5 Characteristics of Bulldog Faith

Do you have bulldog faith? You can! Learn the 5 characteristics of bulldog faith and start pursuing what belongs to you today!

Bulldogs have a reputation. Sure, they have cute wrinkles on their foreheads, but it isn’t their appearance that draws the most attention. Bulldogs are a breed of remarkable ferocity, courage and tenacity of grip. They are stubbornly aggressive, persistent and determined. If something that belongs to you gets in a bulldog’s mouth—don’t plan on getting it back! He’ll hold on, lock down and stand his ground much longer than you’ll want to hang around. That’s tenacity!

As Christians, we need to be just like the bulldog when it comes to the promises of God. We need to have bulldog faith.
Why do we need bulldog faith?

We have an enemy who doesn’t want us to have what Jesus paid to restore to us. The devil knows we can have anything and everything we need and desire simply by having faith—so his plan is to drain, weaken and wear down our faith through continual pressure, disappointments and discouragement. He wants us to back down and give up. He wants us to live in a constant state of retreat. He wants us to lose.

If you’re fed up with the devil stealing your blessings, and you’re ready to claim what is rightfully yours in Christ, it’s time to develop these five characteristics of bulldog faith.

1. Bulldog Faith Is Aggressive
“The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” –Matthew 11:12 (NIV-84)

Faith is more than believing. The very nature of faith is aggressive, persistent, determined, tenacious, confident and commanding. It is always moving forward and continually reaching for its goal. Faith is not passive, retreating or moving backward. Like a bulldog, it seizes with a grip that cannot be shaken off.

So, where is your faith today? Take a moment and consider the following.

Are you maintaining or pursuing?
Are you holding the fort or taking new ground?
Are you settled into the status quo or reaching up to the next level?

Are you throwing in the towel or going in for the next round?
Are you settled in to what you already have or aggressively possessing all that is rightfully yours?

God has given us everything by His grace, but we must take it forcefully with our faith. It won’t just fall into our laps. Just as you had to have faith to take salvation, you must also have faith to take every other blessing available to you as a child of God. But, you’re going to have to be willing to fight for it.

Why is faith a fight?

When we “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12, KJV), the Greek translation describes this as fierce combat with an adversary. If a parent hands his child lunch money, it is a gift meant for that child. On the way to school, the boy may face adversaries who want to take the gift from him. He will have to fight to keep it! The same is true with the blessings of God. He has freely given them, but we have an adversary who wants to take them from us.

That’s why you need to seize your blessing with a grip that can’t be shaken off. Weak faith isn’t going to produce. That’s why Gloria Copeland says, “If you let it go, it’s gone. If you don’t let it go, it’s still operating.”

In other words, aggressive faith doesn’t draw back. Hebrews 10:38-39 (KJV) says, “If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” Does that mean God doesn’t like you if you draw back? No. It means it is His pleasure for you to have what He’s promised you, and when you draw back, He knows you are drawing away from THE BLESSING.

That’s why you need aggressive, bulldog faith. The kind of faith that is never passive. Don’t ever let the devil catch you being passive!

There was a time when Brother Copeland’s mom needed to get the devil out of a situation in her life. When he told her to take authority, she gently and quietly said, “Now Satan, now in the Name of Jesus….” He stopped her and said, “Mama, if a big, muddy sow came walking through the back door of your spotlessly mopped and clean house, what would you say?” She said she would chase him out swinging a broom! Then he said, “Mama, there’s something a whole lot more dangerous than a sow hog that has come into this place.” That’s when she got aggressive in kicking the devil out of her territory—God’s territory.

You can’t afford to be passive about anything where the curse is concerned. You can’t afford to be passive about the Word, you can’t afford to be passive about any attack in your life. No. It is time to take up arms and fight the good fight of faith—aggressively!

2. Bulldog Faith Bites Down and Won’t Let Go
“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.” –Hebrews 10:23 (KJV)

If you take a good look at the face of a bulldog, you’ll notice his jaw protrudes, while his nose is indented. This allows him to bite down and hold on to something almost indefinitely. Bulldogs are stubborn—refusing to let go once they’ve locked on. You can try to pull something out of a bulldog’s mouth, but it won’t let go. It will not give up.

That is a picture of you as a believer!

You have to bite down on the Word of God—who you are, what you have and what you can do. The devil will try to take it from you, but don’t give up, don’t quit. Be a bulldog where the Word of God is concerned.

The Bible is full of examples of bulldog faith. In Luke 18, Jesus shares a parable that illustrates this type of faith in the persistent widow. She needed justice from a judge, so she pursued it relentlessly, and she did not stop until she got what she wanted. She refused to give up; and she tenaciously, stubbornly and persistently kept coming and would not quit.

That’s how you need to be in your faith. Don’t let go of your dream. Don’t let go of your passion. Don’t let go of your faith. Don’t let go of your hope for restored family relationships, your dream home, your dream job, healing and freedom from debt. Don’t let go!

How do you not let go?

Keep talking it. Keep speaking it. Keep believing it. Keep it in front of you. Develop your ability to see things that be not as though they were. And don’t let situations put constant pressure on you—you keep the pressure on your situation.

It takes aggressive action to get aggressive results. But, in due time—you will reap. You’ll see it come in. You’ll see it become reality. It will manifest.

Bite down on the Word like a bulldog, and don’t let go until it is yours.

3. Bulldog Faith Never Takes No for an Answer
“This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” –John 5:4 (NKJV)

The doctor says, “No, you won’t get better. No, you won’t walk again. No, you can’t have a baby.” Your employer says, “No, you can’t have a raise, and no, we don’t have room for promotion here.” The world says, “No, you can’t enjoy that kind of prosperity without the right degree or climbing the ladder for 30 years.” But what do you say? What does God say?

Every opportunity before you is an opportunity for either faith or failure—the choice is yours.
In the book of Mark, blind Bartimaeus chose faith and persisted until he got his healing:

When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47-48).

The world was telling him to be quiet and stop claiming what belonged to him, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
The result?

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked, “My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road (v. 51-52).

He was fed up with being blind. He got persistent with his faith, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

The persistent widow and Bartimaeus both applied nonstop, constant, continual, steady, relentless pressure on their covenant and on the devil. They did not let go, and they got what they were after. So can you.

Don’t let what others say or the passing of time affect your faith. Bulldog faith never quits. Bulldog faith says, “God’s Word is mine now. Devil, you can’t take it from me. Just be assured—when this is over, I win!”

4. Bulldog Faith Is Fully Persuaded
“And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” –Romans 4:21 (KJV)

At 100 years old, you would have to be fully persuaded to believe you would be the father of many nations! And that’s exactly what Abraham was—fully persuaded.

What does that mean?

Fully persuaded doesn’t mean hoping something is true, wishing to believe it’s true, or liking the idea. It doesn’t even mean thinking it could probably happen. No. Being fully persuaded means you are completely convinced, without a doubt, that what God has said will absolutely come to pass.

How did Abraham stay fully persuaded in spite of an impossible situation? He focused on God’s Word and refused to pay attention to natural circumstances. He wouldn’t allow himself to waver, hesitate or doubt. He didn’t flip-flop back and forth from faith to fear. He stood firm.

You can develop the same kind of fully persuaded “bulldog faith.” Start by confessing the following:
“I heartily agree with everything God has said about me in His Word.”
“I heartily agree with God’s Word that I am healed.”

“I heartily agree with God’s Word that I am prosperous.”
“I heartily agree with God’s Word that I am redeemed.”

When you become completely confident, you will dare to believe God instead of natural circumstances. You will come to expect those promises to come to pass in your life. You can walk in the same fully persuaded “bulldog faith” that Abraham did and receive your promise, just as he did.

5. Bulldog Faith Takes It
“How long are you going to sit around on your hands, putting off taking possession of the land that God…has given you?” –Joshua 18:3 (MSG)

How long have you been waiting for a promise to manifest in your life? Those promises already belong to you (Ephesians 1:3), just like the Promised Land already belonged to the Israelites. All they had to do was take it. But they let fear stop them and cause them to postpone and put off taking what was rightfully theirs.
Bulldog faith doesn’t waste time. Bulldog faith takes it.

Second Peter 1:3-4 says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises…” (NIV-84).

Whatever you need already belongs to you. How long are you going to wait to possess it?
You can claim what is yours—NOW!

How do you possess your land? You claim it by faith! For example, if you need financial provision, take these steps:

Say, “I claim the money I need as a child of God, according to His promises.”
Say, “Satan, take your hands off my money.”
Say, “Ministering spirits, go, and cause the money to come.”

Bulldog faith commands what rightfully belongs to you to come to you. It calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Bulldog faith commands things desired from out of the spirit realm into the natural realm. That’s exactly what the centurion did in Matthew 8:8-10. He said, “Speak the word only, and my servant will be healed” (KJV). In other words, he was telling Jesus, “Your Word is the only evidence I need.” Jesus took notice of this kind of faith. The greatest faith is faith in God’s Word and its authority alone, not demanding any physical evidence.

Bulldog faith is not afraid to put pressure on the Word by making a faith demand on your covenant and expecting what is already yours. God will always supply as long as there is a demand.

“Take it when you pray! Then you can drive it, live in it and spend it.” –Gloria Copeland

When you get aggressive, bite down on the Word of God, refuse to take no for an answer, and are fully persuaded when you take it, you will develop a bulldog faith that will defeat the enemy every time. You will reap a harvest if you don’t let go of your bulldog faith. You can live and walk in everything God’s covenant promises—just don’t let go!