Introduction
Welcome to My Thoughts and the fourth segment of our Faith for the Believer series. In this segment, Seven Steps to Grow Your Faith. Previously, I talked about the measure of faith, uncommon faith, and how to be aggressive with your faith. I will discuss not just these seven steps, but before growing your faith, you need a vision.
To achieve your vision, grab your Bible and turn to the book of Isaiah 54:2-3, “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.”
Now, replace the word “tent” with “vision.” Your faith needs vision not just to see, but to gather an understanding of what it will take to abundantly grow your faith. To fulfill your vision to grow your faith, you will have to develop it to believe and receive all that God has planned for you. We all have an unlimited faith capacity and how far we go with it is all up to us. Here we go with the seven steps to grow your faith.
Step One: Receive Jesus as the Developer of Your Faith
We find our first step in growing our faith in Hebrews 12:2, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Let us break down the two keywords in our verse, “author” and “finisher.”
Author in Greek means founder or leader and finisher means a completer or perfecter. The New Living Translation (NLT) calls Jesus “the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”
Jesus will become our “Faith Trainer” when we decide to live by faith. He will develop our faith the same way a trainer develops our body. Expect Him to develop our faith every time we put our faith on the line.
- 1 Peter 2:24 for healing
- Philippians 4:19 For our needs
As our faith begins to grow, Satan’s dominion begins to wane and circumstances will yield and no longer look overpowering to us.
Step Two: Give the Word First Place and Make It Final Authority
Step two to grow our faith is found in Proverbs 4:20-22, “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh.” The ears along with the eyes and the heart are three avenues for the entrance of knowledge into the man.
Here are two passages of Scripture. One is giving God’s Word first place and the other is giving it final authority. First, let us take a look at Luke 10:38-42 as Jesus enters the home of Martha and Mary. Martha is stressing out over serving Jesus and Mary sat at Jesus’s feet to hear His word. In this instance, Mary gave the word first place over serving. How do we give the Word of God first place? We must build our schedule around the Word instead of trying to fit the Word into our busy schedule.
Next is Matthew 8:5-13 when the Centurion, a Roman soldier, came to Jesus and asked Him to heal his servant. The Centurion did not feel worthy to have Jesus come to his home, he told Him to “speak the word only and my servant will be healed” (v. 8). The Centurion had that much faith in Jesus, he made the Word final authority.
What we need to do is to make what God says the authority in our life. Make it the final word, even after all human reports are in. Always ask, “What does God’s Word say about my situation?” Then say, “THAT is the FINAL WORD on this issue!”
Step Three: Continually Feed on the Word
Step three tells us to continually feed on God’s word. We use Matthew 4:4, “But He answered and said, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” In this verse, Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, which is telling us to feed or study God’s word to grow exceedingly in faith.
We need food to grow physically and we need the Bible to grow spiritually. God’s word is faith food for our spirit. It contains the proper nutrients to develop a strong faith. It is why we need to feed on the word daily, so we do not waver, and keep our faith strong. Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of God.” So continue to read and study the Bible, it is good food for your soul.
Step Four: Meditate on the Word
To meditate on the word, we need to look at Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.” The key word in this verse is meditate. In Hebrew, it means to moan, growl, utter, speak, or muse. Other words used in place of meditation are ponder, declare, and utter.
Meditating on God’s Word will build your capacity for faith. Builds a greater image of prosperity in your heart. Expands your ability to believe and receive (faith’s foundation). It allows God’s Word to take root in your heart.
Meditating is also fixing your mind on God’s Word. Spending time setting your thoughts on the Word. It is a God-given process that produces a permanent change in your thinking. Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You.”
How to meditate on the Word of God? Here are five proven ways to meditate on God’s Word.
- Go to the Word that covers your situation.
- Apply that Word to the situation.
- Dwell on that Word until it changes your situation.
- Place yourself in agreement with the Word.
- Think about the desired result instead of the dreaded outcome.
Step Five: Act on the Word
In step five, we turn to James 1:22, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Exercising your faith builds up your faith muscles in the same way physical exercise builds up your natural muscles. Expect Jesus to develop your faith anytime you put your faith on the line.
James 2:26, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” The key word in this verse is “works.” We can replace this word with “action,” so the verse could read, “So faith without action is dead also.” So using action to reveal your strong faith, then healed people should act healed and prosperous people should act prosperous.
Now, do not forget, Satan will challenge your faith. Let us take a look at Mark 5:35-36 and see how Satan challenges their faith, but Jesus tells them to put their faith into action. “While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?’ As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, ‘Do not be afraid, only believe.’” Satan tested their faith and unbelief started to set in, but Jesus told them to put their faith into action by believing.
Now, let us look at faith in action. Again, in the Gospel of Mark 2:1-5, The paralyzed man was dropped through the roof. It happened in verse four as they could not get their friend through the door due to the crowd. At that moment, Jesus saw their faith and their action, and get their friend to see Jesus, and be healed. This is proof of their acting on the Word was visible.
Step Six: Pray in the Spirit
Jude 20 gives us step six, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” Some ask, “What is praying in the Spirit?” It means to pray according to the leading of the Spirit. Some have quoted, “Prayer is not getting man’s will done in heaven, it is getting God’s will done on earth.”
In 1 Corinthians 14:4: “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, be he who prophesies edifies the church.” The keyword in this verse is edifies, but I will shorten it to edify. In Greek, edify means to build or a builder, to rebuild, augment, enhance, and improve.
To charge your faith like a battery, you will need a faith boost. The best way for it is to pray in the Spirit. Whenever you sense your faith is in a weakened condition, just spend some time praying in the spirit to build yourself up in your faith.
Step Seven: Continually Give God Praise
In our last step to grow our faith, we turn to Psalm 34:1, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praises shall continually be in my mouth.” If you want to enlarge your faith, cultivate a lifestyle of thanksgiving. Praise and thanksgiving are mighty affirmations of faith.
What we do between the time we pray and see the manifestation is crucial. After the “amen” of our prayer, we continue to thank God for the manifestation of the desired result. Here is a good prayer to remember, “Because Your Word is true, I thank You and give You praise for my answer before I ever see it come to pass.”
Psalm 67:5-7: “Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.” Praise and thanksgiving supernaturally compress the time it takes to receive the answer and also produce greater results.
Conclusion
In conclusion, set up your faith-building program by using these seven steps, and watch your faith grow exceedingly and abundantly, Amen!
I am Dale Van De Bogart and I fully agree on God’s Word!
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