1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is! Faith operates in the present tense. What is “now”? Now!

Some scholars will argue that the word “now” at the beginning of Hebrews 11:1 was not in the original Greek text as it was added by the translators and so it cannot be used to teach the “present tense” nature of faith. Okay, we can concede that. However, “Papa” Fred Price will often say if you are arguing that “now” was not really there in the original text, let’s remove the word “now.” Let’s stay with the next two words in the beginning of that verse. Faith “is.” What tense is “is”? Present tense! It doesn’t say faith “was.” This is the trap a lot of us fall into. It doesn’t say faith “will be.” That’s not faith. It says “faith is.” If it’s not now, it’s not faith. That’s one reason why a lot of believers think they are in faith. They cry out, “Lord, please when will you heal me? I believe you Lord, I have faith. I am waiting for you to heal me.” More often than not, they don’t get the victory and then they say faith doesn’t work. How can it not work? It worked for everybody else before you. Those whom it worked for knew that they were already healed.

Faith is. To make it clear to you, God gives you His name as, “I Am that I Am” (Exodus 3:14). He didn’t say “My name is I was that I was.” Or, “I will be that I will be.” He didn’t say, “I have three names: I was that I was; I Am that I Am; I will be that I will be.” No. Whatever the time is He is, “I Am that I Am.” Five minutes later, He is, “I Am that I Am.” Another five minutes later He is “I Am that I Am.” Faith is now, and now faith is. If it moves away from the realm of the present tense, no matter how nice it makes you feel, no matter how “spiritual” it sounds, it is not faith.

Confession:
Father, I realize that faith is a present tense and I have to keep it “now” for it to work for me. I rejoice to know that Your Name is the “I Am that I Am,” and whatever the time is, You are I Am that I Am. I praise Your Holy Name!