Eight Ways to Increase Your Faith in God. The Bible tells us we have all been given a measure of faith (Romans 12:3), and that faith comes from God. Faith is believing in God and trusting in Him regardless of the circumstances or influences around us. Sometimes we find this easy to do but many times lifes dilemmas can cause our faith to weaken or fail, especially during times of sadness, loneliness, sickness, pain, depression, deprivation or fear. Although it may be hard to understand, without these struggles our faith in God would never increase. If your faith level has been low lately here are some suggestions that may be of help to you. 1) Stop worrying. You were not created to worry and fret. The Lord wants you to be at peace. Worrying will not solve your problems. It will only drain you. God invites you to cast your burdens upon Him (Psalms 55:22). He not only cares for you, but He is far better at handling the weight of your problems. He will not abandon you in the midst of your struggles for He has promised to never leave or forsake you (Heb. 13:5). 2) Learn to depend on God for everything. It is our habit to depend on ourselves, our jobs, our friends, our money-everything and everyone except God. Develop the habit of making God your priority, not an after-thought. Talk to Him about what you need at the very moment you need it and trust Him to provide an answer. Your faith will increase as you depend more on Him and less on yourself. 3. Discover Gods will for your life. God has a plan for your and a work for you to accomplish. In your selfishness you may inadvertently moving in a direction He does not want you to go. Surrendering to Him may seem unnatural to you at first but His Spirit will guide you if you will allow Him to. Step forward in faith to work with Him, not against Him. Be active in serving Him by serving others. 4) Learn to listen to His voice. Our lives are frantically busy, noisy and demanding. You must make time to listen for His voice. It is in moments of prayerful stillness that the heart is encouraged and strengthened. Then, with renewed faith, you are ready to move forward in obedience to the Lords commands. Be still, He says, and know that I am God (Psalms 46:10). 5) Practice patience. Patience is a profound faith-builder. Few of us exercise enough patience. We live in a world where we expect to be instantly gratified, so understandably we expect that answers to our prayers should also come promptly. However, God is not bound by time. He answers our prayers in a way that is best for us, at the time that He knows will do us the most good. We must have faith to know He is working even though it may seem like the answers come slowly. God is working to change us from the inside, and this takes time. Be patient and in time He will reveal the answers to prayer you so anxiously seek. 6) Claim Gods promises. The Bible contains countless promises to cover every situation. God keeps His word. Memorize the promises that have special meaning for you. Speak them aloud whenever you can and claim them in your prayers. They are a firm support for your faith to lean on. 7) Give thanks. Our Father delights to hear us give thanks. You can always find something to be thankful for. This is why the apostle Paul says, In all things, give thanks (1 Thes. 5:18)), not just the good things, but all things. Learn to give thanks even for trials and disappointments because you never know what blessings such things as this can bring. 8.). Look for the lessons that the Lord is teaching you. Our life here on earth is a school and the challenges you experience each day can often be looked at as another lesson. He will only lead you into those experiences that will increase your faith, and indeed your faith will increase as you acknowledge these lessons and grow from them. Each time you past one test He will lovingly but certainly bring you to the next. Use every opportunity you can to exercise your faith and as you do it will increase. Remember that Jesus is the Author and Finisher of your faith (Heb. 12:2). He will not stop working with you until your faith has been perfected.
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 14:23:32 +0000