How to Increase Your Faith
1. Faith is the substance of (it stands under, or supports) our religious experiences.
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2. Jesus invites us to enter into a relationship of trust with our loving heavenly Father.
Mark 11:22-24
So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
3. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him
4. God has given to every Christian a measure of faith.
Romans 12:3
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
5. Even a little faith links us with God’s marvelous working power.
Luke 17:5,6
And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
6. Reading the examples of faith in the Bible increases our faith.
Romans 10:17
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
7. To receive benefit from reading the Bible, it must be personally applied by faith.
Place yourself in every story. Believe God will accomplish miraculous changes in your life as you read His word. Faith grows as we experience it.
Hebrews 4:2
For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
8. Expect your faith to grow through a study of His word.
2 Peter 1:3,4
as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
9. Drawing near Jesus we receive of His faith.
Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
10. To live by faith means a daily, constant, trusting relationship with Jesus.
John 15:4
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neight can you, unless you abide in Me.
11. Looking to Jesus, trusting in Jesus, we receive faith from Jesus and our faith grows.
Hebrews 12:1,2
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
12. Faith is not believing God will do whatever we want, it is like Jesus in Gethsemane seeking what the Father wants.
Matthew 26:39
He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.
13. We can have the absolute confidence as we sincerely seek His will by faith, He will reveal it.
1 John 5:14
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
The life of the Christian is one of constant faith or trust in a loving God who knows best and will always treat His children in ways that are for their ultimate good.
I would like to interject a small story at this point to illustrate what faith is and what faith isn’t. There was a famous tightrope walker who was doing his act over a canyon. The tightrope was strung from one side of the canyon to the other and there was no net below to catch him if he fell. The crowd gathered on one side of the canyon to see him perform his daring feats. He walked across the tightrope from one side to the other and back. He then increased the difficulty by juggled several items while he walked across. Eventually, he brought a wheelbarrow and pushed it across the tightrope while he walked back and forth. By this time, he had gained the admiration of the crowd below. He called to the crowd below, asking everyone to raise their hand who believed that he could put a person in the wheelbarrow and safely walk them across the canyon on the tightrope to the other side. Of course, everyone raised their hands. Then he asked for a volunteer to come and get into the wheelbarrow so he could take them across. Nobody volunteered!
You see, faith is more than a mere mental assent to certain truths. It is one thing to mentally believe that God can do certain things for others, but it is entirely different to believe that He WILL do certain things for ME. Faith is not raising your hand on the ground stating that you believe that God can get you across in the wheelbarrow, it is getting into the wheelbarrow. He WILL get you through safely, but it is very uncomfortable getting into the wheelbarrow. The additional aspect to this story is that in reality, there is a canyon that no one can cross, and everything on our side of the canyon will die if we don’t get to the other side. The only way across is getting into the wheelbarrow. It involves surrendering all of self to God, so that He can do in your life what only He can do to get you across to the other side. That surrender happens not just once, but every moment of every day for the rest of your life. We have to decide to get in the wheelbarrow and then stay in the wheelbarrow. That is our only safety.
