Podcast Summary

Overview

Episode Title: My Experience In Faith, Part One
Speaker: Morgan Dufresne
Podcast: Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Date: May 5, 2020

This episode features Morgan Dufresne sharing foundational insights on living by faith, based not on personal experiences or testimonies, but solely on the Word of God. The message walks listeners through the difference between faith, hope, and desire, practical ways to move from wanting to believing, and the critical distinction between God’s promises and His present provisions. Morgan emphasizes that the victory of faith is rooted in what the Bible says, not in what we or others have experienced.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Faith Is Not Based on Personal Experience

• Main Message (00:40–03:20)
  Morgan begins by emphasizing that while testimonies stir and encourage us, our faith must be anchored in the Word of God—not in our own or anyone else’s past experiences.
  • Quote:

    “I can't base my faith on personal experience. ...We don't base our faith on testimonies; we base our faith on the Word of God.” (01:00)

• She cautions against leaning on feelings, memories of past successes, or prophecies as a foundation for faith.
  • Quote:

    “God performs His Word. He doesn't perform your past... He performs what you believe right now.” (02:20)

2. What Faith Is—and Isn’t

• Faith vs. Hope vs. Want (03:35–13:25)
  Morgan clearly differentiates hope, want, and faith—explaining that desire and hope should stir us towards faith, but they are not faith themselves.
  • Quote:

    “Faith is not hope and want. ...Just because you want a new home, just because you want to be well, your want and willpower is not faith.” (04:40)

  • Bible hope is an expectation based on God’s promises.

    “Bible hope comes with an expectation based on God's Word.” (05:10)

• Faith is Believing and Acting
  Faith means agreeing with and acting on what God has said, not just desiring it.
  • She cites Dad Hagin:

    “Faith says the same thing that God says. Faith is simply saying what God's Word says.” (06:40)

• Confession Alone Isn’t Faith
  Saying "This is my best year yet" doesn't make it so unless it's rooted in Scriptural revelation—not merely mimicking someone else’s declarations.
  • Quote:

    “Just because you want it to be your best year yet doesn't mean it will be... You've got to have verse and Scripture, not just sayings.” (09:15)

3. The Coffee Illustration: Expectation vs. Manifestation

• A Memorable Metaphor (13:30–16:30) Morgan uses the process of brewing coffee to illustrate the journey from want/desire to manifestation:
  • The coffee bean represents desire or expectation.
  • The water represents the Word of God, and heat represents the Holy Spirit.
  • To enjoy coffee (manifestation), you can’t just grind the beans and sniff them—you need to mix them with water and heat.

    “You cannot have coffee without water. You cannot have what you want manifest without the Word.” (15:50)

4. Faith Is Rooted in God’s Word, Not in Feelings or Experiences

• Discouragement and Staying on the Word (16:40–23:30) Morgan warns that discouragement over unfulfilled desires means one has stepped off the path of faith.
  • Quote:

    “If tonight you're discouraged over a want, a desire or a need, you have taken what should lead you to an expectation in the Word, and now you're on the path of discouragement.” (19:00)

• Prophecy and Spiritual Experiences
  Spiritual experiences (even supernatural ones) do not create faith—faith always comes by hearing and meditating on God’s Word.
  • Quote:

    “The power of God does not bring faith. ...Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of God.” (22:40)

5. Spirit Vs. Natural Sight—Believing with Your Spirit

• Seeing with the Spirit (24:00–31:00)
  • Natural wanting (seeing with the eyes) drives human striving.
  • True believing happens when you "see" with your spirit, through the lens of God’s Word.
  • Memorable Quote:

    “God’s Word is the only lens your spirit can see through. When you read a little bit of the Word, you’ll have a small lens. Read much of the Word, and that lens will grow bigger.” (28:10)

• Morgan invites listeners to honestly assess whether they are merely wanting or truly believing.

6. God’s Provision is Now, Not Just a Future Promise

• Promises vs. Provision (31:00–37:55)
  • Healing, provision, and deliverance are not just future promises but present possessions for the believer, because of what Christ has done.
  • Be wary of treating God’s provision as a distant promise; instead, claim it as a current reality.

    “God hasn’t promised to heal you—He provided healing. ...He is the provider, providing for me right now.” (32:35)

  • Analogy: Promising a child Disneyland in the future is different from offering something now; faith lays hold of what God has provided in the present.
• Encouragement to keep the eyes of faith focused on what is spiritually real despite what is physically visible.

  “If you saw it with your spirit, then you’ve received it. ...No one can take away what you see in your spirit.” (36:00)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Testimonies

  “Our testimonies are wonderful. ...But that’s not what we base our faith on.” (00:55)

• Dad Hagin on Faith

  “Faith is simply saying what God says about your life.” (06:40)

• Bible Hope vs. Faith

  “Bible hope is expectation. But when it’s not accompanied by faith, it will always stay as an expectation, instead of becoming a manifestation.” (13:00)

• Coffee Illustration

  “You can sniff those coffee beans all you want. ...But until you mix it with the water of the Word, you cannot have coffee—you cannot have manifestation.” (15:30)

• On God’s Provision

  “Every need I have is paid for now... It’s the evidence of things not seen. I have proof and evidence with my faith that right now every need is paid for.” (34:25)

• Encouragement to Stand on the Word

  “Why don’t we decide as a congregation, as a body of believers, that my personal experience with faith is this: that I don’t base my faith on any personal experience. ...I only base it on what God’s Word says.” (39:00)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:40 — Introduction to the message: The foundation of faith
• 03:35 — What faith is not: Hope and want
• 06:40 — Quoting Dad Hagin: Faith says what God says
• 09:15 — Confession vs. Scriptural faith
• 13:30 — Coffee illustration: Turning expectation into manifestation
• 16:40 — How discouragement reveals you’ve stepped off faith
• 22:40 — Explaining why spiritual experiences don’t create faith
• 24:00 — The only way to ‘see’ with your spirit is through God’s Word
• 31:00 — God’s provision is now, not just a future promise
• 36:00 — Standing strong in faith regardless of what others say
• 39:00 — Closing encouragement: Let’s all decide to base faith on God’s Word alone

Conclusion

Morgan Dufresne’s message is a clarion call to examine what we're standing on as believers. Is our faith based on what we want, what we've seen, or on the timeless Word of God? With accessible metaphors and real-life application, she challenges listeners to shift from living in hope or memory toward present-moment faith, rooted in Scripture and activated through the Holy Spirit. The episode closes by encouraging listeners to boldly believe and act on God’s Word, leaving past experiences and personal disappointments behind in favor of revelation and present provision.