Three Ways to Increase Your Faith
How do you increase your faith? I used to struggle with this as a young
Christian. But in time I’ve learned at least three simple ways to help
build and increase our reliance on God.
1. Read the Word
Or at least hear God’s Word.
Romans 10:17 (NKJV) says,
So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
If no one had ever told me about Jesus, and about God’s plan for my
life, or if I had never read for myself about Him, I would be clueless
about the need for faith.
Reading or hearing God’s Word is like planting a garden. If you want to
grow or “build” a garden, you must first plant the seeds, or the actual
plant or flower. God’s Word is the seed that grows the faith. Knowing
His promises, what God says about you, about life, and about Jesus’ plan
for eternal life won’t transplant themselves into your brain by
osmosis. Become familiar with the Bible and what faith is all about by
meditating on its contents. This will give you the basis for growing or
increasing your faith.
2. Heed the Word
James 1:22-24(NKJV) offers a second way to increase your faith:
But
be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For
if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man
observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes
away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. What I see
in the mirror when I first wake up is not the most beautiful sight.
Obviously I see there is work to do and makeup to apply if I want to add
to my appearance.
If we fail to heed what we’re reading and ignore what God is telling
us, then our faith grows stagnant. It took faith for us to become
children of God in the first place. Therefore, in order to grow and
increase our faith, we need to use that “measure” of faith God gives to
everyone and build on it.
3. Test the Word
There is a difference in “testing” God by “contesting” Him (seeing how
far God’s patience will go with your own self will) and “testing,” or
proving God’s Word is true.
Malachi 3:9-11 (NIV)
offers one practical way God says we can prove Him faithful to His
Word. This passage concerns tithing and being good stewards of the
things He has given us:
Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty,
“and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out
so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” As you “test” or act on what God says and experience God’s blessing, your faith grows.
The process of testing the measure of faith you have may involve trials
and difficulties. How can you increase your faith in those
circumstances?
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the
testing of your faith produces perseverance (
James 1:2-3, NIV).
A Personal Example
The first time my husband and I had to admit we were financially
challenged, we had some choices to make. The biggest one was, would we
trust God and the promises we had read in His Word? When a new
difficulty developed, we faced the same choices. If we chose to believe
God, our faith grew a little more. Then the really big crises erupted,
like unemployment, parenting, and
marriage challenges.