One of the things I would tell my younger self, would be to do more devotional material and do weekly, if not daily word of faith confessions over God’s promises. To do them and never stop.  Below, is a WOF confession I do regularly.  I would encourage you to do this, if you are not already in the practice. The “I will” list is largely from a list I saw the Vincent Cheung Ministry Team post on their blog. I have expounded on this with things that I know I need to confess for my specific areas of building faith. You should make a list with both general promises and ones you specifically need.

Definition: God’s Love is His policy of thought and action of favor to His Elect.[1]

“Just as sin [dominated you] in death, so also [unmerited favor] will [dominate you] through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Romans 5:21 (HCSB)

“I pray that from God’s valuable, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts, as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s (policy of thought and action of favor to you), and (this will) keep you strong. And may you have the (ability) to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep is His (policy of thought and action of favor to you) is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand (in its infinity). Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life, and powerful ability that comes from God.” (Ephesians 3:16–19, NLT)

Father, You have given me Your limitless supply of unmerited love and put in me Your powerful ability. By Your Will You have made me holy by Your Son’s body, and because You are able, You have already made the New Contract active for me. The Same power you used in endless power of life to put Christ above all powers at your right hand, now works in me. You love me beyond measure. Your Son died to atone for my sins, in Love. You gave me the gift righteousness, out of love. Unmerited favor rules over all my life. Yes, you love me so much as to call me a child of God!

You say in a blood oath Contract that,

I will never remember yours sins against you,
I will write my laws upon your heart so that you will not depart but Love Me,
I will Be your God, and you my People,
I will be with you to heal and favor you,
I Will never stop from doing Good to you.

And you even say,

I AM your righteousness,
I AM your unmerited favor,
I AM your throne of grace and power that you have direct access through My Son.

“I believed, and so I have spoken.”

Therefore, Father I say with love and confidence back to You, as I look to You for more maturity in these things. You made the worlds. You alone define reality with your Word, for there is none beside You. You have defined me as a son of God in Christ, as one in Him and He in me, as an heir of God.

I am what I am,
I am the righteousness of God,
by the unmerited favor of Christ,

Because You are able and will do it,  Father I will:

…walk in Christ and not without him,
…walk in faith and not unbelief,
…walk in hope and not fear,
…walk in your peace and not anxiety,
…walk in your joy and not depression,
…walk in your freedom  and not bondage of sin,
…walk in your abundant supply and not lack,
…walk in your health and not sickness,
…walk in your power and not my own strength,
…walk in your unmerited favor
& not self-righteousness,
…walk in confidence before you and not condemnation,
…walk in submission to your will and not to men’s
…walk in obedience to you and not rebellion,
…walk in your love and not bitterness,
…walk in your forgiveness and not resentment,
…walk in your healing and not infirmity.
…walk in your abundant prosperity, and not reliance on human effort,
…walk under the shadow of you wings and not be afraid of terrors,
…walk directly to the throne of grace and receive what I ask for,
and not act like I don’t have a Contract with God.
…walk in the fullness of Christ and not my own sufficiency,
…walk in the spirit and not the flesh,
…walk in your truth, and not the devil’s lies,
…walk in your friendship, & not enmity against you,
…walk in the law of the Spirit of life and not sin and death,
…walk in purity of mind, and not the cares of this world,
…walk in your unfailing mercy, and not mere human kindness,
…walk in storing up treasures for heaven with Christ & not the things of this world
…walk in my “beloved” identity in Christ & not as a mere mortal
…walk as a king in this life through Christ
and not as a slave to sin,
…walk in spiritual revelation, and not spiritual dullness,
…walk in your presence and not self-assurance,
…walk in your light and not in darkness,
…walk with you and not alone.[2]

Father this is your definition of the world and of me. I speak your definition back to you, for You are more than able, oh Father of unstoppable Power!

————–Endnotes————

[1]  I got the basic idea of this definition from reading Vincent Cheung, Systematic Theology. 2010. 78

[2] In fellowship to the Father, listen to His words of love and promise to you. Then in faith, speak back to Him your love and promise to Him, knowing He is able to strengthen you in all areas of life.

There are reasons to do a word of faith confession. (1) You already believe and so you speak it. (2). You admit you faith is weak, and you admit your mind needs to be renewed, and so, you speak God’s word and speak God’s promises, in order to renew you mind and to strengthen your faith. (3) You enjoy fellowship with God. You enjoy reading His word, and enjoy speaking in faith back to your beloved Father.