Grace For The Journey

 

 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 these encouraging passages from the Word of God –

• Mark 9:24 — where a man prays “I believe, help my unbelief.”
• Luke 22:31-32 — where Jesus prays that Peter’s faith would be strengthened.
• Ephesians 3:16 — where Paul prays that God would strengthen the faith of the church in Ephesus.

The One who spoke a Universe into existence, Who brought Jericho’s walls down, Who raised Lazarus from the dead – He can and will strengthen your faith.

But How?

It’s not through trying to be good enough to earn strong faith from God – or learning to be positive and how to claim what is ours.  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.

The Bible tells us in Mark 9:24, “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’”  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 And Live By The Word of God.

The Bible says in Romans 10:17, “So then, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”  Paul teaches that as we hear (read, study, live by) 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 . . .

• Psalm 50:15 — that I will experience God’s deliverance in every trial.
• John 6:35 — that if I come to Jesus and surrender Him, He will fully satisfy me in Himself.
• 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 — that God plans every trial to bring me even more joy in Him forever.
• 2 Corinthians 12:9 – that God’s grace is sufficient to get me through anything I will face in life.
• Philippians 3:10 — That I can know Jesus fully and live by His resurrection power.
• Hebrews 13:5-6 — that God will certainly meet my financial needs (not that I’ll be rich, but my needs will be met).
• James 1:5 — that God will give me all the wisdom I need.
• 1 John 1:9 — that if I confess my sins, then because of Jesus’ death, God will surely forgive me.

So . . . pick whichever one of these fits your circumstances and look for others from God’s Word – and pray over it, think deeply on it, stand on its truth – and God will strengthen 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 discover the Holy Spirit changing your heart, making Jesus more real to you, satisfying your soul, and strengthening your faith.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”