An excellent example of changing the seen and shaping the unseen is shown in the life of Abraham.
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Romans 4:16,17
Notice, it is God and Abraham who are calling things that are not as though they were. God said, I have made thee a father of many nations. Abraham didn't have a child at that time, but the Bible says he believed God, and it was accounted unto him forrighteousness. (v. 22.)
This is the way you begin to change the seen and shape the unseen. Abraham called things which were not manifest in the natural realm as though they were—until they were!
Abraham was the man who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken (v. 18). He was 99 years old, and his wife was 90; but he was not weak in faith (v. 19). He would not consider anything that contradicted what God had spoken.
Let's notice what God did to bring about what He had said.
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. Genesis 17:5,15
God had promised Abraham something that was absolutely impossible in the natural. Abraham was too old, Sarah was too old; and God does not violate His laws.
So God changed their names! Abraham means "father of nations" and Sarah means "mother of nations." Every time Sarah stuck her head out the tent door and called Abraham! he didn't hear Abraham!—he heard Father of Nations!
The Bible says, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17). God changed the seen and shaped the unseen for Abraham and Sarah by using their own voices!
When Abraham said, "My name is Abraham," he was saying, "I am the Father of Nations." Every time Abraham said Sarah, she didn't hear Sarah; she heard Mother of Nations.
Every time she said, "My name is Sarah," she was saying, "My name is Mother of Nations." She was changing the seen and shaping the unseen with her very own voice.
God's way of changing the seen and establishing the unseen is with words. Words produce images in your spirit and in your mind.
The Bible says Sarah received faith to conceive seed. She did it by hearing God's Word for her. When anyone said Abraham or Sarah, they were saying, Thus saith the Lord.
God said, "I have made thee (past tense) the father of many nations." The Word says that Abraham believed God, and he went about calling things that were not as though they were. This is the way you begin to shape the unseen.
Faith Always Sees
Abraham did not see with his physical eye that he was the father of many nations. When I talk about shaping the unseen, I'm not talking about something that is unseen in your spirit. You can see things in your spirit as well as with the natural eye.
Sometimes people say, "That fellow just had blind faith." But there's no such thing as blind faith. Faith always sees. Faith always knows.
You don't see these things with the natural eye, but you perceive them in your spirit by discerning the Word of God by the Spirit of God within you. Abraham called things that were not (manifest in the natural realm) as though they were (manifest in the natural realm) until they were (manifest in the natural realm). And the Word says that God did the same thing: He called things that were not as though they were.
Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken . . . (v. 18).
Notice: according to that which was spoken. Abraham believed in hope when there was no hope.
Abraham could have said, "Here I am—99 years old. My hundredth birthday is not far away, and my wife is 90."
He could have begun to look at what was seen and said, "Oh, no! That could never come to pass. That'll never happen. That must not have been God talking to me. That was just my flesh." (It couldn't have been his flesh because the carnal mind doesn't think that way.) Abraham believed in hope when there was no hope.
By Charles Capps