Increasing Faith

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5,6

James 1:6-8 says, But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like the wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man shall not think he shall receive anything from the Lord; he is a double minded man, unstable in all he does.

Trust or faith in God is the key to having our prayers answered. But how do we trust in God when we have never or seldom experienced His answers to our prayers? How can we trust Him if we do not know Him or have not experienced His goodness?
The Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It also says that we have all been given a measure of faith. Basically, this measure is in seed form. In order for our faith to grow, we must be hearing the word of God and continually bathing our minds in it. Since our mind was not automatically made new when we accepted Christ, the word of God says that we must continually renew our mind. The way to renew our mind is by hearing the word of God. We must read it, hear it, learn it, and meditate on it.
God has given us many promises in His word. But how will we know what He has promised us if we don't study His word to find out?
Once we know what God has promised us, this will increase our faith, then we can pray in faith believing and have our prayers answered!
Just as we can't know what an orange tastes like unless we peel and eat it, we cannot know the goodness of God until we have experienced it!
Every answer, to every problem can be found in the word of God. The Bible says, Blessed are those who walk not in the council of the ungodly. The world does not hold the answers my friend! Run to God first! Let Him show you how good He is.
I really love the story in Mark chapter 9 where the father of a child who had an evil spirit came to Jesus for help. And Jesus said, "IF THOU CAN BELIEVE, all things are possible to him who believes." And then the man says, "I believe, help thou my unbelief!"
I love this story, I love it, love it, love it! First of all, because Jesus says, ALL things are possible if we can just believe. And secondly because the man feels the same way I feel so often! He has faith, but he prays for more faith.
And Jesus is so good, He meets him right where he is and heals his son.
Go Jesus! You are so good!
Another way to increase our faith is to ask for it, just as this man did.
God is good! He longs to show you how good He is. Put your faith in Him and let Him show you!
The things of this world will pass away, but the word of God stands forever.