Growing Strong In Faith

Strong Faith comes by understanding God’s Word and fully accepting it as true.

'While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately, the leprosy left him.'   Luke  5:12-13 ESV

At one time, the leper in Luke 5, must have felt like he had little hope. Leprosy was incurable. Everything he had heard and seen told him that he would always be a leper. Then one day, simply and profoundly, he heard a report of people being miraculously healed. Perhaps a few days later an acquaintance, who he’d known for years, told him how they had been healed. A spark of faith was lit and grew. The leper began to believe that Jesus was able to heal leprosy and if Jesus could heal leprosy, he could heal him. 

However, being convinced that God is able to heal you, on it’s own, is not enough. The leper also needed to know that Jesus was willing to heal him. So the leper asked, "If you are willing..?” Sometimes we need to get questions answered to grow in our faith.

Without becoming weak in faith, he (Abraham) contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb. Yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God; being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. ROMANS 4:19-21 NASB

Abraham grew strong in faith. At one stage in Abraham’s life he wasn’t strong in faith. The obstacles that stood between where he was and the fulfilment of God’s promise for him were so big, Abraham’s faith faltered. The good news for us is that Abraham’s faith didn’t stay weak; rather, he ‘grew strong in faith’.

We are to have faith like Abraham. God wants us to grow strong in faith. The obstacles that stand between us and the fulfilment of God’s promise in our lives are not too big for God. They may seem too big for our faith, but they are not too big for God. So what has to change? Our faith has to change! If Abraham grew strong in faith- then we can grow strong in faith.

How can we grow strong in faith? Strong in faith comes from knowing God, understanding His Word and accepting it as being true.

Abraham thought about his situation and he thought about the nature of God. Abraham considered that God was able to perform what He had promised. Consideration is a process of thinking in which a person weighs the arguments for and against a proposition. There was a process that Abraham went through in coming to arrive at a position of strong faith. At the start of the process, Abraham was not entirely convinced. However, considering God's ability took him from weak faith to strong faith.

By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Hebrews 11:11 NASB

Sarah also grew strong in faith. For Sarah, the issue was not God's ability but His faithfulness. Like Abraham, Sarah considered what she believed and came to a position of strong faith - where she received power to conceive.

There are at least three areas in which Christians must develop their faith. The first area is our standing with God. The second area is concerning God's will. And the third area is God's ability. These three areas are like a three-legged stool- relying on only two of the three will not hold the stool. The stool will fall over in the area that is lacking.

To be strong in faith, we need to ensure that our faith is developed in these three areas, but especially in the first area- our righteousness before God. Our sense of right standing with God is directly linked with our ability to receive from God. We won’t be able to approach God boldly if we are shrinking on the inside from a sense of unworthiness. 

There was a link between the leper's poor sense of 'right standing' and his faith concerning Jesus' willingness to heal him. 

“And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged…”

Christians do not need to beg and plead. Yet there is often a sense of unworthiness in our prayers. How often do you hear the word “just” used when people pray. "Lord we're just here, to ask you to just …."- as though we're not in a position to ask Him boldly for big things. We’re told to come boldly into His presence, where we will find the answer to all of our needs.

Jesus knew that this was an area in which the leper was struggling. Leprosy was considered to be closely associated with sin and lepers were excluded from everyday life. Notice how Jesus reached out and touched the leper. 'Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him..'  By reaching out and touching the leper, Jesus was essentially saying to the leper- 'You are in right standing with God and with me!' 

To grow strong in faith, we need to have a good understanding of God’s will, consider what right we have to ask of God directly and know that God has the power to do what He has promised.