How to Increase Your Faith

“But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me.” John 5:36(NLT)

by Alexandra Copeland

Learning to increase our faith is indeed one of the greatest lessons of spiritual advancement that any of us can undertake. God tells us in Hebrews 11:6 that it is impossible to please Him without faith. This gives us a pretty big indication of how important faith should be to us. There are many that use the word faith as a way of referring to their own personal religious practice, but this is too small a box to define the kind of active faith that Jesus Christ practiced. Jesus Christ said in John 5:36(NLT), “But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me.” All of the miracles, signs, and wonders that Jesus Christ administered to God’s people were accomplished by having faith in the power of God that was operating within him. These works proved that God sent His only begotten Son, and so it is with us. Our works for God prove our individual callings as well. That is why increasing in faith is so important. It allows us to do greater works and provide greater proof in the earth of God’s love.

We see from John 5:36 that God gave Jesus Christ works to complete, and not only this, God empowered Jesus to get these things done. In order to activate this empowerment, Jesus had to demonstrate faith, and so do we. So it stands to reason that the greater our faith is, the more we can get done for the Kingdom; and our rewards will be greater as well.

How do you increase your faith?
Heavenly Father doesn’t expect us to jump into a super spiritual suit and start performing all kinds of exploits all over the place. I remember hearing a story of a newly saved individual that learned about the manifestation of laying on of hands. He decided that he would go to a local hospital and begin laying hands on the patients that would allow it. He came across a patient that was near death, and the family begged him to please lay hands on the patient in hopes that he would not die. Soon after the new Christian laid his hands on him, the patient passed away. Both the family and the new Christian were left confused and dismayed. It was because the well-intentioned believer did not allow himself time to seek God and to find out the purpose for which he had been called to specifically carry forth.

Purpose First
We hear so much about purpose, to the point that many of us have dismissed its awesome importance. Again, the man above neglected this critical piece and assumed an increase in faith without receiving the proper instruction, knowledge, and wisdom regarding the purpose to which he had been called. There’s a saying that knowledge is power, well the wrong knowledge can result in power going in the wrong direction. We have to be instructed according to God’s Word to find out what God is expecting from us.

Romans 10:17(NLT) tells us, “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” If we lived ten thousand lifetimes, we still would nowhere near exhaust the amazing revelation that comes from God’s Word. So we will not learn all that we possibly could learn in this one lifetime, but to the extent that there are scriptures that are pivotal to our purpose, we must attend ourselves to learn them so that we become more effective ambassadors for Christ.

Purpose is the filter for the knowledge that you and I absolutely must hear and digest in order to grow in faith and complete those things that God has appointed us to do. Ephesians 1:11 (ESV) tells us, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” God has predestined us to get some things done for His Kingdom and life affords us a small and precious window of opportunity to do them. Our beloved Savior said in John 9:4, "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."

Again, purpose is the driving force behind the spiritual education that each of us will receive. Heavenly Father will strategically position us so that our ears come across the very Word that will enlighten and embolden our path. Our duty is to remain committed and extremely prayerful about this. And not only this, our ears must be open to hear God’s Word and we must study it diligently.  You and I don’t get to decide the purpose for which we are called. That is totally God’s business. Our business is to find out what it is, and as we continue in prayer, God will lead us to the scriptures that will reveal our purpose if we truly want to know it.

Recognize your opposition
Increasing your faith requires you to know a little something about your opposition. There are many Christians for whom crisis comes, and they are not sure who is bringing it, God or the devil. They wrongly accuse God, the Author of Peace, when satan, the architect of destruction, is the culprit.

James 1:8 tells us that a doubleminded person is unstable in all of their ways. Hosea 4:6 tells us that God’s people are severely harmed or destroyed because of their ignorance. We have to understand that the devil is the god of this world, and he causes destruction, deceit, and darkness to abide in the earth. It is under his curse, and our own disobedience and lack of knowledge will cause us to be blind to what the devil is doing.

2 Corinthians 4:4 (NLT) tells us, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” This is not the case with us. We believe in Jesus Christ, and we must continue in God’s Word so that not only does our faith increase, but we can call a spade a spade, and accurately discern the works of the devil.

Move out of the Past
Yesterday’s faith isn’t sufficient to carry us through the challenges of today. This is one of the major reasons why we must be committed to growing in faith. Not only will the challenges of life increase, but our dreams, aspirations, and desires will as well. We will grow and mature as adults, and we cannot expect our level of faith to remain stagnant at an adolescent or infant level. Yesterday’s mindset and level of knowledge was sufficient for yesterday, but today is a whole other story.

The Apostle Paul said in Romans 1:16, 17 (NLT), “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” Without the power of God working through Jesus Christ, making salvation available to all of us, the gospel of Christ would not be effective. It is the POWER of God to salvation for EVERYONE who believes that reveals the righteousness of God. So to prepare for the present, it is important that we build a higher level of believing when it comes to trusting in God’s power and love, so that we can operate in it.

Verse 16 tells us that God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith. God is a righteous Judge. He, and only He, is able to approve and accept on a basis of infinite virtue. He never lets us down, never leaves or forsakes us, but continues to bless us. Expanding our knowledge of who He is, and how phenomenally faithful, righteous, holy, and just He is, causes a supernatural transaction. The more we believe the truth, the more empowered we become. Our faith increases; from the faith of yesterday to a greater faith of today by seeking to know God through His Word. This is the pattern for continual spiritual elevation and promotion, and it will be our reality as we commit ourselves to grow in faith. ■

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.