In your mind, is God absolutely, meticulously, always, always, always faithful and true, or not?
Do you know anyone who, when it comes to being on time, is a perfectionist? If she tells you she will be somewhere by 7:00, you can be sure that she will walk through the door no later than 6:47? To her it is a matter of keeping her word. If she says she will be somewhere at 7:00, she wants others to know that she takes her words seriously. As the saying goes, her word is her bond. If you do business with her, you do not need to sign contracts. If she agrees to something verbally, she will follow through, even if it is to her loss, because the honesty and reliability of her words is more important to her than money, gain, or loss.
God is like her, only more so—perfectly more so. He has no human failings, weaknesses, or limits, and therefore, unlike humans, nothing can stop him from keeping his promises. A car breakdown can keep even the most time conscious among us from showing up when we scheduled, but nothing can stop God from doing what he says.
Perfectly faithful and true
We cannot conceive how important it is to God to keep his promises. He is perfect in all his ways, and thus Titus 1:2 says he “cannot lie.” He cannot do it. He is perfect in righteousness and truth. He loves the truth and hates lies. He has never lied and never will. Nothing is more certain than the reliability of God’s words. His words are perfectly trustworthy, absolutely worthy of belief.
2 Samuel 22:31 says, “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true.”
Proverbs 30:5 says, “Every word of God proves true.”
God told Jeremiah, “I am watching over my word to perform it” (1:12).
God is not like us
We, on the other hand, all know what it is to lie and be lied to, and perhaps we attribute to God our failing, because human beings do not believe every word that comes from the mouth of God. Sinners doubt and question God. They regard themselves, or the media or a person with a doctorate, as more reliable than God. They believe their own reasonings more than they believe his Scripture. How ridiculous!
That does not mean belief is always easy or logical. God tests people to see whether they will believe him no matter what. He allows his people to go through experiences that seem to deny what his Word says.
Take Abram (Abraham) for archetypal example. God promised to give him a child when he was 75-years-old. At that age, it would be natural for him to assume the promise would be fulfilled within months, not decades. But God ordained that he wait 25 years for the birth of Isaac. Meanwhile God changed Abram’s name to mean “father of nations.”
Detached from reality
So the nature of faith in God’s words is complete reliance on them even when circumstances deny them outright. To others, a believer appears to be detached from reality. But believers hold on to words—God’s words—not current circumstances. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”
The reason true believers hold on to God’s words is that God stands behind them. Even if we pray and do not see an answer for decades, we know our prayer has not been lost in space and time. Circumstances are nearly irrelevant to a true believer; what is relevant is the character of God and the words he has spoken. That is the enduring reality. Circumstances are a passing reality.
For the God who is truth itself has promised to hear the prayers of those who are in covenant with him and who believe. Again, for emphasis, this truthful God has promised repeatedly to hear and answer the prayers of believers in covenant with him though faith in Jesus, who pray according to the principles and specific promises of Scripture, thus according to his will.
For just one example, Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all” (NASB20).
Super important to God
Do you believe Jesus? Or do you not? This is crucial. This is what is at stake. Do you believe that God tells the truth always? This is important to God. He wants to make this manifest in each person. He wants to show forth whether you believe him or not. He bases salvation itself on faith (John 3:16). He answers prayer based on faith, not on the intensity of the need. Human faith matters to God (Hebrews 11:6).
Thus we should never be content to live in unbelief about anything he says. Jesus said, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22), and the context of this statement was one that many could regard as a presumptuous request (cursing a fig tree) if carried on by any other human.
So we believe in God’s words because we believe he is worthy. We honor him by believing him; we dishonor him by doubting him. We are convinced he utters his words with perfect seriousness and never forgets one of them.
Trusting God’s character
Such faith is why Sarah contributed much spiritually to the birth of Isaac when she was 90. It was not just Abraham who believed God; it was Sarah. Hebrews 11:11 says, “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.”
Sarah considered God to be faithful and true. This is the conviction of everyone who is established in faith. We believe “God is faithful” (1 Corinthians 1:9; 10:13; 2 Corinthians 1:18, Deuteronomy 7:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:24).
He is perfectly faithful and true. We believe therefore he is faithful to his words. We believe he has spoken promises. His promises include numerous promises to hear and answer our prayers.
We need to have the character of God clear in our minds as we consider his promises. Because God is perfectly faithful and true, we can rely completely on his word and promises.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)