Faith is something we hear a lot about but I think for many people it’s a thing they find difficult to understand. We know we should have it and use it but how does it come and how do we build it and be strong in it?
Romans 12:3 (KJV)*
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
God has given to each of us “the measure of faith”. God does not play favourites (Romans 2:11), He does not setup one person to do well and another to do badly. God gives us each the same amount of faith, it’s what we do with it that determines our results.
Faith is like a muscle. All healthy human beings are born with the same number of muscles, but some exercise them, becoming strong and some sit on a couch all day and are weak muscled. When we exercise the faith God gave us, it becomes more effective and is built up.
How can we do to exercise our faith? How do we build it up to be more effective?
1- Praying in the Holy Spirit
Jude 1:20
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
1 Corinthians 14:4
He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
Praying in the Holy Spirit, also known as speaking in tongues, will edify (uplift and educate) you and build your faith. Praying in tongues is a gift of the Spirit that is available to every believer in Jesus, through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul said he prayed in tongues more than anyone. If Paul found it important and useful, so should we.
2- The Word of God
Romans 10:17
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Hearing a Word from God, causes faith to rise up within us. This can be verses from the Bible that come alive for you or a Word spoken by God into your heart. We should read the Scriptures expecting God to speak to us and make time to be in relationship with God, listening to what He wants to say to us.
3- Prayer and Fasting
Look at Mark 9:14-29. Here the disciples are trying to heal a boy with terrible seizures caused by an evil spirit. The disciples fail to heal him and Jesus rebukes everyone for their unbelief. The physical symptoms overwhelmed them, causing doubt and undermining their faith. Jesus went on to say that this unbelief needed to be removed through prayer and fasting.
Praying and fasting help to calibrate our heart to be able to operate in the spiritual realm. They take our focus away from the physical world and our five sense and tune us into the spiritual, thereby enabling us to see by faith and not by our bodily sight.
4- Focusing on, glorifying and worshiping God
Romans 4:19-21
And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
Abraham was strengthened in his faith by not looking at the physical problems but by focusing on God and giving Him glory. As we praise and worship God, we lift our eyes from the problems around us and look to the one who delivers us. Abraham was also fully convinced that God would follow through on His promises. We need to be the same, we must take the promises of God and plant them deep in our hearts.
Be encouraged. God would never expect us to do something without providing the means for us to do it. God poured out His love on us and gave us the faith we need to live victorious Christians lives. The truth is that we have Jesus living inside of us and His faith is freely available for us. We are supposed to tap into Jesus’ power and faith to live our lives.
Galatians 2:20 (KJV)*
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
We now live “by the faith of the Son of God”.
[*Most modern Bible translations translate Romans 12:3 and Galatians 2:20 to say “a measure of faith” and “faith in the Son of God”. Words like “the, a” and “in, of” are not as easily discernable in Greek as in English and so context is usually used to try find the correct translation. This therefore adds an element of subjectivity and the theology of the translator or translating team can have an influence on the translation chosen. I believe that the King James Version’s translation in these two cases is consistent with context of the passage and with the Gospel of Jesus in general.]
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