(by Dr. Larry Ollison)

Anytime somebody tells you something amazing, it can be difficult to believe at first. I remember where I was standing in the hallway in high school at Raytown South High School when I found out President Kennedy had been shot. I remember my reaction. The first time I heard it, I didn't believe the person. The second time I heard it, I thought, "There must be something to this." But when enough people told me the same thing, I started believing it and then I had enough confidence after a while to start speaking what I believed to other people.

That's the way the Word of faith is. When someone is bound in a bad situation in their life and someone speaks the Word of God and tells them they can be set free, they may not believe it at first. When you've lived with an ailment or bondage all your life, and all of a sudden you hear somebody say that you can be free, it may be difficult to believe at first.

That's why Romans 10:17 says "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." What we need is to hear the Word again and again and again. It may take several hearings before we start believing. It's a continual thing.

In Acts chapter two the Spirit of God fell and people were filled with the Holy Spirit. It says, "They were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'Whatever could this mean?'" (Acts 2:12).

That's the condition of people who don't understand what God is doing. They say, "What's going on? What does this mean?"

I remember the first time I ever heard somebody speak in tongues. I thought, "What does this mean? What is going on?" I remember the first time I heard somebody prophesy. I thought to myself, "What's going on?"

At that point in my life, I had a decision to make. Would I continue to expose myself to the Word and allow my belief, understanding, and faith to grow or would I ignore and avoid what I didn't understand. Every Spirit-filled Christian has made this choice and the result is they are Spirit-filled. 

Those who chose to ignore and avoid the truth of God are now in a dry place. So when you hear someone speak and what they say seems amazing, check it out with the Word of God. If it doesn't align with the Word, reject it. If the Word of God backs it up, then meditate on that Word and your amazement will change to confidence and faith will develop.