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It’s important to know that there is no one way to grow your faith. Some people like reading their Bible on a daily basis while others like visiting church every Sunday morning. What matters most is what works for you as an individual. You need to explore different ways of growing your faith until you find something that sticks with you and makes sense for who you are as a person. As long as the end goal is always growth, then you will continue to be growing in your faith. That being said, we are sharing four key steps to always growing your faith.
Have you ever been at a place in your life where you felt like every time you tried to fix something, it made it worse? You move a chair from one corner of the room to another, and it seems like moving it has made more of a mess than what you started with?
A Story from a Believer on Growing Your Faith
Sometimes growing your faith can seem like that – growing pains. It’s never easy trying to accomplish something bigger than yourself. But growing in faith is important for spiritual growth .
For example, one of the best decisions I made was joining the military. After years of pondering and praying about what direction I should take and for the betterment of my family, I made the tough decision to get out. Unfortunately, my timing couldn’t have been worse.
At the time the country was in a bit of a recession and the state that I lived in was hit hard. During those dry times when you must make decisions that not only affect your life but directly impacts the lives of others, it can make the situation that much harder.
By being in a dry place I was afraid to even trust my own judgment when it came to making decisions. I felt like I had to ask two or three people within my inner circle before I would even act on an idea. Not only had I found myself in a very dry place, my faith was starting to waver.
Most times my journal entries looked something like this, “Never thought my life would be like this… it seems as if the struggle is getting harder and not easier. I don’t know why I’m hurt and overwhelmed. I just want the situation to turn around. I hate living in fear. Fear of losing everything, fear of never reaching my goals. I have no solution to the problems… every time I try to fix it, it makes it worse. What do I do now? What’s my end game? How do I fix it?”
He struck the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
or provide meat for his people?”Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
Psalm 78:20-24. (ESV)
a fire was kindled against Jacob;
his anger rose against Israel,
because they did not believe in God
and did not trust his saving power.
Yet he commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven,
and he rained down on them manna to eat
and gave them the grain of heaven.
Other times it looked like this, “Heavenly Father, I can feel Your love strengthening me. Your love is everlasting. When I need to be held, You’re there. When I need a shoulder to lean on, You’re there. Father, I know You will never leave me nor forsake me and I will just continue to pray that Your will be done in my life.
Houses built on a sandy foundation can never withstand the storms of life. But a house built on the ROCK is unshakeable and unmovable. I pray You continue to give me the strength to fight this battle. Lord God, your words are embedded in my heart and I will put on the whole armor of God and fight. Pain produces power!”
“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
James 1:12 (ESV)
See the difference?
In one entry even though I had prayed about the situation, I started to doubt if it was going to be fixed and started trying to fix it in my own strength (Which didn’t work out too well for me). I had become desperate and in my desperation, I began to allow fear and doubt to block my faith.
In the second entry, although it was the same level of desperation, I allowed my faith to take over. I stopped trying to place my hand on everything and learned how to grow my faith.
We can all relate to story, can’t we? Read on to learn the four key steps to growing in your faith.
4 Key Steps to Growing Your Faith
The Bible tells us that faith comes from hearing the word of God . In order to grow your faith, here are 4 key steps to growing your walk with God:
Prayer – Intimate time of communication with God
Growing your faith through prayer means growing your relationship with God. It means growing closer to him by spending time talking with him and interceding on the needs of others.
It is important that you have a quiet place where you can pray without being disturbed. The best times are early in the morning, just after waking up, or before going to bed at night. Also, during your lunch break or anytime you get the chance throughout the day is beneficial to growing your faith through prayer.
Asking questions of God .
The more specific you can be when asking, the better. If you ask for wisdom, what specifically do you want to know? How can I achieve this goal? What steps should I take to get here? Whatever that may be, the moment you ask God for it, he will start revealing that to you through his word and through prayer .
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Mark 11:24 (ESV)
Prayer is the key to growing your faith, so growing your faith through prayer means growing closer to God.
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Matthew 6:6-8 (ESV)
Fasting – Breaks strongholds
Another way for growing your faith is through fasting. Fasting is great for growing your faith and breaking the strongholds of the enemy. When you fast, it breaks down those walls and allows God to come in.
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
Joel 2:12 (ESV)
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
Praise – Expresses our gratitude to God
When we praise God, we express our gratitude to Him and in turn, find that we are growing our faith. Praising God enlarges our capacity to believe.
“Every day I will bless you
Psalm 145:2 (ESV)
and praise your name forever and ever.”
And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
1 Chronicles 29:13 (ESV)
Worship – Gives honor to God
When we worship God, we are actively growing our faith, as well. Worshiping God is growing our faith because worshiping/honoring God causes us to see more of who God is and what he has done for us. Worshiping/honoring God enlarges our capacity to believe.
“So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
Psalm 63:4-5 (ESV)
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped.
Exodus 34:8 (ESV)
During times of struggle or while we are operating in dry places we often feel powerless. We feel like we have no direction and we view this season as a season where nothing grows. This season is quite the opposite, our perception is off and we must start viewing things by using our spiritual eyes, not our physical ones. Great civilizations have flourished in desert or dry places, we must grow and then activate our faith, to start flourishing as well. Growing
Growing your faith starts with prayer, fasting, praise and worship. These are the four keys to growing your faith. Prayer, fasting and praise communicates to God what we need before we even ask. This communication turns stagnant water into growing waters. We grow because God is growing us.
Growing in faith means growing in knowledge of who God is. When we spend more time growing, growing starts to happen more frequently and the growth results in fruitfulness. As a result of growing your faith God can do a greater work through us because, as Paul says in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” [paraphrase].
Our growing faith brings an increase in God’s power upon our lives. “for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
When growing your faith is combined with growing in godliness, or growing in right living, the result is growing fruitfulness. We are growing ourselves to be fruitful servants of God. When we do these things, God can use us more fully for His purpose and glory.
Growing our faith requires growing our trust and dependence on the Holy Spirit. If we are not growing in this area then we will grow weary or become idle when circumstances don’t go our way. When you receive Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, you are growing your faith. We grow our faith by growing in our relationship with God and growing strong in the knowledge of who He is to us.
Growing faith means growing boldness, growing courage, growing confidence and growing hope. When you pray often you will find your faith starting to rise up; furthermore, when you learn to praise God even in hard times, you will find that you are growing your faith.
“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.”
Hebrews 6:10 (ESV)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.”
You may enjoy this video sermon by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback church about growing your faith.
We’ve enjoyed these two books on growing your faith: 30 Days to Growing in Your Faith by Max Anders or Growing Your Faith: How to Mature in Christ by Jerry Bridges.
Whether you are seeking to grow your faith or just want some practical steps, these four key principles can help unlock the power of prayer in your life. What other ways do you take when you’re growing your faith? Share with us here!
*based on a post originally written by Tashauna T. Lane for Woman of Noble Character
ESV – “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”