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Volume. XXXVII, No. 24 Lord, Increase Our Faith! (Part 2) Faith Increases though Prayer
Surely it is important to increase our faith, but how can we increase our faith? We need to increase our faith through prayer. There is no doubt that there is an inseparable relationship between faith and prayers.
Concerning this subject, one of the best writers on the subject of prayers, E.M. Bounds, wrote, ’Faith grows by reading and meditating upon the Word of God. Most, and best of all, faith thrives in an atmosphere of prayer. Prayer is absolutely dependent upon faith. It has no existence apart from it and accomplishes nothing unless it is its inseparable companion. Faith makes prayer effectual, and in a certain important sense, must precede it.’
In other words, faith and prayer must always be found working together hand-in-hand. There is no point to pray a faithless prayer; there is also no point maintain a prayer-less faith! As mentioned earlier, all of us need to guard against unbelief as we would against our spiritual enemy, Satan.
However, the Scriptural writers do not brush all the blame to Satan. We, as children of God, must take heed not to allow unbelief to drag us down. Hebrews 3:12 says, ‘Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.’
Bear in mind that the author of Hebrews is not talking about a heart in which unbelief is merely present, but rather a heart that is controlled by unbelief. The kind of heart that will drag a person down even as Peter was dragged down into Galilee’s water! Such dismal spiritual condition certainly is not acquired overnight. It broods slowly over weeks, months and even years of distrust and doubts.
Dear fellow Christians, the peril of unbelief is that it breaks the trust on which our relationship with God is based. Unbelief leads to falling away which is just the opposite of drawing near to God! It inevitably will have a devastating effect upon a Christian’s spiritual walk with the Lord!
Thus, if we find ourselves losing our trust in God, we need ask God to increase our faith even if it is as simple as the Apostle’s—Lord, increase my faith’ (Luke 17:5) Our faith is capable of growing through prayers, so we let us boldly come before the mercy-seat unashamedly asking God to increase our faith!
Faith Increases by Practice
Our Lord said in Matthew 17:6 as his answer to the Apostles, ‘If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed…’ A mustard seed is very, very tiny seed; it is no bigger than a sesame seed. But once planted, it grows into a plant large enough to provide a valuable food and shelter for animals. Jesus said, ‘If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed…’
By implication, the Apostles did not have faith as big as a grain of mustard seed. It wouldn’t be too much of an encouragement to the Apostles to know that they didn’t even have a faith of a mustard seed, wouldn’t it?
Our Lord, of course, had no intention to discourage the Apostles, but to challenge them to grow their trust in God. We shouldn’t be ashamed for having a little faith, just as there is no shame in being a seed before the blade appears. For, faith involves a growing process that takes time. Fortunately, God honours each of those stages of growth. We should only be ashamed of ourselves when we don’t seek to grow in faith or refuse to ask the LORD to increase our faith. Take, for example, Abraham who is a splendid example of the growth process of faith. He is known to every Christian today as the ‘Father of all those who believe,’ a role model of faith! But he didn’t start out as a faith giant. From the time he left Ur of the Chaldees, his home, until the conception of his son Isaac twenty-five years later, Abraham was travelling a maturity continuum of faith. In Genesis 12, he passed off his wife Sarai (also known as Sarah) as his sister in Egypt out of fear that the Pharaoh would kill him to procure the beautiful Sarah. ‘What little faith he had,’ we might say.
Didn’t God promise that he would be a great nation and make his name great! Abraham surely had a little faith, but he grew to be a spiritual giant of faith. The same was the case for Moses. His faith also started small.
When God called him to lead His people out of Egypt, first, he says that the Egyptians would wonder who sent him (Exodus 3:11). Second, he makes the case that the Hebrews might not listen to him or believe that the Lord appeared to him (Exodus 4:1). Third, Moses tells God that he is not a good speaker (Exodus 4:10). And finally, Moses tells God to send someone else (Exodus 4:13).
Basically, Moses made excuse after excuse until he was finally compelled by God to carry out the mission—he just did not feel like he was the right person to carry out the task, but his faith grew.
Dear Christians, isn’t your faith also small when you first believe? Perhaps, your faith is still small—smaller than a mustard seed. Would you start calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and cry out to Him ’Lord, Increase My Faith!’
But please bear in mind that when we ask the Lord to increase our faith, God may send trials and tribulations into our lives, just like in the case of Job. So that we may have the opportunity to practice our faith or to display our trust in Him, for faith can grow big by practice or by exercise like a muscle.
Spurgeon says, ‘Be not satisfied with church membership; but seek after membership with Christ. Do not talk about faith but exercise it. Do not boast of experience but possess it. Be not like the wheat but be the wheat. No shams and imitations will stand in the last great day: that terrible ’but’ will roll as a sea of fire between the true and the false. Oh, Holy Spirit! Let each of us be found transformed by thy power!’
What Spurgeon is saying is that faith possessed must be exercised by visible signs and be proven by actions. Thus, having faith also means believing in what the ‘Word of God’ says is true, and acting like it!
Conclusion Dearly beloved, have you placed your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you believe that Jesus Christ came to die for sinners and has accomplished the salvation for those who would call upon His name? Would you come to Him by faith and lay aside all your burdens and spiritual baggage you might have today? ’For without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ (Hebrews 11:6) Jesus also said, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28). Would you come and unload your burden of sins before Him? May God help us!
Yours in Christ, Pastor David Weng
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