Jan 18, 2012
How to Strengthen Your Faith
Need to Strengthen Your Faith?
You might feel like you are the only one. But you are not.
This side of heaven — every believer has times when his or her faith is weak.
What does weak faith feel like? When I’m weak in faith —
- I can doubt God’s forgiveness.
- I’m not sure God loves me.
- I don’t believe God is in control.
- I am tempted to pursue sin more than Jesus.
- I worry about the future.
- I feel discouraged or blah.
- I lack spiritual motivation.
And when faith is weak, we can feel like nothing will ever change — that we’ll never again be strong in faith or feel close to God.
There’s Good News
The good news is that no matter how weak your faith, God has the power to strengthen you.
You can see that in —
- Mark 9:24 — where a man prays “I believe, help my unbelief.”
- Ephesians 3:16 — where Paul prays that God would strengthen the faith of the church in Ephesus.
- Luke 22:31-32 — where Jesus prays that Peter’s faith would be strengthened.
The One who spoke a Universe into existence, who raised Lazarus from the dead, who brought Jericho’s walls down — He can and will strengthen your faith.
But How?
It’s not that we try to be good enough to earn strong faith from God — or that we try to be positive and raise our spirits.
Neither of those are taught in the Bible.
But in the Bible God invites us to take steps which He will use to strengthen our faith.
First — Pray and Ask Jesus to Help Your Unbelief
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)
How did Jesus respond? He answered the man’s prayer.
So don’t think you need strong faith before Jesus will listen to you.
Turn to Him just as you are — with your weak faith — and cry out to Him for help.
Confess that your faith is weak. Ask Him to forgive you through the Cross. Ask Him to strengthen your faith.
Because of His death on the Cross, He will welcome you, love you, forgive you.
AND — He will strengthen your faith — especially as you then take this next step —
Second — Hear the Word of Christ
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Rom 10:17)
Paul teaches that as we hear the Word of God, God will bring His power upon us and strengthen our faith.
Open to a passage which is full of God’s love and faithfulness and promises in Christ.
And prayerfully read over that passage, asking Jesus to strengthen your faith, so you see and feel that His promises are true.
Here’s some passages I have found helpful to pray over —
- I John 1:9 — that if I confess my sins, then because of Jesus’ death, God will surely forgive me.
- John 6:35 — that if I come to Jesus and trust Him, He will fully satisfy me in Himself.
- Heb 13:5-6 — that God will certainly meet my financial needs (not that I’ll be rich, but my needs will be met).
- 2Cor 4:17-18 — that God plans every trial to bring me even more joy in Him forever.
- James 1:5 — that God will give me all the wisdom I need.
- Psalm 50:15 — that I will experience God’s deliverance in every trial.
So pick whichever one of these fits your circumstances — and pray over it, think deeply on it, and pray over it some more — until you feel God strengthening your faith.
This might happen quickly — or not. But you can trust God’s timing.
And He WILL — in His perfect timing — strengthen your faith.
You will feel the Holy Spirit changing your heart, making Jesus more real to you, satisfying your soul, strengthening your faith.
So What Happened?
I’d love to hear what God did. Leave a reply below — thanks!
If you know someone who would be encouraged by reading this, email it to them using the “share” button below. Or use the other buttons to share it on your favorite social media.
If you would like to meet and interact with others who are living by faith, visit our Forums page.
If you would like to receive a Saturday email summarizing the previous week’s posts — subscribe here. (I will only use your email address for Living By Faith Blog communications — and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.)
And here are some related posts you might find helpful —
What Is Faith?Feeling Insecure About My PreachingWhat are the Promises of God?My 10 Favorite Bible Verses on Faith
(Picture by pawel213 on stock xchng.)
iam really blessed with your ideas about strengthening faith
Glad to hear it Cindy — thanks for letting me know!
Hi If you or anyone else is reading this please pray for me im struggling with sin deep dark sin some days ive got it and some days i dont but those days i dont i feel god has left me, im scared i will go to hell, ive tried everything i could think of, nothing seems to work. i feel guilt within me every time i sin and i know its wrong but i cant stop its like my brain is battleing with my heart, some days my heart wins and some days my mind wins please pray that my heart will overcome this desire in my mind.
Sam,
He will never leave you, nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5b
Run to Him, don’t run away from Him.
John 10:10 says the devil came to steal, cheat and destroy. The devil is a liar. Reject him and run to Jesus.
God is Not a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound mind. Rebuke the devil, in Jesus’ name.
Write down all of the sins you’ve ever done. Even white lies. All of them. Pray to Father God for forgiveness of those and unknown sins, earnestly. That you repent, truly repent. Focus on Jesus. Ask Father God to baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire in Jesus’ name. You’re life will change. In the next moment you are about to sin, choose Jesus. Say aloud “Jesus!” If you need to…. There is power to break off your chains in the name JESUS!!Praise God!!
God bless you.
Hi There Sam,
I pray you come back to check on this reply and that you are feeling better today. You are not alone!! Myself, and everyone else on this earth struggle with sin to some capacity. The fact that you are convicted means that you want to change. Changing is HARD! but it’s the one constant thing in life. Keep in prayer, get scriptures memorized that pertain to your issues. Get connected with a church, talk to a pastor, or other believers that can pray for you. but keep on keeping on in Christ! Dont give up.The bible says a man falls 70x 70′ times and is still forgiven. As long as you have breath in your body still call out to Him! he hears you and He will deliver you. Keep your mind thoughts, and spare time on positive things…Visualize yourself in a better space, make a vision board with all your dreams, hopes and inspirations on it, and post it somewhere you will see it every day. “A man with no vision for the future will always return to his past”I completely understand what your going thru and you can overcome this!! WHy? because God says you can…Jeremiah 29 vs 11…I pray you take this to heart and no matter what don’t give up on yourself, cuz God NEVER will!!
Thank you. I don’t know if Sam came back but I read it and I needed to hear it. I suffer from panic disorder and I felt afraid but better now THANK YOU!!!!!!
Hi Sam, how are things going with you and your sin? One question, have you been baptised?
I know what you are feeling Sam. I feel like that some times. The devil is using every thing he can use against you. You need to ask Jesus to help you and have faith that he will. Turn into a spiratull hulk and destroy all of your doughts and worry. Jesus will help you.
i reading your preaching very good points short.i like this if you have materials for preaching can send me?
I lookforward to hear from you
joanes
Steve –
A recurring point you make in many of your posts is that we are to go before Christ in whatever broken, weak and shaky state of faith we’re in and that he’ll still receive us, warts and all. That’s reassuring and good news, but what I struggle to understand is the seemingly contradictory point the bible also makes when it says that when we pray for something, we must truly believe that it will be done (already is done) or else it’s not going to happen. I can’t remember which verse this is from, but it basically says that a person who prays but doesn’t really believe that his prayer is already answered is unstable and shouldn’t expect to see any answer to his prayer since he’s “like a leaf tossed amongst the waves” (or something like that).
Considering the fact that I rarely feel that my faith is as strong as I’d like for it to be, I’m wondering how does asking God to “help my unbelief” work if I I’m consistently struggling with fully trusting in Christ. It’s kind of a catch 22 situation since I end up wondering if I’m somehow ineffective in my prayer life because I still harbor so much doubt and questions as to why I’m not experiencing the Holy Spirit in a real and palpable way.
Am I making any sense? Your thoughts and insights on this would be much appreciated (btw, I have been earnestly praying about this and many other struggles I’m facing, but it’s pretty hard to keep faith alive when it seems like God is not listening).
Good to hear from you, Eric, and you raise a really important question.
Can I use your question for a regular blog post? I’d keep your name out of it — but I would guess many others have the same question.
Her’s my thoughts — and I’d love to hear your feedback —
The only requirement for coming to Jesus Christ is faith in Him. But Mark 9:24 shows that this faith does not need to be perfect. Far from it — it can just involve looking to Jesus knowing that He will strengthen my weak faith.
So then what does James mean when he says that we need to pray with faith or we will receive nothing and be seen as double-minded (James 1:6-8)?
I wrote a blog post where I talked about this. Check it out — and let me know if it helps.
I also wrote a post on whether faith means believing I will receive exactly what I ask for. See if that helps.
My conclusion is that as long as we are looking to Jesus — trusting Him to help me, even trusting Him to strengthen my faith — He will answer. What’s crucial is that we are looking to Him — not at the strength of our faith, or at anything else.
When we look to Him with even the weakest faith — the Spirit will help us see Jesus as He is and as a result our faith will be strengthened.
Let me know if this helps — and thanks for your question!
Steve Fuller
Eric, I’ve been Christian for almost 30 years and I’ve been through so much affliction, have cried so much, that going through life dealing with God’s silence in the most crucial issues in my life has been the worst of my battles. I’ve seen many, many answers to my prayers, but those two specific I most desperately need to hear from Him, not only not even a hint, but specially my health continues to slowly deteriorate.
Aside God’s infinite grace and love, there’s one text that has kept me on my feet: Rom. 3:4a “Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar,” starting with myself. The Bible says He delights in mercy (Micah 7:18); that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that you and I will dwell in His Heaven (John 3:6); that He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7); that the purpose of all our affliction is to make us into the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29). And I could write a few more pages about God’s love, protection, understanding, care, generosity to His children. It will never matter how many F5 tornadoes invade our lives, what the Bible says about God is THE TRUTH, not what our fallen, sinful minds and hearts try to force us to think.
I’m sure we both need longer praying time and harder Bible reading/meditation. The fact that we stay waiting on Him despite our pitiful selves brings Him glory, our obedience is an act of worship, for we are at His feet, trusting Him no matter what, even if our whole being is falling apart. But down there somewhere, we both know there’s nowhere else to go, for HE is the only Omniscient, Almighty, Merciful, Creator and Love itself.
Let’s keep waiting on Him, my brother, fighting the good battle and keeping our faith. In His time I KNOW FOR SURE He will make us fly higher than the eagles.
God bless you as beautifully and abundantly as only He can do.
Wow, That is so awesome you should write more often, you are an inspiration. I got so much out of your words. Thank you!!
You are so welcome, Lisa. Thank you for letting me know.
Thank you so much for your words Lucy, I so needed them as a reminder of who Jesus is!
Wow! I have had those very thoughts and confusion over the seemingly contradictory scripture texts on faith. But lately I went through a storm (cancer) and had no choice but to depend fully on Jesus. I spent several weeks just searching God’s words for examples of Jesus’ miraculous healing as well as listening to spiritually uplifting Christ-centred music. This helped me develop my faith in God. I claimed His promises. I told myself that Jesus doesn’t change and “what He’s done for others He can/will do for me”. I was also encouraged by that very text where the child’s father asked Jesus to “help my unbelief” as well as when Lazarus had died and Mary and Martha cried that “he already stinks” having been dead for 4 days! It seems to me that they cried in disbelief that Jesus could ressurect Lazarus. But Jesus looked beyond their unbelief and raised Lazarus. I am now healed of my cancer 6 months later and I am enjoying sweet daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Just BOLDLY and CONFIDENTLY ask Him to rain/reign on you and hover over you and open your arms and welcome Him. He wants you more than you want Him. You will NEVER want to spend one day outside of His presence. Trust me; I know. Go for it!
Thank you for your story, it gives me hope. just had a baby and at my postpartum check up i had an abnormal test result. My mother died when i was 6 of cervical cancer. Im praying for God’s Devine healing and protection. Please pray for me.
Praying right now, Heidi.
Dear eric
I see this post is about 2 years old so not sure if u still struggling with the feeling that God does not answer your prayers? But in my own life when there is still sin in my life…that is when God Won’t answer prayers!!! His words says the power of the Righteous’ prayers are powerful…without being 100% righteous before God we can not expect Him to answer our prayers!!
Steve –
Of course you can use my question as a regular blog post – I’d love to continue hearing your thoughts and insights on this topic.
I’ll check out the other posts that you’d mentioned and also continue to pray about this and will let you know how things go.
Thanks, and talk to you soon.
Eric
Mr. Fuller, I am writing to first thank you for your blog and two, to ask you for prayer/advice… I am having the hardest time in areas of faith regarding assurance. Ive had a recurring serious sin issue, and wondered if I went beyond the ability to be renewed to repentance. I have been a Christian since 1989, but have always at some level not felt assured of my salvation. I have had trouble ever actually feeling Jesus’ love. I know it’s there, but don’t perceive it. I also admit I feel no love in my heart naturally returning back towards him. This greatly worries me. I am so frustrated, depressed, scared. I have a good church, been counseled many times from various places. I don’t know what to do. I’ve had experiences in God in the past and seen him do amazing things but I still feel as though I don’t really know him. There is no other faith or god or religion I would ever have confidence in except Jesus, but still feel like I am wandering, lost. Ive really begun to question whether I’ve had an actual born-again experience. anything you could do I would so appreciate. thank you
Thank you so much for asking such an important question, Sean.
I think the best suggestion I have is for you to read some posts I wrote a few months ago on assurance — (these are links to the posts; double click on them) —
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5
Let me know if these help. In the meanwhile, I will pray for you.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
I’m so bless that i read this.I feel at the moment that God’s help already took place that i found this article.Thank you so much.GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS.
Hi Joel,
Thank you for letting me know that this encouraged you. I really appreciate it.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
This was a great post. I really needed this in this season! The scriptures helped alot
Thanks for letting me know, Marquia.
This helped me…May God of Abraham favor you all the days of your life. amen
I am so glad you found this helpful, Michael John. Thank you for letting me know.
Steve Fuller
Thanks for the post! Very helpful.
You are so welcome!
Thank you for giving me what I need.
You are so welcome, Rodney. Thank you for letting me know that this helped.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Thank you so much! I was really losing my faith and didn’t know what to do its like everything scares me like as soon as I hear a triger word I get scared that if I die where would I go then I saw this and can feel god in my heart!
Hi Nico,
I am really glad your faith in Christ is growing stronger. That is so encouraging to hear.
Are you part of a Bible-believing church — with some wise, Jesus-loving men who can pray for you and encourage you? That’s a crucial part of being strong in faith as well.
Lord bless you, brother,
Steve Fuller
Hello
My faith is weak and I don’t want it to be. It seems to have come from nowhere.
I’m not a member of a church. I struggle with the politics. Also at what point do you say they are not following the bible? Female preachers? I had it drummed into me that this is wrong? That happy clappy is wrong and on and on. I’m worried at all turns that I’m in the wrong place. Or am I doing the wrong thing?
I need and want fellow ship but I’m useless around people. I’m in a bit of a muddle.
What can I do for me and my family?
Hello djrevill —
I would strongly encourage you to find a warm, loving, Bible-teaching and Bible-living church. I am part of a church-planting network — “Acts 29” — you could google it and see if there are any Acts 29 churches in your area.
And you could just start visiting around to see what you find. Pray earnestly for wisdom. Start looking. I am confident that God will guide you into a church that works for you.
Let me know how this goes.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Hello
My faith is not consistent,because of my hobbies like playing and lack of praying time.I dont want to lose focus and to overcome my weaknesses because theres a lot of distraction/ temptation thats going around me always. What will I do to remain faithful to God ? Even though my brother always taught me, to always pray but many times i could not do it. When I pray, I cannot concentrate cause many things are qoing out of my mind and i am really distracted so my prayers are not sincere.
I have also done many bad things but God is always reminding me to change ways. Yet, i change ways sometimes there is so many temptations and i can refused it.
I am a married man and i want to be a great example of my son & daughter & especially to my wife.
Can you help me to conquer my difficulties in life?
Hi Carlo,
It’s so good that you want to grow in your faith in Jesus Christ. The best encouragement I can give you is found on the pages of this website.
You might want to start by working through the posts on the far right column under “Here’s A Quick Overview.” There I summarize what I believe God’s Word teaches about how to grow in faith.
Read over those posts, study God’s Word, and practice what you see God’s Word teaching. I believe you will see yourself growing in faith and obedience.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
I’m sitting here struggling about my faith. I’m thinking about asking my wife to have a night of bible study and prayer.
There are no churches here where I live that I can go to as they all have women ministers.
I need a local fellowship group.
Hi Djrevill,
I think you would find prayer and Bible study with your wife to be encouraging. Go for it.
And regarding churches, if you wanted to you could email me your location and I could see if I can find any churches near you that might be good.
It would be very good to have a local fellowship group. But in the meantime, form a local fellowship group with your wife, and fight the fight of faith to trust Jesus Christ, and God will help you.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
A few weeks ago I had to go to the emergency room for an issue with my heart. It was a frightening experience, but the worst part was realizing how much I fear death and having the weakness of my faith revealed. I have been a Christian for about 25 years and hadn’t struggled with this issue prior to my trip to the ER. Ever since, though, I’ve been struggling with the weakness of my faith. At times I’m frightened that I don’t have enough faith in God’s promises and will be rejected by God because of it, because without faith it is impossible to please God. I WANT to believe. I want to trust God’s promises, but then I wrestle with doubts that creep up, wondering if what the Bible says is really true. I want to be free from the doubts and have a stronger faith! I know no one’s faith is perfect, but how do I know if I have enough faith? What advice do you have to help relieve my fears?
Hi wlf,
Thank you for raising such important questions. Many of them are addressed at different places throughout this blog site. But here are a few thoughts —
We are not saved by strong faith, but by a strong Savior. Even weak faith which looks to Jesus Christ is saving.
I love the prayer of Mark 9:24 — “I believe, help my unbelief.” Jesus loves to help us when we come asking him to help our faith.
Every believer wrestles with doubts and fears. Bring these directly to Jesus. Confess them to him. Ask him to help you. And then pray over God’s Word until you feel his Spirit strengthening you. He will. He promises.
We are not saved by lots of faith, or by strong faith, but just by faith. So whenever you turn from everything else, and look to Jesus Christ alone, trusting Him to strengthen you, forgive you, and help you — that’s faith. And because that’s faith, you can be assured that you have been saved.
I hope this helps some. Let me know.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
I AM ALWAYS WORRYING ABOUT THINGS I ALREADY PRAYED FOR
You’re not alone. I’ll pray that God strengthens you. 🙂
I’m blessed by your article on faith. thank you.
I feel like a lost sheep, my faith is very weak, i will like get the tools on how to preach and strengthen my faith. I always read the bible to strengthen my faith i think that the is lack, somewhere.
Feeling weak in my faith is by far the most troublesome issue I have. So, every opportunity I have of reading these uplifting points, especially out of the word of God, can really up-lift my spirit. I hate myself every time I give into temptation and feel myself drift away from God. Why is it so difficult to not do the wrong things when you know exactly what you should be doing? Why is it so easy for the Devil to plant these doubts in my mind and weaken my faith? Please pray for me, as I will be praying for my fellow Christians, as our bound with God and Jesus is our only salvation and our only hope.
Hi Johan,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and your struggles.
You raise an important question — why is it so hard to not sin? The reason is because our sinfulness blinds us to God’s glory, so we’d rather cling to empty water jars than drink from the fountain of living water (Jeremiah 2:12-13).
But the good news is that because you are trusting Christ, he has broken sin’s power. That means that as you pray, and meditate on God’s Word, and fight the fight of faith, his power will change your hearts, reveal his glory, and conquer sin’s power.
And when you fail and sin — turn back to him and receive his grace afresh.
He is worth it all.
Steve Fuller
I am really blessed.
Hi Lyn,
I am so glad to hear that this encouraged you. Thank you for letting me know.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
So glad to hear it, Lyn. Thank you for letting me know.
Thanks for helping me out.
You are so welcome, Deepak.
I’ve been having problems with my faith for this last week. It’s finals week and I haven’t been eating well all semester so I think that’s added to my anxiety and depression that has came as a result. I want to believe in God and I’ve felt him numerous times in my life but I have a mental block that doesn’t let me believe, as much as I pray and cry. My mind keeps telling me that I don’t actually believe in him and am just imagining him to feel good. The whole evolution dilemma has been twisting my faith. My church mentors tell me I just have to have faith but it’s almost like they’re telling me that science is correct and I have to reject it. I’m seeing a psychologist on Friday to help me with my doubt and maybe give me anxiety pills. I can really use your help right now. Thank you and God bless
I’ll pray for you, and everyone struggling… We can’t claim to understand God perfectly, but we have to remember that He’s still there. Difficulties will serve to see His strength and glory and draw us closer to Him. I’ve been there… Don’t give up! The devil is a very crafty liar, but Jesus has the power to help and strengthen you! You may be struggling now, but remember- this world is temporary. God is forever. I know if can be really difficult… I pray God will continue to work in your life! God bless!
I forgot to add that whenever I start doubting I get depressed and vice versa. These mood swings have only came within this last week. Thank you again
Hi, thank you so much for this. I am dealing with weak faith myself. I feel as though I am just letting everything go and I will lose all I had with God. With school telling me things different then what I believe it is hard to see the truth and see what really is right. I am scared, and so afraid of death, for what will it become of me? I really appreciate this website and your input, because it gives me hope that one day, or maybe even today I will have full trust in the lord yet again. I pray to the lord so much and sometimes I wonder if my message is actually getting through or if my message is just like a babel and he does not hear it through. When I look back onto my knowledge, I know he should be hearing it, but I am still so afraid. As I am writing this I am feeling even a little bit stronger with my faith in God. I know that the lord will not fail on me, but I know I have to not fail on him either. Do you know of any places in the bible that might make me feel better? Or any ideas on how to? I am asking God for me to once again feel his love and glory but I feel as though every now and then it is disappearing especially when I think about school and facts that I have learned about that make me confused about Christianity. I am also feeling as though when my faith is at question that there is no point in me living either. I honestly cannot begin to understand as to how people who do not believe in God can live without having this constant fear, that sadly, I am experiencing.I am sorry this is long but I really needed to share. Again, thank you very so much!
I have been really struggling with my faith lately and I came to a breaking point. I knew I really needed to take matter in my own hands and work on my relationship with God. I came across this and really spent time praying on it and I’m feeling a lot better already. Thank you so much!
Hey….I am trusting thay the spirit of God lead you to write such an incredible words of God..I will take every words and try with the help of God to practice them….
Hi. Thanks for posting this one. As i was reading your article, i was so blessed and glad. I’m really very thankful to you, for this posts. And as i was reading the comments, i was moved also and cried. Thanks.
I prayed before this and I thought I may have done it wrong so I read the article and my faith strengthened while reading
Hello,
At first I used to trust that God is really there for me as when I pray I get some answers. But off late it seems I am far away from God. I don’t think He even hears me pray or will ever change my present situation. Well I don’t go to church but I used to believe in God and I’m wondering if still God really exist. I completed high last year and I’ve not been able to get any little work to do for me to further my education. I don’t have faith again,I’m so down in faith and even wonder if I have hope for the future. I’m hopeless,scared of the future. I’m also suffering from masturbation. I want to stop but sometimes I get a feeling and I enter into it again. I don’t like the situation of my life now. I want to be clean and draw closer to God. I want God to forgive me my sins and strengthen my faith. Can you help me out? I’m messing up.
George,
Ghana.
We have plenty of reason to believe in God, in spite of what the world, the devil, and the demons tell us. I’ll pray that God strengthens you. 🙂
https://answersingenesis.org
http://www.everystudent.com
http://y-jesus.com
I have been having the same problem, but I have come to the conclusion that the best way to deal with your doubts or feelings of weak faith are to do these simple things…. Don’t try so hard to believe, because when you do, you start to over-think and things become complicated, when God’s love is simple. Just understand he is there, don’t be so anxious to feel his love for he loves you, just form a simple relationship with God in Jesus’s name and be PATIENT, God is working on you
I have been struggling as well.
I don’t know if I’m repentant or just feeling regret.
A lot of times I read my bible and feel like I don’t have TRUE faith, because I have so much terror instead of peace. I don’t think I truly believe! I’m so scared and I can’t seem to change. I don’t trust God, how can I pray when my faith is dead?
Please help me strengthen my faith. I am so lost without Him and at the moment He seems silent.
This really helped and may God give you strength to continue spreading his word and giving hope and inspiring the world in His name.
Hi Steve,
Recently I have lost my faith and fight everyday to hold on to the tiniest belief that God exists much less cares. This is very hurtful and stressful as I have always believed in God and welcomed Jesus into my heart. It seems that no matter how often it pray or how fervently I pray a God is not listening. I want to believe again and ask for your help please!!
Yvette
Be encouraged, God promises never to leave us nor to forsake us. Satan comes to steal to kill and destroy, he prowls about like a lion, seeking those he can destroy, but if you submit yourself to God and resist the devil, he will flee from you. God is still dealing with you, otherwise, there would be no fight, the bible tells us that Satan does not fight against himself,otherwise his kingdom cannot stand. Read the word audibly, memorize it, faith comes by hearing the word of God. You will soon finding your faith growing
This just reconfirmed what I already have know. I trust him with all our decisions for our family. Since we started that we have not had anything I would change.
Hello Steve
I want to thank you so much for this.It just made me feel so good,knowing that Jesus wants and loves me with my imperfect faith.I will no longer have doubts. The Holy Spirit led me here.I thank our Father in Heaven!
I am so glad to hear this, Zingi. Thank you for letting me know.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Hello Steve I want to thank you for this I am a young man going through college and I am really trying to strengthen my faith it’s been hard because sin is everywhere. This really helped me god bless you!!!!
As human beings we tend to think that the more faith we have in God – the better (i.e. more productive/fruitful/loving) will be our relationship with God.
This is fundamentally wrong.
What we are saying is that God will love or regard us better if we can work up more faith in Him. And whats more – the more faith in God we think we need (for his intervention or assistance) , the more our faith in Him deteriorates.
Further, this thinking opens the door to satanic attack: “You have no faith, your faith is weak….bla bla bla”. Which (when you think about it – is really correct – which in turn is why this attack can be so devastating to good people).
No – we need to STOP trying to increase our faith in God.
Instead, I believe we should say something like this: “God you know better than me my faith is woeful. It is corrupted from start to finish. It is full of doubt. It is laughable. BUT you are God! You are perfect! You are the Almighty one! And I know you will help me – regardless of my many faults and dismal faith. I know you will help me.”
This approach opens the door to God’s grace. It goes to the original meaning of faith: trust.
And what I have found is this: by NOT trying to increase my faith (which is another form of “works”)…my faith in God has grown. My eyes have moved from me to Christ. I know Steve has said this, too.
So the paradox – like so many parts of Christianity is this: by not trying to increase my faith in God and simply relying fully on God’s grace – my faith in God has grown and become genuine.
Finally, can you ever imagine saying this to your own child: “You know I would love to help you and I can…..but Im sorry. I just don’t think you have demonstrated enough faith in me. Go on suffering until you work up some more faith and then I’ll help!”. There is no love whatsoever in this approach.
God made us in his image. But unfortunately, we have returned the compliment and made God in our (pathetic) image. No wonder we struggle to have faith in such a reduced image of God.
Steve I love your faith blog it has taught me a whole lot and still is teaching me a lot I am a beginner in the lord but I love the feeling and how he is working on me.
Thanks for your encouraging words, and may the Lord continue to strengthen you.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
I am a college student, & I have been having a rough time finding my connection with God that was there my whole life.
I don’t know what it is but for some reason whenever I pray Ithat doesn’t feel like it should. Since iv been in college my sins have been overwhelming. & it’s hard to admit but it is true. I just want need advice as to how I can regain my connection with the Lord & stop my sinful life style. i just want to be able to talk God and feel like that loving connection that iv felt the past 18 years of my life.
I am only a visitor to this blog – but I was sorry to read that you are having a rough time!
Could I suggest this from personal experience:
1. Know that your faith in Christ can lift you to a place far beyond anything you can conceive,
2. Never, ever try to increase your faith to “earn” a seat at God’s table. The faith you have now (no matter how small and doubt-ridden) is sufficient to transform your life.
[Think of it this way: do you want a small faith in an infinite God – or a huge faith in a small, human-conceived God? The first is infinitely better.]
3. Just dwell on Christ’s words and image and watch what happens. Joy will return.
You are in for quite a ride!
All the best.
Hi, the only way to get your connection with God again is to walk away from all the sins. You know fare well what they are and it’s simple…stop doing them…remeber God will not hear our prayers when satan is presant as He can not see you / where when the Holy Spirit is within you and you walking a pure live in Christ…when we pray God sees Jesus within you and love abides again!! Its not worth it!! Don’t let satan lie and deceive you into telling you the worldly stuff is far more exsiting…it only leads to death! and God is faithful, if you go on your knees and ask for forgiveness, He will forgive you!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Bernadette.
I’m sure you know this, I want to make sure others understand that we don’t need to be perfectly free from sin before God will hear us.
We can turn to him as we are, and if we want to be forgiven and freed from our sin, and we are looking to Jesus Christ by faith, then we are completely welcomed by the Father, even if we still are feeling the pull of sin in our hearts.
But the good news is that as we look to him, and pray over his powerful word, He will so show us the glory of Christ that sin’s pull loses its power.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
What I’m trying to say is, when I gave my life to Christ about 20 years ago (crew up know Him…but only realy accepted Him into my life at 20 when my whole life felt it was falling apart) then I was a sinner and a asked for forgiveness and God’s love and word promises us that when we call on Him, He hears us…what had happend in the interim, He had blessed me with many things in my life I had asked Him, but I grew away from Him and had lost my “Fist Love” which had been Christ. now when we have tasted the goodness of God and then still cary on sinning, we are deceiving ourselves in thinking “once saved, always saved”…it does not work like that! God s word is very clear on he that keeps sinning is not from God and has not tastes Him….se what I’m trying to say is if you feel that God has turned His back on you…as it had happend I’m my life also…it is actually us that have turned our back on Him. He teaches us that you cannot sit and feast at His table and at the table of demons…so ALL the comments I have read here…people…you need to get active in reading God’s word and getting to Church…im not saying that is what will save you…as Christ’s blood is the only redemtion we have and He only is our saviour, you can not get a piece of heaven by any works, it is God’s grace that safes…what I’m trying to say is that satan is a devouring lion and around any corner you allow him / let your guird down..he will be there to detroy and rip you to peices…so we need to become true warriors of God’s word and put on the full armour of God each day..and if you not know all these verse, google words realy well…just google scripture on “keeping faith” or “armour of God” or “scripture on how to overcome depression”….google is a wealth of whisdom and it’s all at your finger tips! God bless you all and Keep you from the prowling craws of satan..dont ever loose sight of Christ!!!
I am a new Christian, I am suffering with huge anxiety do to health. I really feel like the devil is trying to win. I am determined to not let him. I love God so much, but I feel like I am in a slump and not worthy enough for christ to take away my anxiety.
The truth is that there are many challenges that we’ll face in our walk with the Lord. God has never promised us that it would ever be easy, but He does promise us that He’ll always be with us every step of the way.
With respect to your anxiety, having faith in God doesn’t erase fear, doubt, and anxiety; it overcomes them. If you’ve been saved, Christ becomes your Lord and Savior, and you are His own property. Therefore, your unworthiness has already been taken care of by Christ, you’ve been granted legal right by Him to bring your request to God.
The problem is that you’re still allowing the enemy to hold you captive in the unworthiness’ trap. You have to rise up and lay a hold of what was accomplished on behalf of you on the cross.
Being a bit new to Christ, I find that I am always vulnerable to temptation. But, He catches me every time and reveals to me how I an become a stronger believer and live with him in eternal Paradise. I think I need much help with renewal and repenting, but thanks to the information held in this article, I am one step closer to being able to face temptation. I hope its alright to ask for your advice on renewing your spirit and mind, and how to “stick with” your repentance. Thank you.
Thanks Mr Fuller, this blog has really helped me a lot.
I have found message about faith so helpful thank u beloved of God
Thank you for writing this. I cried desperately and yet joyfully. I want to increase my faith. I got this intense feeling that I can ask God to help me to increase it. In this trying time that I am really upset, I need His help, his divine intervention and most importantly strong faith that He will not let anything wrong happen.
The time that I was reading your advise i felt my faith was increasing.
I’m blessed.
Thanks.
Remember through Christ you are able to do ANYTHING!!! It is through faith in Him and His promises that we rise each day and face the challenges head on with confidence within Christ! Just don’t step up an out without Him!! Spend time in His word / bible..all His promises are there…a world full of riches, all for us that have faith!
Am new here and am so blessed by this blog. am also working on my faith in Jesus because i have realized that everything in this world without Jesus is VANITY VANITY VANITY!!!!
ROSE
KENYA
thank you very much indeed for letting me the secret of having strong faith God bless you
Thank you for your short sermon on FAITH
Thank you for this! Now I will trust in Jesus Christ!
thank for this post. it made me stronger in Christ.
Thank you all for this daily bread
May the Holy Spirit continue to guide us to strengthen our faith in our Saviour our Christ and bring us a closer relationship with Jehova our Creator our Father in all platforms Amen
All good. Very helpful
The past year God has strengthen me in knowing that when something bad happens or I get sick, there is something I’m doing that He does not approve of, yesterday I was in a car crash (no one hurt) but again I asked God what is the real meaning of this. The guy in front of me had had his 5th accident this month, so I said I will now keep praying for him for God to protect it. In life we get the chance to plant seeds for God, and sometimes He even gives us the opportunity to water it, but in the end He makes it grow! And I might never know if that man turned to God after all of this! But it doesn’t matter, it’s not about us…it’s about what we can do to please GOD and to His people, as many are lost and we are here to help them find Him in the smallest of ways! Be blessed today , and ask God what the bigger picture is of the situation you find yourself…you will be amazed 🙂
thank you
Hi Eric,
Thank you. Already, i feel like im opening myself up inside for God to heal me. And i believe it is from the healing i am receiving that will be the starting point of renewing my faith for God to strength in my life going forward from today. Thank you for being a light in the world for God’s people to see when in darkness. Its easy to drift in the face of a storm as the word of today says so already i feel God’s hand working, stirring my life from the inside, out and steering me right through the storm, not around but through it so that i can believe and know that He is the God of those who believe in Him.
God bless you and may your faith bring more people into God’s presence to be healed and strengthened.
Teresa
Please pray for me..I am in a desperate need for a job. I have my parents to look after, thier medical expenses and my sister who is a widow late 2015 , supporting her 3 children. Aged 21 , 17 and 10. All are still studying and need support. I NEED THE JOB TO CONTINUE TO BE A BLESSING TO MY FAMILY. Thank you kindly for your prayers.
Help my unbelief,but I pray and doubt my husband because of my past life impact..help us Jesus…my marriage life is weak…
Bro, I am so thankful that I red this message from you. I know God sent you to me to read this message. I am so blessed to saw it and my heart fills with joy. I think this is the scripture that God gave to me. At this moment, me and my mom have a problem. We always fight but I chose to search for the things which strengthen my faith and now I saw it. Thanks God! To God be all the Glory. Keep it up bro! God bless
I’ve been a lot like Sam has recently (refer to above replies).
For me, instead of my problem being sin, my problem in my hope/faith. I’ve been struggling a lot these past few days. I feel that even though I believe in Jesus Christ and in God, that no matter how much I believe that I will miss out on heaven. Part of me believes that this isn’t true and the other part is telling me that it is. I am having an internal fight with myself, so I ask that you pray for me, and any advice that you could possibly give would be great. Thank you and God bless.
I will pray for you right now, Jaylen.
And I would encourage you to trust what Jesus promises in John 6:35, and many other verses.
Turn to him, even with your doubts. Trust that because of what he has done on the Cross, he will respond to even weak faith, and forgive you, strengthen your faith, and give you everything you need.
I also find much help meditating on God’s word, because “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Thank you very much!
I already have been feeling a lot better, and I think I am finally coming to understand the power behind Jesus’ name, and I hope to put it to good use. Though I will still have struggles, I will always turn to Jesus! Thank you for praying for me and encouraging me, and God Bless!
God never fails, he sees what is hidden and understand what is not explained.in whatever u going through, trust in him and he shall fight all ur battles.
So much spiritual encouraged.