When My Faith Is Weak
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Faith is an amazing and powerful tool that God has put at our disposal. It is through faith that we receive grace and are saved (Ephesians 2:8). It is through faith that we are kept (guarded) by the power of God unto salvation (1 Peter 1:5). It is through faith that He works in us to accomplish His will (Hebrews 13:20-21).
Yet faith is a volatile thing that is in our heart and soul. Faith can grow or shrink depending on how it is maintained in our lives. Sometimes an event will take place in our lives that will lead to a stronger faith, yet the same event in someone else’s life will push them to lose their faith. When this world is pushing and pulling us from every direction, how do we ensure that our faith is capable of standing the test of time? How do we strengthen our faith so that we are prepared for any storm that life might throw our way?
1. Read the Bible. First and foremost in growing in our faith is reading the Bible. The Bible is the method God has chosen to speak to us and communicate His will with us. We grow in faith when we read of the faith of others in the Bible and see how God cared for them. We grow in faith when we read the promises and assurances we have in His word. We grow in faith when we read of the work in His Kingdom that He has laid out for us. One of the major foundations to growing in faith is allowing God to speak to us through His word (Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
2. Pray. The Bible on several occasions tells us to pray to God (1 Thessalonians 5:17). This avenue of prayer by the power of God and providence affects change in the world today (James 5:16). Pray trusting God’s ability to deliver and His wisdom to deliver what we really need (James 1:6). Ask God to increase your faith. Pray for understanding and wisdom. Pray about the things that are happening that you don’t understand. When you just don’t know what to pray for, pray anyways...He knows (Romans 8:26-27). Pray for others. Pray for enemies. Prayer is a powerful tool that we too often neglect. If we want to build our faith, prayer is necessary.
3. Surround yourself with Christians. Surround yourself with people who will help you up when you stumble, people who will encourage you when you are down, people who understand the spiritual struggles you are facing. Surround yourself with people of great faith. Worshiping with other Christians is important and part of this (Hebrews 10:24-25), but our relationships with other Christians should be much deeper than just the time we spend worshipping. When our best friends are people of great faith, it will help our faith to grow.
4. Share your faith with others. Take the Gospel to the lost and dying world (Matthew 28:19-20). Lead others to the truth so that they can receive the same spiritual blessings that you receive. Part of growing in faith is realizing that those who are without Christ and His truth are lost eternally...and realizing that we have been put here to take that truth to them. Teaching the lost forces us to dig deeper in the word, to study our faith and hope, and it reaffirms our faith to ourselves. Share our faith with others who are struggling. Your struggles make you uniquely qualified to encourage and build the faith of someone else who might be struggling. Seek out and bear the burdens of someone who is about to be crushed by their burdens (Galatians 6:1-2).
Faith can move mountains (Matthew 17:20), yet often we limit the power of God because our faith is small. Let us grow in our faith, trusting the all powerful creator to work everything for good when we trust Him (Romans 8:28).
