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Have you ever wondered how to grow your faith? Are you a new Christian who is trying to get all the information about the best ways to grow your faith?
I’m going to give you some ideas today.
What is Faith?
Before I start, did you read my post called What is Faith? If not, when you are finished here, head over and read it. There is some good information in it about what faith really is and its purpose in our lives.
Ways to Grow Your Faith
Reading God’s Word
We know that faith is completely relying on what Jesus Christ has done in order to be in a right relationship with God. In John 20:31, we are told “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (NIV).
The Bible tells us that we have to believe in Christ. However, we all know that there are times when we just don’t have faith. We need something to help us.
So we dig into God’s Word. We pick up our Bible and find a quiet spot. We ask God to teach us from His Word how to have more faith.
Plant yourself in God’s Word daily. Set a certain time (if possible) to read and study the Bible. Memorize scriptures. There are some tricks for how to do this. Knowing the scriptures and being able to apply them to your life can help to grow your faith.
Once you have read, studied, and memorized God’s Word, put it into action in your life.
Grow Your Faith Through Prayer
Prayer is one of the things that we are taught as new Christians that we have to do. It’s true. We do need to pray consistently.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NIV) says, “pray continually” and (KJV) says “pray without ceasing.” No matter the translations we know that we are to pray often.
The best way to be sure that we pray daily is to set aside time to do it. I like to do this around the time I complete my Bible study for the day.
When you pray, ask God to increase your faith. Pray for Him to give you the level of faith you need for your current circumstances. Prayer is a conversation with God. Tell Him the areas of your life where you are struggling with your faith or need more faith.
Grow Your Faith Through Practice
That may sound like the silliest thing you have ever heard.
However, have you ever played a sport? Let’s look at softball. You and your team can run drills and practice every day. Your coach can come up with some crazy situations for you to work through. You will never get 100% better until you play the game. In an actual game, you will have different situations arise to teach you new things about the sport.
The same is true with faith. You can read about it, pray about it, and learn about it. However, your faith will never grow 100% to where it needs to be until it is put into action.
Learn lessons from the trials. Even when you feel like you are failing, you are really learning a lot.
Grow Your Faith Through Service
If you are serving others, you can focus on allowing your faith to help them. You can pray with them and share God’s love.
This goes along with practicing your faith. If you are “using” your faith for others, your faith will grow because it allows you to put the focus on God and what He has done.
Start a Prayer/Praise Journal
You’ve probably heard of a prayer journal. It’s a notebook where you keep prayer requests and write down prayers for yourself and others.
However, if you use it enough and begin to see those prayers answered, it will become a praise journal too. You can write in the dates for when the prayers were answered. Alongside the dates, you can add a little note telling what God did in that specific situation.
As you see God’s faithfulness in these situations, your own faith will grow.
This is only for you, and you never have to share it with anyone. Make it as plain or as elaborate as you want it.
Know God Has a Plan
My family has a motto, and my dad repeats it all the time. When times are hard and our family is really fighting things in life, we repeat “God’s Got a Plan.” I have said this to my parents a few times as they have been taken to the emergency room or into surgery.
Usually, my dad follows this line with “It’s a good thing God doesn’t tell me the plan because I’m sure I’d mess it up.”
It’s true, We have to know that God has a plan for our lives. He has a purpose and a calling for each of His children. We have to wait for His timing in order to see how the plan works and what our part is in it.
We can trust that God has a plan because Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you.”
Pray the Scripture
The Bible is God’s inerrant Word. That means it cannot fail.
If God did something for His people in the Bible, He is completely able to do the same thing for us.
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He cannot change and will not change.
When we pray, we can pray the scripture. Moses, when Israel was being defiant and disobedient, reminded God of His past faithfulness. We can do the same.
Don’t get me wrong. We should not say, “Hey God. You did this for so and so. I am expecting You to do the same for me.”
No. Go to God humbly and reverently. Tell Him that you know He has taken care of His people before and you know He is able to do it again for you.
We should never expect anything from God. However, through His love, grace, and mercy, He gives us everything we need.
Grow Your Faith by Identifying Areas of Unbelief
If you are trying to grow your faith, that means you probably know the areas of your life where your faith is the weakest.
Write those down in your prayer journal. Take them to God in your prayers, and ask for help in these areas.
Don’t wait until there is a crisis to find out that your faith isn’t as strong as it needs to be for the situation. Grow your faith now and be ready for the storms that will come.
Talk to Someone You Trust
Find a friend or mentor in the faith. Don’t forget that pastors are good for this. Many pastors began their jobs in the ministry so they can help people who are struggling or want to grow their faith.
Ask for guidance. Request that he/she prays for you and your faith.
You do not have to do this alone. Being a Christian does not and should not mean that you go through things alone.
Step Out on the Limb (or Water)
Trust that God will catch you. In Matthew 14:28-31, we see Peter in the boat with some other disciples. Jesus walks on the water toward the boat. Peter asks Jesus to allow him to walk on the water as well.
When he steps out of the boat, Peter is doing great. He has his eyes on Jesus and stays on the water. However, once he takes his eyes off Jesus and begins looking at the water and the waves, he begins to sink.
Step out on faith and keep your eyes on God. He will guide you and take you where you need to be.
Surround Yourself with Other Believers
As I mentioned earlier, being a Christian should not be a lone-wolf experience.
Find some Christian friends.
Attend church on a regular basis.
Hang out with others who share the same faith and beliefs as you. Have fun. Grow closer to them and to the Lord at the same time.
Share Your Faith Daily
Come back on Monday. I’ll have a post then specifically about how to do this.
The more you talk about your faith, the more it grows. This is because what we focus on is what gets bigger.
Example #1: You have a bad morning. If you let it go and forget about it, the rest of the day will seem fine. However, if you focus on it and tell others about it. Then the rest of your day will seem horrible as well.
Example #2: Someone pays for your morning coffee. If you forget about it, nothing changes, really. Right? However, if you think about it, you probably tell your best friend at work. Then you tell your mom when you call on your lunch break. After work, you have to tell your husband about it. You made several other people smile because you focused on the good thing that happened to you.
When we focus on the good, the good gets better.
Conclusion
Faith helps us to know the true character of God. True, mature, and active faith takes time and work. There are no “quick fixes” for how to grow your faith.
As you grow your faith, you will also begin to appreciate hearing God’s voice more. Your ability to trust God will grow as your faith grows.
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