Jesus walking on water is like: okay, he's God. But Peter?! And us too, if we have faith?!
Meanwhile the boat, already far from land, was taking a beating from the waves because the wind was against it. As the night was ending, Jesus came to them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the water they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” and cried out with fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them: “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” Peter said to him, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.” So he said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they went up into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”Matthew 14:24–33, NET
We can analyse this from a worldview angle, to get a big picture idea of what different groups say.
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Worldview |
Word FaithSee for example Kenneth Hagin, Faith To Walk on Water, https://www.hopefaithprayer.com/faith/kenneth-hagin-faith-lesson-no-24-doubt-thief-of-gods-greater-blessings/ |
Evangelical Charismatic |
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Where is the power located |
Power is in yourself: your faith-filled actions |
The power is in Jesus |
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How do we know what to do |
Principle of faith: believing and not doubting |
Listen to what Jesus has said and do it |
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What is reality |
By not looking at physical reality (the wind and waves) we can focus on what Jesus is saying |
We should trust in Jesus in the physical |
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Goal |
To build enough faith to walk on water |
To glorify Jesus' power over nature |
What this passage says, according to Word Faith adherents, is that if you have enough of the force of faith, you can even walk on water. This is an impersonal power—God is not needed. By ignoring the physical, and seeing in the spirit—in this case, by the words of Jesus (creating a new reality)—we can overcome the physical.
Hopefully by putting it so starkly you can see just how far different this view is from the Word of God. Now, many people see that, and mix their view with some truths like how we should look to Jesus, rather than our own faith. Nevertheless, at some point you must realise that you are believing two contradictory things, and one of them must go.
Either we look to Jesus for each fresh occasion, or, we trust in our ability to believe (in what you want) and not doubt ourselves. Either the physical is real or it's an illusion. Either we are satisfied in doing great things, or we are satisfied in glorifying God's greatness. Either we believe in our faith or we believe in what Jesus has said.
One side of those options will let us down. The other side is the one that is the reason for the answers to your prayers. So I pray that this would become clear to you all.