In order to grow in your faith:
You must come to Christ willing to learn. Willing to be remolded. I think of Jeremiah 18 (on the potter's wheel) John 15:2 (purging you so you bare more fruit). Ezekiel 36:26 talks about giving you a new heart after he brings you out of bondage and sets you apart, so that you are better able to follow his statutes and commandments. These scriptures show that after the rough times you are better able to be molded and remade, time and time again. You are made more pliable in His hand. You become softer and less rigid, more able to go from glory to glory and become more like Christ with each passing day.
Faith in a love this deep requires a childlike imagination, because it is certain of what it cannot see. Try doing that with a cynically narrow view of your current circumstances. To have faith, we must think, wonder, and believe—like a child. Childlike faith is an innocent, humble faith that believes and trusts, and has no inhibitions. They are open to new experiences and are a blank slate.
Matthew 18:3 "Truly I tell you," He said, "unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Also see Luke 18:17.
Hebrews 11:5-7
5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. 7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.…
Faith without works is dead
“Faith without works is dead because it reveals a heart that has not been transformed by God. When we have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, our lives will demonstrate that new life. Our works will be characterized by obedience to God. Unseen faith will become seen by the production of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22).
Galatians 5:22 ESV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Christians belong to Christ, the Good Shepherd. As His sheep we hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:26–30). Faith without works is dead because faith results in a new creation, not a repetition of the same old patterns of sinful behavior. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Faith without works is dead because it comes from a heart that has not been regenerated by God. Empty professions of faith have no power to change lives. Those who pay lip service to faith but who do not possess the Spirit will hear Christ Himself say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers” (Matthew 7:23).” (Why is faith without works dead? | GotQuestions.org)
As Christians we are walking out our faith - it is a confession but also an action. What are you doing to grow your faith? How do you walk out your everyday life? When trials come where do you run first?
How you walk out your faith or faith in Christ, showing you’re a Christian is how you handle your day-to-day life. It is interwoven into the fabric in every ounce of your being.
Let’s do some application:
Think about your day-to-day life. Think about your most recent let down, how did you handle it? Did you bleed the gifts of the spirit, how have you grown in your faith walk lately?
I would like you to write down some things you remember about a recent situation you found yourself in and think about how you would have handled it before you were saved, right after and how you actually handled it. Do you feel that you have grown in your faith?
Are you still circling the same mountains? What are some things that you can do to improve? Write those things down… let’s take inventory and invite the Holy Spirit into the conversation! (check to see how much time you have) Take 5 - 10 minutes to think and pray. Let Holy Spirit guide your thoughts and write whatever comes to mind.
Do this exercise every time you hit a bump in the road:
Exercise: You may use the same situation you thought about or another example for this one…
Find Scriptures concerning your situation.
Meditate on those scriptures throughout the day.
Command your morning with those scriptures.
Cover yourself with those scriptures before you lay down.
Make sure to empty your mind to God. He definitely cares for you and cares about all of the minute details. He does not get bored with you.
When the Lord gives you a scripture, fully rely on it for your comfort and use it as a weapon throughout your day to battle negative thoughts and even memories of the past. Satan would like you to think you are the same as you were when you began your faith walk but he is a liar.
Use weapons of our warfare and making thoughts obedient to Christ scriptures to combat Satan's voice)
In order to grow make sure that you are using your authority in the spiritual realm and understand that when you pray you are seated in heavenly places, and you are a king. We no longer walk in our flesh, when we do that, we are not walking in our full authority, and we open ourselves up for demonic attack.
God has promised us that:
Luke 10:19 (King James Version): "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 KJV
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Ephesians 6:11-13
11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
How do we know as Christians that God will hear us when we pray:
Psalm 66:17-20 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!
Proverbs 15:29 The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
Isaiah 65:24 Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.
Jeremiah 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
Jeremiah 29:12-13 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Matthew 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Matthew 6:9-13 “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’”
Matthew 18:20 ESV “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Mark 11:22-25 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Luke 11:9-13 ESV And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 9:31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.
John 16:24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Romans 8:26-7 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
2 Corinthians 4:17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
Ephesians 1:11 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.
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 8:13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
James 5:13-15 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
1 John 2:2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
