Unblocking the Way to Your Promise

I love Hebrews 10 so much because it has really been a part of life for me. In our ministry, God has told us to do many things which seemed impossible for our natural abilities, but we’ve learned that we have to hold fast to what He calls us to do. Whatever is in your heart—whether it’s your healing, the salvation of a child or spouse, prosperity for your business, or anything else—you’ve got to hold on to the promise that God gave you. If you don’t, life will try to take that promise away from you.

The writer of Hebrews was writing to a group of Jews who were struggling. They had been attacked in their faith and were suffering through many hardships, and they were tempted to question what they believed and even to let go of it. The writer of Hebrews tells them:

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;).”
—Hebrews 10:23

The Greek word for “hold fast” is katecho (κατέχω). Katecho paints the picture of somebody that has something in their possession, and they are literally holding it down or suppressing it. If you translate it with that knowledge, the verse is saying, “Let us hold down the confession of our faith; let us put all of our weight on top of it so that it can’t get away.”

Well, why do we have to hold it? Is your faith trying to escape from you? Not quite. The reason we need to hold down our faith is because someone else is trying to take it from us. We have an enemy, and we live in a broken world, so life will try to take your faith away from you. If you don’t really put all your weight on top of it, if you are not determined to hold fast, it could be stolen. If you’re believing God to do something in your finances, and you’re not seeing results, disappointment will try to take it away from you. If you are believing for your body to be healed, but you are not seeing the manifestation of that healing, you may become discouraged and be tempted to let it go. But that is exactly when you must hold fast! You must understand that whatever God has promised to you, the devil will try to pull it out of your hands, so if you are going to stay in your place of faith and see the manifestation of God’s promise to you, you have to say, “Nobody is going to take this away from me; I’m going to put all my weight on top of this thing. I’m going to sit on it and suppress it. I’m not going to let life or the enemy or anyone else steal from me what God has promised.” It is a determination to never let go of the promise that God has made to you.

Of course, if we’re going to hold so tight to something, we had better understand what it is we’re clinging to. Verse 23 tells us, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith.” What does that part mean? The Greek word, homologia (ὁμολογία), refers to an action of saying the same thing, agreeing, confessing, or aligning. In the context of our faith, it means that we don’t just repeat the Word of God, but we hear and see it the exact same way He does. It is divine alignment, and it takes time, prayer, crucifixion of the flesh, and renewal of your mind. It takes all that hard work for you and God to come into agreement about what He wants to do in your life, but when you follow through, then you will be perfectly aligned. Once you have fully embraced what God says, you see exactly what He sees, feel the way that He feels. You hear the Word the way that He hears it, and your heart and God’s heart beat in syncopation with each other.

Then, this divine alignment with God leads you into a place where your declaration of faith can bring amazing results! When you read the verse in the Greek text, the word “faith” is not there. Instead, it is the Greek word elpis (ἐλπίς), the word for hope or expectation. It is a biblical hope, a hope that is so real that it’s turned into expectation. That’s what real hope is—a full expectation that what God has told you will absolutely come to pass, without a doubt.

Then the verse says, “without wavering.” If God has made you a promise, you need to hold it down and embrace it. You can’t let anyone take it from you. You need to get into agreement with God about what He has done, with the full expectation that He is going to do what He has promised you, and all this must be done without wavering. The Greek word for “wavering” here is ἀκλινής (aklines), and it describes a person who begins to give up territory. They begin to surrender ground, yield, recline, and eventually, they go to bed on their faith, and they just give up.

If you wonder why you should stay in a place of faith, the answer is right there at the end of verse 23. The reason you should keep holding fast to the confession of your faith and maintain your full expectation is because “He is faithful that promised.” God is not a man that lies. He does not change His mind. What God has promised is exactly what He intends; He just needs you to get into alignment so that manifestation can come into your life. If he is so faithful, then it’s only right that you should be faithful to Him in return.

If God has made a promise to you, He intends to fully deliver the promise. If you are not seeing the fulfilment of your promise, God probably is not the problem; it might be you. Maybe God is ready to answer your question or give you what you’re believing for right now, but the way is blocked. If a pipe is filled with debris, nothing can get through it, and that’s why it’s so important to be in alignment with God. You can make a bold confession of faith and declare your expectation, but if you and God are not in agreement, that answer will not come through to you.