Podcast Summary: Faith Is A Discipline, Part 1 | Nancy Dufresne | Mississauga, Canada | JTH Crusades 2024 | Sunday PM

Date: August 26, 2024
Host & Speaker: Nancy Dufresne (Dufresne Ministries)

Main Theme

“Faith is a Discipline”
In this in-depth, practical teaching, Pastor Nancy Dufresne emphasizes that faith is not simply a feeling, but a daily discipline—a skill to be intentionally developed, maintained, and expressed. Through biblical exegesis, personal testimony, and pastoral insights, she explores how faith governs the operation of God’s power in our lives, the connection between faith and love, and the importance of consistent spiritual practice.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Essential Nature of Faith (00:55–06:21)

• Faith is Central to Pleasing God:
  • “Without faith it’s impossible…Can I tell you this? God’s not hard to please. God’s not hard to please because he let us know what pleases Him. Faith.” (02:40)
• Faith Grants God Permission to Act:
  • “When we release faith, then God can work for us. When we don’t release faith, he can’t work for us. And that doesn’t please him because he wants to work for us.” (04:00)
• Faith as Custodianship:
  • “It’s amazing that he has gifted us the measure of faith that we can be a custodian of that faith that came out of Him.” (01:15)
• God Gives Us His Own Faith:
  • “You have a measure of God’s own faith. Faith in you…whatever the measure of it is, it came out of God Himself.” (01:35)

2. Faith and Rewards: Personal Testimony (06:22–16:18)

• God Rewards Faithful Stewardship:
  • Nancy recounts God giving her a house as a reward for how she handled her husband’s passing, emphasizing the role of faith in receiving God’s rewards.
    • “He said, that home is a reward for how you handled your husband’s homegoing.” (08:48)
• Seeking God Diligently:
  • “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him…if you won’t receive this with your faith, then you rob from me that I cannot be the rewarder to you that I am.” (12:15)
• Faith as a Discipline:
  • “There are disciplines of faith, and it plays out as someone who has disciplines of faith—they diligently seek Him. Faith is a discipline. It’s not a feeling.” (14:05)

3. The Discipline of Faith: Practical Instruction (16:19–36:00)

• Intentional Practices Required:
  • “We have to, on purpose, renew our minds. We have to, on purpose, feed on the word. We have to, on purpose, meditate. We have to, on purpose, confess. We have to, on purpose, cast down imaginations.” (17:05)
• Works and Faith:
  • Differentiates between earning salvation by works and bearing fruit as evidence of righteousness after being saved.
  • “Once we're saved, works are everything. It's called bearing the fruits of righteousness.” (18:18)
• Natural and Spiritual Disciplines Linked:
  • “People with few natural disciplines…will struggle in life at advancing. Well, if that's true for natural things, how much more with spiritual things, with our faith?” (21:20)
• Consistency Is Key:
  • Quote from Gloria Copeland: “With consistency lies victory.” (22:10)
  • “Consistency in the word builds a foundation in us.” (25:50)
• Daily Engagement:
  • “Look at each day as its own individual container…Every day has to be filled with its own faith. Every day has to be filled with its own confessions.” (22:32)
• Faith Foundations:
  • Shares story of people struggling at life’s end because their spiritual foundation and authority in faith were never exercised throughout life. (29:00–31:29)
  • Home inspection analogy: surface does not matter; foundation does (32:00–33:54)

4. The Law of Faith (36:01–49:25)

• Faith is a Law, Not a Suggestion:
  • “Faith is called a law. And you better be glad it's called a law. Because a law doesn’t discriminate.” (37:00)
• The Law of Faith Governs God’s Power:
  • “Why does he call it the law of faith? Because laws govern something. What does the law of faith govern? It governs the power of God.” (39:18)
• Belief and Confession Dynamic:
  • “Believe it in your heart, say it with your mouth. That's the law of faith…It works for everyone.” (40:22)
• Love as the Foundation for Faith:
  • “The law of faith works by love. If love is stepped outside, the law no longer works…Healing is a manifestation of the love of God. Prosperity is a manifestation of the love of God. Deliverance is a manifestation of the love of God.” (42:24)

5. Walking in Love—Staying on “Love’s Property” (49:26–54:57)

• Property Analogy:
  • “One step outside of love is a step into sin. You're either on love's property or sin's property. You can't stand on sin's property and say, Father, I'm believing you for healing. It can't reach you there.” (51:28)
• Faith and Love Are Intertwined:
  • “If we release our faith, we can stand on love's property and not release our faith and not benefit from being on love's property. It still takes faith to receive everything that is on love's property.” (53:08)

6. Love, Forgiveness, and Faith Working Together (54:58–1:08:40)

• Forgiveness Is a Discipline of Faith:
  • “For faith to work, we have to have a forgiving heart. Some people have a grudge heart…But in the discipline of faith, you have to have the discipline of a forgiving heart. It's a discipline. I choose to forgive. I don't have to feel like it, I just choose it.” (57:01)
• Using God’s Forgiveness:
  • Cites Corrie Ten Boom’s story of forgiving a Nazi camp guard, emphasizing choosing to use God’s forgiveness, not just relying on feelings (1:01:00).
• “Everything we are using in this life is His”:
  • “It's his faith, his joy, his fruits of the Spirit. It's his. And this is part of the disciplines of faith—it's quit going back to your human weak imitation…and drawing on the humanity when you've got the divine in you to draw on.” (1:05:05)

7. The Need for Proximity and Personal Ministry (1:08:41–1:13:15)

• Importance of Face-to-Face Ministry:
  • Cites Paul in 1 Thessalonians desiring to “see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith.” (1:10:12)
  • “Proximity matters…you can diagnose the condition of people’s foundation.” (1:11:05)
  • Warns that “digital church” alone is insufficient for spiritual maturity and correction.

8. Closing Exhortation and Look Ahead (1:13:16–End)

• Practical Preview:
  • Nancy announces that future sessions will address the disciplines of feeding faith, releasing faith, receiving, and holding fast (1:16:15)
• Closing Prayer:
  • “We’re here to learn how to better cooperate, to be better doers of the Word.” (1:18:25)
  • Emphasizes living in the fullness of what God has already provided for believers.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Faith as Daily Discipline:
  • “Faith is a discipline. It’s not a feeling. It’s a discipline. It’s something you choose, and it’s something that you have to discipline your thought life. You have to discipline your words, you have to discipline your actions.” — Nancy Dufresne (14:13)
• On the Rewarder Nature of God:
  • “It’s important to me that I be received as a rewarder, not just that I give rewards, but when you receive that, you receive who I am.” — Nancy Dufresne (12:28)
• On Consistency:
  • “With consistency lies victory.” — Gloria Copeland (quoted by Nancy, 22:10)
• On Forgiveness:
  • “I don’t have to feel like it, I just choose it…because you’re not using your forgiveness, you’re using his forgiveness.” — Nancy Dufresne (57:10)
• Corrie Ten Boom’s Example:
  • “Jesus, in myself, I don’t have enough forgiveness for him. So I take your forgiveness and I let your forgiveness flow out of me, and I choose to forgive him with your forgiveness.” (1:02:54)
• On Walking in Love:
  • “One step outside of love is a step into sin…We're only winning as long as we're still on love's property.” — Nancy Dufresne (51:30)
• On Face-to-Face Ministry:
  • “Proximity matters…When people watch their pastor from home on the screen, the pastor can't see your face…When you get in proximity, you can diagnose the condition of people’s foundation.” (1:10:59)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:55 – Faith is the currency of heaven, not a mere theological concept.
• 08:50 – Personal story: house as a reward for faithfulness through trial.
• 14:05 – Faith is a discipline, not a feeling.
• 21:20 – The parallels between natural and spiritual discipline.
• 22:10 – “With consistency lies victory.”
• 29:00 – The result of spiritual neglect: lack of faith at life’s end.
• 37:00 – Explanation of the law of faith.
• 42:24 – Importance of love; the “property” analogy.
• 57:01 – The necessity of forgiveness for working faith.
• 1:02:54 – Corrie Ten Boom’s forgiveness testimony.
• 1:10:12 – Importance of face-to-face pastoring.
• 1:16:15 – Preview of continued teaching on the disciplines of faith.
• 1:18:25 – Concluding prayer and call for anticipation and transformation.

Structure for Further Teaching

Upcoming Parts:
Nancy previews that future sessions will elaborate on:

• The discipline of feeding faith
• The discipline of releasing faith
• The discipline of receiving
• The discipline of “holding fast”

Tone and Language

Nancy Dufresne’s language is warm, practical, story-driven, and often humorous (“marriage counseling 101,” “you're terrible at addition, terrible at multiplication”). Her style merges biblical exegesis and direct spiritual instruction with honest, relatable anecdotes.

Summary

This episode lays a vital foundation for believers seeking tangible growth in their spiritual walk. Nancy Dufresne calls listeners to:

• Treat faith as an active, daily discipline—integral to every element of the Christian life.
• Recognize the interconnectedness of faith and love, especially in forgiveness.
• Embrace spiritual consistency and proximity to spiritual leadership.
• Anticipate more in-depth teaching in future sessions on specific “disciplines” of faith.

Listeners are encouraged to reassess their daily practices, foundations, and love walk to move with God’s power and enjoy His rewards.

For more teachings or to connect with the ministry:
Visit Dufresne Ministries