no weapon formed against you shall prosper your faith should say believe this he say trust what he say because if God said it God will make sure that that's why I ain't so worried about what's happening right now as you can already see God is doing some work behind the scene.”
“Trust what he said. Trust what he said. I know you can't see it right now, but trust what he said. Trust what he said, because big mama said he may not come when you want him, but he'll show up right on time. Trust what he said.”
“If you don't hear anything else in this sermon I want you to hear this faith that gets God's attention is the faith that comprehends and knows who he is because when you fully understand not just what he can do believe that God exists and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him would you look down your row and ask your neighbor do you know him come on do you know him before you ask about what he can do I want to ask you do you know who he is.”
“It's a response produced by compassion, but then it's a response produced by comprehension. Compassion moved him, but comprehension kept him. Here it is. Here it is. Look at verses seven through nine. It's a, it's a response produced by comprehension. Amen. When Matthew approached Jesus, though superior, when he approached Jesus, Matthew being who Matthew is, emphasizes that even this centurion called him Lord. Now, now, now, now. Lord could have been just a common statement, we know, right? But that ain't how Matthew writes. When we see Matthew writing this way, Matthew seems to suggest that this isn't a common statement. Accidental language but it's Matthew's way of revealing that this man though clothed in with Roman authority recognized a higher power standing before him in calling Jesus Lord he he he's not just being polite but he's also being perceptive he's saying in essence I may have authority over men but you have authority over everything it's an act of humility and honor all in one breath.”
“Perhaps the faith that gets God's attention is the faith that compares. It tells us to bring someone else's pain before the presence of somebody who can make a difference. Years ago, a missionary doctor in Africa, missionary doctor in Africa was found stating that every miracle that he's witnessed began not with power, but it began with pity. He explained that whenever the villager saw someone suffering, their first instinct wasn't to analyze the problem, but their first instinct was to say, He said, we didn't know if we could heal or treat the issue, but we knew that love demanded that they bring them to us. And church, this is precisely what this centurion does. His love for whoever this servant was demanded that he bring his servant to Jesus. Compassion moved him to action and faith carried him the rest of the way.”
“Faith, y'all. Faith, y'all, doesn't just sit back and hope, but it pushes us to move because as the writer tells us, faith without works is dead. Faith pushes us to move with a sense of holy urgency. It doesn't just feel compassion, but it acts on compassion. It just doesn't wait for the perfect opportunity, but it brings the brokenness straight to the one who can make it whole.”
“I lift this this morning because sometimes our greatest expression of faith isn't what we ask God for ourselves. It's when we can trust God for somebody else. When you respond with compassion, you intercede for the sick. You stand in the gap for those who are broken and you believe for those who can't believe for themselves. It's when you say, Lord, even if you don't touch me today, touch them. That's compassion. That's compassion in motion.”
“How can you say that past just this week alone when the government refused to extend SNAP benefits? Faith. Fueled by compassion holds on to that. And while God, I'm still believing, is doing whatever God is going to do about it, you and I as a community can do something. How so? Ask somebody, do you still care? His faith wasn't selfish. And that's the kind of faith that still gets God's attention. It's the kind of faith that mirrors the heart of Jesus who himself was moved with compassion before he ever performed a miracle.”
“When compassion fuels your faith, God responds. When your faith fuels your faith, God responds. When your heart breaks for somebody else, it aligns that with the heartbeat of God. And we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched, who cannot feel what we feel. And when you feel what he feels, you align yourself with the very heartbeat of God. And can I tell you that when compassion fuels your faith, it opens heaven's windows. And God says, listen, if they got enough faith to believe it for somebody else, I got enough faith to do it for them too.”
“It's a response. Lord, my servant is sick. Paralyzed, actually. Suffering terribly. Lord, I'm not coming for me. I'm coming on behalf of somebody who can't get to you. Amen. Amen. I'm sure that if they could, they would. But since they can't get to you, I'm going to stand in the gap. Y'all missing with us here. you won't God answer your prayers. And can I tell you, God will answer them. But can I tell you something? God responds when you can say, you know what, Lord, I ain't coming to you for me today. But I'm coming for somebody else who really needs you. I'm coming for somebody else who can't make ends meet. I'm coming for somebody else who's struggling to make a, to make it, I'm coming for somebody else.”
“The Bible says Jesus was amazed. one who makes creation marvel. The one who opens blinded eyes. The one who commands the wind to be still. text says there are only two times in all the gospel where Jesus was amazed. Once at the unbelief in his hometown in Nashville. That's in Mark chapter six. And here at great faith in Capernaum. One group's lack of faith shut down miracles. While another man's faith opened heaven. Because it's often those closest to the truth who most take it for granted. And those who have not, or who we have least, who have the least exposure. To it, who recognize that it's power when it confronts them.”
“But look at who Jesus is amazed with. He's not a priest. It ain't a prophet. It's not even Pharisee. It's this Gentile centurion. This is somebody who wasn't supposed to know Jesus. Who, who, who by Jewish standards was cast out on the margins like those who were poor. Who ends up showing us how to do it. I trust Jesus even better. Jesus looks around at his own folk. Because they be your own people. The ones who were supposed to be these insiders. And literally says to them, I ain't seen this much faith anywhere in Israel.”
“And this is where I shout and I'm trying not to get happy. But my soul done caught, it's in my right foot. It's in my right foot. Because I can take off running right here. Because it tells me that God is still impressed by faith that doesn't fit the mold. It tells me that faith that isn't bound by pedigree, position, or proximity. But faith that says, Lord, I don't deserve you, but I still believe you. It's the faith that gets God's attention.”
“And while we live in a culture that tries its best to gatekeep who gets access. Who deserves opportunities. Who's worthy of favor. Who's allowed to be at the table. Who's allowed to have. This text reminds us that faith has a way of breaking through the gate. People might try to restrict you, overlook you, or write you off. You may have, you may not have a resume. You may not have the recognition or the resources. But if you got genuine faith. faith you can get heaven's attention.”
“I led this because we can be close to Jesus and still miss his authority but can also be far from him and still recognize his power the text says that Jesus was amazed I love I love what what what Willie James Jennings tell us Willie James Jennings tells us that that Jesus marvels not simply at belief but at recognition recognition that faith can be found where no one thought it possible and that such faith began becomes a new center of belonging then centurion's faith becomes the doorway church to new belonging.”
“It teaches us when Jesus says this is that when God makes expectations change people expected salvation to remain within their circles but God was already expanding it their expected faith to come from the religious but God found it in those who were rejected they expected blessings to belong to the worthy but God was giving the faith and the blessings to those who were willing she said I ain't seen this much faith in all Israel.”
“But the man who hosts the party said, no, they weren't on the list, but they were on my heart. And that's what Jesus is teaching. He's teaching that in this. Jesus said, I ain't seen this much faith. But look at what he tells the man. Because verse 13 ends by telling us, Jesus. Didn't go to the house. Jesus didn't lay no hands. Jesus didn't even move his feet. He spoke a word. I don't know what he spoke. I don't know what he said. I don't know what kind of sentence Jesus used in this. But the Bible says that he told the centurion, go home. Go back home. And this is when you'll understand that Jesus will give you the desires of your heart. You ready? Let it be done. Just as you believed it would. And the Bible says that at that moment, the servant was healed.”
“Can I tell you that that kind of power he still has? His words can reach what your hands can't touch. His words can heal what medicine can't fix. His words. His words can open doors that degrees can't unlock. He doesn't have to be present to be in the room. All he has to do is speak a word. Because when he speaks, demons still back up. When he speaks, storms have to settle down. When he speaks, mountains start moving. When he speaks, valleys start rising. When he speaks, fear loses its grip. When he speaks, anxiety loses its hold. You're still standing. Because he said, I'll never leave you, nor will I forsake you. You survived storms. There's power in his words. Power in his words. Just like you believed it would. Just like you believed it would. Jesus. You ain't got to come to the house. Speak a word. I trust in God.”
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