Whenever we have a recurring prayer request, and we’re not seeing the kind of movement we expected, it can be very disappointing. The most common piece of counsel and advice we receive about this is that our faith needs to be increased. People will point to the wisdom of Hebrews 11:6(NLT) as their reasoning for this advice. God tells us in this verse, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” If we don’t view this scripture in light of other teachings from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we might think that our prayers are not pleasing to God, and that this is why He isn’t answering them. This line of thinking doesn’t help but hinders us.
If God says in His Word that we can have something, we can have it! This is Good News! It’s the reality of the power of His truth as well as the power of prayer. Our Heavenly Father always says what He means and means what He says. He never has to do a back-track, take-back, or a do-over. He’s perfect beyond perfection, and He never makes a mistake. He didn’t keep it hidden from us that faith is required to please Him, but even more Good News is the truth that we receive the faith of Jesus Christ once we confess the truth of Romans 10:9-10! Through Christ, we are empowered beyond our greatest imaginations.
Ephesians 1:3(NLT) declares, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.” Every spiritual blessing means exactly that. When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, his faith, authority, and power are part of the spiritual blessings we receive. This pleases God more than we can know to bless us in this way.
In Galatians 2:20(NLT), the Apostle Paul said, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” This is the truth of who we are in Christ. Also extraordinary is the truth that once we’re saved by God’s grace, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us, and we are filled to overflowing with his power!
The exceedingly abundant wealth of what the Spirit causes to manifest in our lives is outlined in Galatians 5:22-25(NLT). It says, “22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”
Romans 12:3 tells us that God has given us all a measure of faith, and Jesus Christ declared in Matthew 17:20 that we can move a mountain with faith as small as a mustard seed. So, the faith is in us through Christ because this is what God tells us, but often our believing and actions are not aligned with what we have received. The faith is there, but we have not believed and acted in a way that causes the manifestation of what we desire. We have not understood our responsibility to believe as Christ believed and to act as Christ acted. We hold ourselves back in this way.
It is impossible for faith to fail, because it is a perfect gift from God. It patiently waits for us to increase it by believing and trusting our Heavenly Father in a greater way. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. It’s our responsibility to place ourselves in a position to hear and digest God’s truth, so that our faith is mixed with right believing. Then, we must act on what we believe. The Apostle James declared in James 2:17-18(NLT), “17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
God doesn’t need to be convinced of your faith; you need to be convinced of it. A sold-out trust in God, and trust in what you have received through Christ, must be anchored in your heart and mind. God knows what He’s given you through the sacrifice and resurrection of His precious Son, and you must begin to change the way you believe and act so that your thoughts, actions, and confessions are all in line with the faith you have received. You must truly believe that you can have what God says you can have, and you must be tenacious about studying His Word and persistent in good works until your faith has manifested the desires of your heart.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Increasing Your Faith”, written by Reverend Fran Mack. Edits by Kim Times and K. Stephens for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2023. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.