How to Develop Faith.
In the recent weeks, we have been asking the Lord to “INCREASE OUR FAITH”. This is in accordance to what the apostles had asked of Jesus in Luke 17:5. I would suggest this is a very simple request, but it is certainly one of the most important things we could ever ask of the Lord.
Truly it is (only) the Lord that makes the difference in how much faith we have. Likewise the Lord desires for us to respond, to do something, with the faith that He gives to us.
You have heard of being a “couch potato”, I am sure. Perhaps you have even been compared with a “couch potato” from time to time. Well (over the years) I have seen those who could pass for a “pew potato”.
What that means is - we choose to do nothing with the faith that the Lord has increased in our lives.
We have looked at several passages on how the Lord can and will increase our faith. Well, let’s take this to the next step. This morning I want to give to you several specific things that can help you to develop and mature the faith that you now have.
Text: Romans 10:17
Before we get started, let me take you back to the 17th century, when world travel and world business involved using large sailing ships. These ships would sail virtually all over the world. Many of them sailed from places like Great Britain. It is estimated that over 1,000,000 people traveled across the Atlantic Ocean in that century. Over 1,000,000 people left their loved ones behind as they faced the great adventure of traveling to the Americas. They all waved good bye and promised to return. Unfortunately, over 700,000 of them perished at sea. Your first thought may be that these 700,000 died in the fierce storms on the high seas. No, they perished due to Scurvy. Scurvy is a deficiency of Vitamin “C”. Oh, there was plenty of food on board and there was always plenty of fish to eat, but there was no way of getting Vitamin “C”. Dieing from Scurvy is not a very pleasant experience, and I will spare you the details. But there was one man, by the name of Captain Cook that solved the problem. Sauerkraut. It contains cabbage (loaded with Vitamin “C”) and could easily be preserved with in large drums of a salt solution. It would last forever. It never went bad. It was always fresh. But the only problem with this was that the English people hated the taste of sauerkraut. They refused to eat it. No matter what the captain of the ship told them, they refused and perished. Over 700,000 people died at sea all because they refused to eat sauerkraut.
This is the same problem with many people when it comes to the Word of
God. They don’t want to die and go to hell, but they just can’t seem to create a taste for God’s Word.
No matter what anyone tells them, they refuse to read or listen to the Word of God. Most people know the Word of God is all they have to save them.
Friend, let me give you some very sound advice from the Captain of the Ship you are on. Our Captain, Jesus, says that you will not survive without the Holy Word of God.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
That brings me to the first thing I recommend you do if you want to HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR FAITH.
1. Listen to the Word of God every chance you get. Constant attention and listening to the Word of God produces faith. We must receive the Word of God with an open heart and mind.
Proverbs 4:20-21
My son, give attention to my words… Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart;
The book of Proverbs encourages us to constantly keep the Word in our hearts and to keep our attention on it.
What we listen to affects what we believe. If we listen to the TV more than we listen to the Word, we will believe the lies of the world more than we will believe what God says. When we constantly listen to the lies of this world, we will only learn and grow in the devil’s deception.
Eventually the mind will accept something if that thing is heard often enough and persuasively enough. That is why we should keep hearing the Word of God, through -
· Preaching,
· Christian tapes,
· Confession of the Word,
This will cause us eventually to believe the truth planted within our hearts.
2. Realize that every believer has been given a measure of faith by God. This is according to Romans 12:3). God will often increase your faith by being near other believers. Many Christians would grow in their faith by simply spending more time with other Christians.
3. If you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, as the disciples were in the book of Acts, you should pray and praise in tongues often. Why?
1 Corinthians 14:4
He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself…
Jude 1:20
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
Praying in tongues is a key to being full of the Spirit. Since faith is a fruit of the Spirit, it only makes sense to be filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit and God’s faith are closely related.
4. Obey God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. When you walk in the Spirit, you gain strength in your faith. God will not reveal greater things to you until you are walking and living in the things He has already shown you. You need to be more obedient to the Spirit, and what He has shown you, so that you can develop your faith.
You cannot have success in living in faith without taking some practical steps in obedience.
5. Give thanks for the blessings of God. Don’t complain - that shows you doubt God’s love and God’s answer to your situation. Give thanks in all situations
1Thessalonians 5:18
in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
6. Live a life of praise and worship. Praise drives the powers of darkness away and brings the throne of God into your circumstances. Praising God is an act of faith and helps your faith to grow. It is commanded
Hebrews 13:15
let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
Worship is admiring God through the Spirit. If you can understand Who God is, and His awesome power, your faith in Him will grow.
7. Speak the WORD. By speaking the Word of God with your mouth, you exercise your faith. You will hear the Word spoken and you will build it into your life. God’s Word is anointed and has power when it is spoken
Joshua 1:8
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Romans 10:10
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Did you know that, in Psalms 103:20, the angels heed the voice of God’s Word. Maybe we ought to get their attention by speaking the Holy Word of God…??? Amen?
8. Confess the Word of God.
Words are spiritual seeds.
Words of life produce life.
Words of faith produce faith.
Words of love produce love.
Words of hope produce hope, etc...
As well -
Words of doubt attract doubt,
Words of fear attract fear, etc…
We must guard carefully what we SAY. The Bible has a lot to say on this. Jesus said, in Matthew 12,
"But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it on the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. "
Your faith will be determined by what you confess for your life.
Paul said, in Colossians 3,
"And WHATEVER you do, IN WORD or deed, do ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
In the Greek translation of the word “Confession” means literally "to say the same thing". To confess the Word of God then means to say the same thing as God’s Word says. When you say it, it produces faith because in saying it you must also hear it from your own mouth, and hearing the Word causes faith to come.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
In saying the Word yourself, you identify YOURSELF with the truth of God’s Word. It is one thing to hear someone else say something, another to say that thing yourself. The more you say God’s Word, the more you will believe it, and the more you believe it, the more you will say it.
Romans 10:10
"With the mouth confession is made unto salvation".
Confessing Christ as your Living Lord and Saviour with your mouth releases God’s salvation into your life. Since salvation includes many benefits and blessings our right mouth confession is a major key to receiving what God has provided for us by his grace and by our faith.
At times it is difficult to speak out what the Bible says because our minds are confused or discouraged. That is why it is important to make sure that the Word is planted deeply into our hearts.
And when we do, the Word of God will change the way we are, the way we speak, the way we respond to difficulties and challenges.
Did you know that God talks in faith? Romans 4:17 says that God –
"gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were."
And we know that through faith-filled words, God created the universe
Hebrews 11:3
“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command…”
This is how God works. God is into speaking to things using His faith.
Why shouldn’t we do the same?
9. Faith works with love. We can find this truth in Galatians 5:6. The Roman Centurion (in Matthew 8) and the woman of Canaan (in Matthew 15) both had “great faith”, according to Jesus. Why was that? They both were motivated by their love for someone else in coming to Jesus.
Let us believe God for others to be blessed, first. With this spirit of love, we give of our selves for others and allow God to bless us, in His time.
