Believing in God does not necessarily mean we are saved. There is more to salvation than acknowledging a Supreme Being. We are saved by faith, but it must be without doubts. You may publish this article if the resource box is left intact.

In Mark 11:24 Jesus said that whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. James indicted that we should not think we will receive anything from the Lord if we doubt and do not believe (1:6).

When the blind men in Matthew chapter 9 asked to be given sight, Jesus asked if they believed he could do it. When they answered in the affirmative he replied, According to your faith will it be done to you (verse 29).

There is no doubt that faith is necessary for prayers to be answered. The belief system in mankind is extremely complex. We have the conscious and subconscious buried deep within our skulls. Students of the mind write about the subconscious as if it is supernatural. They claim that if we can convince it we truly believe, it can do wonders. Is it really the subconscious that is working the magic or is it God? Our total belief gets his attention and his power is active in all areas of our life.

When we speak of self confidence is it believing in our own ability, or does it take in the fact that we rely on God to give us the power to do what we want to? We plan our course, but the Lord determines our steps (PR 16:9), so it is difficult to know precisely what we do of our own power, and what he does through us.

When we speak of believing in God, it of necessity includes the beliefs of the conscious and subconscious. When we believe we will receive what we ask God for in prayer, does it come solely from our own thinking, the result of our knowledge of the Bible, or does he have an influence on our optimistic decision?

When Jesus was asked if he could cast the evil spirit out of the boy in Mark 9, Jesus said, Everything is possible for him who believes. The boys father exclaimed, I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief (Verse 24).

This indicates that we have degrees of belief and unbelief and we get the idea from the verse that Divinity has some influence on our faith. Jude 1:24 states that the Lord can keep us from falling. We dont know how he does this and are not aware when he takes such action.

What then does it mean to believe in God? First, we are to love God with all our heart, soul and mind (MT 22:37). In other words, our whole being is to be in harmony with our Creator. The belief of the subconscious is the sum of all the thoughts of the conscious mind. The Bible heart is located in the mind, thought to contain our belief system.

This is the love of God; to obey his commands (1JN 5:3). Until one has obeyed his commands, he does not have the love of God, and does not have saving faith. James says faith without action is dead (2:17). We are saved by grace through faith. It is not of works (EPH 2:8). James explains that faith is made complete by what we do (2:22),

The Bible meaning of faith is moral conviction of religious truth of God, assurance, belief, fidelity. Believe means to have faith in, to make a commitment to obey him, to put trust in the Godhead. When expressed as the subject and noun, faith or belief is used. If expressed as a verb, believe is used. Verbs require action, so believing without doing is useless.

To believe, to have saving faith, is to put complete trust in Jesus, to make him the Lord of your life, it is avoiding willing sins, it is doing what you can for his cause. It is not to be concerned about physical things. It is taking your troubles to Christ and leaving them there.