What Is Faith?

It was a struggle for me as a newly “saved” Christian to believe. I didn’t know the Word. I hadn’t heard very much of it preached or taught. I had not experienced many answers to prayer other than the amazing change that happened when I accepted Jesus. I did not have the faith of older, mature believers. Sometimes I heard them operating at a level of faith that was well beyond where I was. They were believing God for things they could not yet see. I was still wanting to see something so I could believe in it.

Years later I have developed enough knowledge of the Word and experience with God to be able to trust without seeing first. It has taken time. To build my faith, I had to become a “Word person.” That’s someone who puts the Word of God first in their day. A Word person believes the Bible is God speaking to them personally.

If God is speaking to me personally, then I better be doing what He said. I better apply the Word to my life. Jesus warned of those who hear the Word but don’t do it. That’s like building our house on a foundation of sand. When the storm and flood come, the “house” falls apart. The “house” represents our lives, our marriages, our sanity. But when we are doers of the Word, we build our house on a solid foundation. We become stable and weather all storms. (Matthew 7:24-27)

Faith always has two components: (1) Faith and trust in the character of God. This means being convinced of His goodness, lovingkindness, care, and provision for us as individuals. (2) Belief in His recorded promises. The promises have proceeded from His loving heart.

God gets a bad rap from those who don’t know Him. God is a good God! Thank God for Jesus who has brought us into intimate fellowship with the Father and revealed to us His love. “No one has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father, and he has shown us what God is like.” (John 1:18, NCV)

The Bible says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Faith grows as we hear the Word taught. It grows when we hear the Word preached. It really grows when we read it for ourselves and ask to be filled with the Spirit of understanding. Faith grows as we do what the Bible says and experience results. Faith takes time to grow.