God stayed with Abraham until he became strong in faith. Notice that being strong in faith has something that goes with it...to be strong in faith is to give God glory.

Well Abraham is giving God glory. Abraham is saying that he is a father of a great multitude. Sarah isn't pregnant yet. She hasn't gotten pregnant all these years. But he is giving God glory, and calling those things which be not as though they were. He is calling himself a father now; not going to be; but is father of a great multitude, now. And he is thanking God that he is.

Abraham gave God so much glory, that he became fully persuaded that God would perform what He said in His word.

When your praise outweighs your asking, you'll have your manifestation. You need to praise God, not just make confessions of faith. You need to praise Him because you believe the confession is so. Praise Him by saying, "I'm getting stronger everyday. I'm stronger today than I was yesterday, and I thank you for it, Father. I'm stronger in my mind, stronger in my body, stronger in my bones, stronger in every way, than I was yesterday; and thank you for it."

When Abraham followed Gods methodology for faith, he received the promise. Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son.

Now God is going to close the deal on the enemy. His word is in the earth. Jesus is born. Jesus walks the earth, and only says what God says. Jesus only speaks that which the Father tells Him to speak. And that is so important. The need to discipline your mouth cannot be overstated.

Practice saying what the Bible says when the pressure is on. It is so tempting to say the wrong thing when your emotions are high. But you have to deliberately say what God says and couple that with praise. Give God glory by praising Him in the middle of the crisis. Let it be said about you that you are strong in faith because you were able to control your tongue, and your praises outweighed your asking.

Bishop Keith Butler

Scripture references: John 14:10; James 3:2-3; James 5:12