There is a powerful lesson for us in the story of how Mary of Nazareth learned she would conceive and give birth to the Savior of the world. That lesson is the connection between faith in God and favor with God.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Luke 1:26-38 (NIV)

Mary rushes to visit Elizabeth. The first words out of her mouth are:

As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Luke 1:44-45 (NIV)

Consider for a moment, how amazing for Mary to believe such an incredible thing! She was probably a sheltered teenager. Unlike the men, she wouldn’t have been allowed to study Torah. Her knowledge about God would come only from hearing the scrolls read in synagogue meetings and whatever her father taught her.

Of course, an awesome angel delivering the message would stir up anyone’s faith. But I don’t think that’s the whole story.

The angel greatly emphasizes that Mary has favor with God!

Surely there is a connection between the fact that Mary was highly favored in God’s eyes, and the fact that she was ready to believe Him about such an incredible thing.

Jesus was profoundly affected whenever he encountered someone with true faith. Who really believed He was who He said He was, that He had the authority to do what He said He could. Who believed the Words of God.

Luke Chapter 7 tells the story of how the faith of a Roman centurion so impressed Jesus that He stopped in his tracks to marvel and comment on it to the ever-present crowd. A moment later, the centurion’s servant, some distance away, was healed as requested.

Wholehearted faith was so rare that Jesus exclaimed, I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel. In other words, in the people of God. After all, the centurion was not a Jew — but he certainly was a believer!

Conversely, according to Mark 6:5, in His own hometown Jesus could not do the same miracles He did everywhere else. Why? The collective lack of faith in the community prevented it. To them, Jesus was just the carpenter who grew up down the block. Mark comments that their lack of faith also amazed Jesus.

Elizabeth’s words to Mary were both prediction and praise:

Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!

They’ve always haunted me, those words. They haunt me in the sense that they lurk in the shadows of my mind, challenging me. They follow me around and step forth from the shadows when I need a miracle.

I have, in forty years of ministry, seen many miracles. I have faith in God. Still, many miracles I’ve asked for have not happened, and that haunts me too. Sometimes, I catch myself praying with little faith, feeling so puny and powerless within myself. And that is one of the problems with faith: it is easy to focus on ourselves, instead of God! (For more about this issue, see Chapter Three of my book, They Will All Know Me.)

Unless, of course, the thing that needs to happen is SO big that we skip even looking at ourselves and look right at God. I’m thinking Mary was there.

What wins favor with God?

Scripture reveals several things, but wholehearted faith in His promises is surely on that short list; perhaps even at the top. God had to choose a woman to give birth to His son on earth. How would He choose? Whatever else His criteria was, it included faith. God was looking for a young woman who would say Yes, I believe, and He found her in Mary.

God knew then what we know now: that Mary would need that faith again and again to face the challenges of bearing, raising, loving and losing her son, the Son of God.

There is no formula for how much faith it takes for miracles to happen, and there will always be other factors at play. Of this I am sure: wholehearted faith means that where God is concerned, the answer is “Yes” before I know the circumstances or how big the ask.

What you can count on is that when you truly believe in God and His promises, it registers. The same faith that arrested Jesus mid-step in Capernaum will captivate Him today. Faith draws His attention and is a factor in the unhindered release of His power to heal your need.

Frankly, the faith-favor connection is a dynamic you experience all the time, an utterly simple one. You give your best to people who have faith in you. Who trust in you to be who you are and give what you have the ability to give. People’s faith in you draws you to show up for them.

Believe, Beloved. Not in your ability to pray and produce, but in God’s faithfulness to His Word. Because just like the angel said, “No word from God will ever fail.”

Let us say to the Lord, as Mary did, “May your word to me be fulfilled.”