When I built my website one of the permanent pages that I included was Building Faith. In that page, which says that we are responsible for constantly building our faith in God, I give ten steps to building faith.
(1) Ask God for more faith. Jesus instructed His disciples to ask, seek and to knock. Matthew 7:7-12 (NKJV) 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
(2) Prove what you believe. Follow Paul’s admonition to prove what the Bible actually says, and hold fast to what you prove to be the truth. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NKJV) 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
(3) Read and meditate on the examples of faith described in Hebrews 11. Read the original accounts in the Old Testament.
(4) Stir up God’s Spirit. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Pray, study, meditate and fast regularly. Doubts will disappear as our faith grows. 2 Timothy 1:6-7 (NKJV) 6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. .
(5) Live by faith. Put into practice what you read in the Scriptures. Trust God and His Word. If the Bible says to do it, then do it—don’t argue with the Scriptures. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV) 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
(6) Endure trials that will arise as you strive to live by every word of God. Enduring and overcoming the trials will help us build both faith and patience James 1:2-4 (NKJV) 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
God has promised to get us through the trials, 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
The trials He allows are for our ultimate good Romans 8:28 (NKJV)28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
(7) Create a Faith Journal. Writing is a powerful way to build faith. Journal entries should include the areas where you are struggling to trust God. Write whenever you have doubts and include your prayers asking God to help you believe. Over time, when you return to read your entries, you will find that God has resolved many of the problems in your journal. You will find that God answered your prayers which will offer concrete proof what God has done and that he will do greater things in your life. When you begin to search for faith to trust God on greater levels, you can read how God has worked on your behalf in the past.
(8) Devotional time. Devotional time is a very much needed in our lives to build our faith in God. We must take time to spend with the Lord on a daily basis. Daily devotion to the Lord will keep your heart focused on God and the power in God. Start a daily devotion with a quiet meditation, and read scriptures on faith
(9) Obey God. A necessary step to grow in faith is listening to what God has to say. When you are in line with what the Lord expects of you, then you can expect his promises to be fulfilled. There are many promises from the Lord in the Bible. When you are aligned with what God commands of us as his children, you can confidently rest in expectation that God will fulfill his promises. One promise from the Bible states, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7 (KJV)
(10) Filter Your life. Sometimes we need to filter a lot of junk out of our lives that drain our faith. When we live a godly life, and walk with God, our faith will start to grow. When you walk with your entire mind focused on God and with a pure heart, you are bound to grow in faith. If you do not filter out the impurities in your life, like fear, doubt, negativity, and unbelief, it is hard to have faith in God. Instead of trusting God, we start to look at our circumstances. Just as we filter our water that it will be fresh to drink it, we need to filter a lot of the things we watch, and listen to that contaminate our spirit.
The foundation for all of these steps is the Bible, the Word of God, and Jesus Christ. Building on any other foundation can result in a collapsed faith.
(1) Ask God for more faith. Jesus instructed His disciples to ask, seek and to knock. Matthew 7:7-12 (NKJV) 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
(2) Prove what you believe. Follow Paul’s admonition to prove what the Bible actually says, and hold fast to what you prove to be the truth. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NKJV) 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
(3) Read and meditate on the examples of faith described in Hebrews 11. Read the original accounts in the Old Testament.
(4) Stir up God’s Spirit. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Pray, study, meditate and fast regularly. Doubts will disappear as our faith grows. 2 Timothy 1:6-7 (NKJV) 6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. .
(5) Live by faith. Put into practice what you read in the Scriptures. Trust God and His Word. If the Bible says to do it, then do it—don’t argue with the Scriptures. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV) 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
(6) Endure trials that will arise as you strive to live by every word of God. Enduring and overcoming the trials will help us build both faith and patience James 1:2-4 (NKJV) 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
God has promised to get us through the trials, 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
The trials He allows are for our ultimate good Romans 8:28 (NKJV)28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
(7) Create a Faith Journal. Writing is a powerful way to build faith. Journal entries should include the areas where you are struggling to trust God. Write whenever you have doubts and include your prayers asking God to help you believe. Over time, when you return to read your entries, you will find that God has resolved many of the problems in your journal. You will find that God answered your prayers which will offer concrete proof what God has done and that he will do greater things in your life. When you begin to search for faith to trust God on greater levels, you can read how God has worked on your behalf in the past.
(8) Devotional time. Devotional time is a very much needed in our lives to build our faith in God. We must take time to spend with the Lord on a daily basis. Daily devotion to the Lord will keep your heart focused on God and the power in God. Start a daily devotion with a quiet meditation, and read scriptures on faith
(9) Obey God. A necessary step to grow in faith is listening to what God has to say. When you are in line with what the Lord expects of you, then you can expect his promises to be fulfilled. There are many promises from the Lord in the Bible. When you are aligned with what God commands of us as his children, you can confidently rest in expectation that God will fulfill his promises. One promise from the Bible states, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7 (KJV)
(10) Filter Your life. Sometimes we need to filter a lot of junk out of our lives that drain our faith. When we live a godly life, and walk with God, our faith will start to grow. When you walk with your entire mind focused on God and with a pure heart, you are bound to grow in faith. If you do not filter out the impurities in your life, like fear, doubt, negativity, and unbelief, it is hard to have faith in God. Instead of trusting God, we start to look at our circumstances. Just as we filter our water that it will be fresh to drink it, we need to filter a lot of the things we watch, and listen to that contaminate our spirit.
The foundation for all of these steps is the Bible, the Word of God, and Jesus Christ. Building on any other foundation can result in a collapsed faith.
Building Faith on the Wrong Foundation?
Greg Laurie
One reason people fall away from the faith is because they have built their faith on the wrong foundation. Sometimes we build our faith on a church. We become very passionate about our church and may even develop a my-church-is-better-than-your-church attitude. But there are a lot of great churches in the world. And we are all part of the church, not just a particular church.
Or we may have a favorite Bible teacher or may like one pastor better than another. This even happened with first-century believers. The apostle Paul warned, “For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?” (1 Corinthians 3:4–5).
There is nothing wrong with liking a certain pastor or enjoying a church that you are a part of. But don’t build the foundation of your faith on these things. Churches will disappoint you, because they are run by people. And people make mistakes. Sometimes they are misunderstood too.
Pastors will disappoint you as well, because they are human like everyone else. So if you build your foundation on a church or on a pastor, you can fall away one day, because those people might mess up.
Writing to the church at Corinth, Paul pointed out, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). It is all about you and God. And when you stand before Him one day, He will want to know what you did with Jesus—not whether everyone you knew who claimed to be a Christian behaved like one.
So don't build your foundation on people. Build your foundation on Jesus Christ.
Taken from “Faulty Foundations” by Harvest Ministries (used by permission)
Greg Laurie
One reason people fall away from the faith is because they have built their faith on the wrong foundation. Sometimes we build our faith on a church. We become very passionate about our church and may even develop a my-church-is-better-than-your-church attitude. But there are a lot of great churches in the world. And we are all part of the church, not just a particular church.
Or we may have a favorite Bible teacher or may like one pastor better than another. This even happened with first-century believers. The apostle Paul warned, “For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?” (1 Corinthians 3:4–5).
There is nothing wrong with liking a certain pastor or enjoying a church that you are a part of. But don’t build the foundation of your faith on these things. Churches will disappoint you, because they are run by people. And people make mistakes. Sometimes they are misunderstood too.
Pastors will disappoint you as well, because they are human like everyone else. So if you build your foundation on a church or on a pastor, you can fall away one day, because those people might mess up.
Writing to the church at Corinth, Paul pointed out, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). It is all about you and God. And when you stand before Him one day, He will want to know what you did with Jesus—not whether everyone you knew who claimed to be a Christian behaved like one.
So don't build your foundation on people. Build your foundation on Jesus Christ.
Taken from “Faulty Foundations” by Harvest Ministries (used by permission)
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