Faith is one of the most talked-about concepts in Christianity, yet it is also one of the most misunderstood. What does it actually mean to walk by faith? How do you resist the enemy? And what do you do when a mountain stands between you and God's promises? This post breaks it all down in a simple, practical way.

Who Is the Real Lion? Understanding Your Adversary

First Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." Most people read right past a critical word in that verse: may .

Satan does not have the ability to control, rule, or dominate your life. He simply tries to get you to believe something that is not true. He goes around like a lion, not as the lion.

There is a lion in the Bible, and His name is Jesus Christ. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He conquered death, hell, and the grave. He reigns victorious today, tomorrow, and for eternity. He is not against you. He is for you.

The entire goal of the enemy is to get you to believe a lie so that you speak lies over your life and walk out of the power God has made available to you.

Do Christians Have to Fight the Devil?

Many believers say they are "fighting the devil," but the Bible does not actually call you to fight him. Jesus already fought that fight and won. He gave you the victory.

First Peter 5:9 says to resist the devil, not fight him. There is a difference. When we feel like we are fighting the devil, we are often really fighting our own lack of discipline. We are refusing to say no to sin, refusing to discipline our minds and bodies, and then blaming the enemy for the consequences.

Your job is to resist the devil and stay steadfast in faith. That is it.

What Does It Mean to Be an Overcomer?

First John 5:4 says, "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith."

If you have made Jesus Lord and Savior of your life, you are born of God. That means you are an overcomer. Not someone who is overcome, but someone who overcomes. You are not a loser. You are a winner. You are not a doubter. You are a believer.

The way you overcome is through faith. So it is worth understanding exactly what faith is.

What Is Faith, Really?

Most people define faith using Hebrews 11:1, which describes what faith does . But 2 Corinthians 4:13 tells us what faith actually is : "And since we have the same Spirit of faith, according to what is written, 'I believed and therefore I spoke,' we also believe and therefore speak."

Faith is believing and speaking. That is it. Believing and speaking.

Believing is simply a choice. You choose what you believe every single day. And whatever you believe, you end up talking about. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Life and death are in the power of the tongue, which means life and death are in the power of what you choose to believe.

How Does Faith in God Work Practically?

Faith in God is choosing to believe what God says about your life, and then speaking what God says over your life. It sounds like this:

- God says I am the head and not the tail, so I declare: I am the head and not the tail.
- God says I am highly favored, so I choose to believe His favor goes with me everywhere.
- God says no weapon formed against me will prosper, so I speak that over my life, my marriage, my children, and my church.

Why is this powerful? Because the Bible says God watches over His Word to perform it. When you choose to believe His Word, your actions, responses, and decisions align with it. You speak life because His Word is life. And God, the Creator, performs it in your life.

Why You Cannot Believe What You Do Not Know

Romans 12:3 says God has already dealt to each person a measure of faith. You do not need to go find more faith somewhere. What you need is more understanding.

When the Bible says "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," the word hearing in the original Greek means understanding . You cannot choose to believe something you do not know or understand.

Think of it this way. A smartphone contains incredible power. An architect can design a house on it. A musician can record an entire album. A filmmaker can shoot and edit a movie. But if you never take the time to learn how those tools work, you will only use it for the basics. The phone's creator put all that power inside it. The limitation is not the phone. It is the user's understanding.

God has put all the power, wisdom, authority, and creativity into His Word. The more you understand it, the more you can choose to believe it. The more you believe it, the more you speak it. And when you believe and speak His Word, God watches over it and performs it in your life.

What Are the Mountains in Your Life and How Do You Move Them?

In Mark 11:22-23, Jesus says, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says."

A mountain is anything standing between you and the fulfillment of God's promise in your life. Mountains come in all shapes and sizes. Some come from the brokenness of the world. Some come from the adversary. And if we are being honest, most mountains are the consequence of our own decisions.

But regardless of the source, Jesus gives a clear formula: believe what God says about the mountain and speak it. Do not fear the mountain. Do not run from it. Do not sit in front of it and talk about how great it is. Speak what God has said about it.

What Does "Do Not Doubt" Actually Mean?

Jesus says in Mark 11:23 not to doubt in your heart. For many people, this feels impossible. Of course there is doubt when a mountain is staring you in the face.

But here is the key. Doubt lives in your mind, not your heart, unless you choose to believe it. A thought of doubt entering your mind does not mean you have to give it power.

More importantly, the word doubt in Mark 11:23 does not mean what we typically think it means. In the original Greek, it means to withdraw and to quit. Specifically, to withdraw your believing and speaking, and to quit on God and His Word.

Jesus is not saying you will never have a doubtful thought. He is saying do not let that thought become a choice. Do not withdraw from believing what He has said. Do not quit speaking His Word over your life.

What Happens When the Mountain Does Not Move Right Away?

Mark 11:24 says, "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."

The words ask, pray, and believe in this verse are all present progressive in the original language. That means you ask and keep on asking. You pray and keep on praying. You believe and keep on believing.

Some mountains take more than one prayer to be removed. Whatever you do, do not quit. Do not withdraw your choice to believe what God says and speak it over your life, your marriage, your body, your mind, your children, and your future.

First John 5:4 in The Message puts it plainly: "Every God-born person conquers the world's ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith."

The person who wins is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God and keeps on believing.