Muscular Faith

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Friday, March 19, 2010

And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. - Matthew 14:28–29

Peter is often cited as an example of what not to do and what not to say. But let's give him credit where credit is due. In Matthew 14, when Jesus sent the disciples across the Sea of Galilee and a great storm came, they began to panic and despair. Then, just as dawn was beginning to break, Jesus came to them, walking on the water. But when they saw Him, they thought He was a ghost. So Jesus said to them, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid" (verse 27).

Then Peter said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water" (verse 28). Jesus told him to come, and then Peter got out of the boat and began walking on the water to go to Jesus. This is what we would describe as muscular faith, believing faith. Jesus told Peter to come to Him, but it took faith on Peter's part to do it. Faith is the refusal to panic. Faith has no safety net. This was Peter and Jesus, and he was going for it. These were rough seas, and Peter did the impossible. He waited for a command from Christ, and looking at Jesus, he defied the odds and walked on water. No one had done this before-or has done it since.

We are to build our faith on what the Word of God says. We don't just step out and say, "By faith, I want this. By faith, I demand that." Instead we ask, "What does the Scripture teach? What should I be praying for? What should I be asking for?" And then we pray accordingly. That is what Peter did. And as long as he had his eyes on Jesus, he was able to do the impossible.