REAL HELP | FAITH | APPLY
How To Distinguish a Christmas Wish From Standing In Faith
Do you know how to distinguish a Christmas wish from standing in faith? It seems every Christmas movie or gift advertisement includes a Christmas wish. Wishes are cute, but as a believer, you should stand in faith in God to have your needs and wants met.
Christmas isn’t about wishes; it’s about promises fulfilled. This is illustrated by the ultimate promise delivered: Jesus, our Savior and Messiah, being born into this world.
A wish is generally based on desire. The popular ones this time of year are: “I wish I had a new car,” “I wish I weighed less,” or “I wish I had a new job.” Popular culture has glorified the idea of the Christmas wish into some vain imagining that you might hope may possibly come true. We’ve all had those thoughts and wishes.
But, when you take a stand in faith that God’s Word is true, you can know it will not fail and know He will honor your faith!
Don’t Wish, But Know
Standing in faith brings God on the scene. For example, you want a new job that fits your schedule, offers better benefits, and provides a higher salary. You can wish all you want, but there’s no guarantee that your wish will be granted.
If you’re standing in faith using a specific promise from God’s Word, that’s where the power of God and His Word is engaged to work on your behalf. This turns our wishing into praying, and our Christmas wish into a stand in faith.
Instead of saying, “I wish I had a better job,” say this: “According to God’s Word in Philippians 4:19, ‘[God] will supply all my needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to me in Christ Jesus,’ so I know I have my new job; one that fits my schedule, has better benefits and pays more, in Jesus’ Name!”
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God’s promise of eternal life was wrapped in human form. Jesus came, not to fulfill a Christmas wish. The Lord came to give you something to believe in. Kenneth Copeland has said, “Faith is not wishing or hoping that God will do something. Faith believes it’s already done because God said so.”
This Christmas, instead of saying, “I wish I had this or that,” begin saying, “I believe God’s Word is true. He will answer my prayer and take care of my needs based on His promise!”
Faith Speaks What God Has Promised
The act of a Christmas wish is powerless and can lull you into a deceitful notion that God is in the business of granting wishes. Wishing is a mental and emotional activity that doesn’t produce anything meaningful.
Instead of wishing, take to heart what Paul wrote, “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ (which means ‘Yes’) ascends to God for His glory” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
That same spirit of faith Paul had is alive in you today. When you say what God has said in His Word as if it pertains to you and it’s already done, that’s not a wish; that’s faith! So, if you wish something would change, that wish has no power to change anything. But if you take what God said about the change, believe that He has the power to do it and add your words of agreement, it’s done!
Faith Believes Before It Sees
The wise men didn’t just send up a Christmas wish at the star of Bethlehem. They followed the star long before they saw the Savior. That’s what standing in faith looks like: believing before the evidence shows up. “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1).
When you stand in faith, you walk in the same confidence the shepherds and wise men had: The promise is real, even when it’s still unseen.
Faith Acts Like It’s Already Done
The shepherds didn’t sit in the fields wishing. They said, “Let’s go to Bethlehem!” (Luke 2:15). Faith includes action. It worships before the breakthrough, gives before the manifestation and rejoices before it sees.
Your faith shouldn’t wait for natural proof. You can live like it’s already done because God’s Word is proof enough.
Faith Stands Firm in Every Season
Christmas is a reminder that God’s promises never fail. Even when the world around you feels uncertain, His Word remains sure. “God is able to do whatever He promises” (Romans 4:21).
God’s character is all the proof you need to stand in faith for everything He promised you in His Word. God fulfilled His promise to send His Son to be your replacement as a sacrifice for sin, so you can be sure He will keep all His promises to you.
And as Matthew 7:11 shares, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”
Now, stop merely making a Christmas wish and begin standing in faith for all that your Father has promised you!
Pray this prayer of faith with us:
“Heavenly Father, this Christmas, I am standing in faith on Your Word. I believe Your Word is true. I thank You for Jesus, the fulfillment of Your promise. I stand firm on faith, rejoicing that every good thing You’ve promised is mine in Christ Jesus. Thank You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
Make this Declaration of Faith:
“This Christmas, I refuse to wish—I choose to believe. I’m standing in faith, knowing that God’s Word is already fulfilled in my life. Jesus is my proof, my promise and my victory.”