“I wish I had your faith!”

Yes, you can!

Sometimes people have said this to me, but actually any of us can have faith. Faith is one of Paul’s Spiritual Gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, and as such it is in the power of God to give it, and the truth is that any of us can have it just by asking God for it.

Yes, I have faith, but I haven’t tried moving any mountains lately – not that Cambridgeshire where I live is exactly replete with mountains to practise on! God gives us a measure of faith according to our ability to receive it and according to the needs of any particular circumstance or occasion. I mention our ability to receive but this is not a stumbling block, rather an encouragement to keep practising; we will find that the more we practise trusting God and believing that He will answer our prayer, the more we are able to align our praying with His will and so the more often we will see the result we would hope for.

Faith can be a very deep subject, bit at its simplest level it comes down to the condition of the distraught father in Mark 9:17-24: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.” Jesus told us to receive the Kingdom in the manner of a little child, in other words, let’s not over complicate things; don’t worry, but give the problem to God, tell Him you can’t solve it and ask Him what to do. Start by believing this maxim:

God has heard your prayer

- He understands the problem and he knows how you feel

He has a solution!

You may not see your problem solved straight away, but you an be absolutely sure that He has the right solution and that you will see it in time – His time, not ours – sometimes a difficult distinction to make and so we learn Patience, part of the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5.

Some helpful thoughts:

It is always good to start and finish each day with prayer, even if only a few moments. This is really about building your relationship with God.

Remember that the Holy Spirit is with us every moment of every day, and He is there to guide us when we are seeking help and advice and correct us when we go wrong.

As a Christian each of us is a channel for the Holy Spirit; if we are praying for a particular person or cause and we truly believe that this is within His will, ask Him for the Faith to see it come to fruition. Remind yourself of God’s promises in Scripture and stand firm on those (a task made so much easier these days by the existence of the Internet with its detailed search facilities).

If we make a regular habit of drawing close to God, we may be surprised how often and how much God responds positively. He sometimes says “No, not that way, but I’m doing something better – keep praying, watch and see”. So go forward and believe you have won! The results may not be immediate, but timing is God’s business and not ours.

Keep going and you find that over time you will hear from Him more often (see my page on this site on How do I Recognise God’s Voice) and your faith will grow; you will see Him in action, you will start to know when the Holy Spirit moves within you. The effect of this is different for each person; it’s saying in effect, “I won’t know what I’m looking for until I find it”, but keep looking and asking until you discover how it works for you.

I wish you joy as you search for that deeper faith in God in whatever way works best for you; God bless you, and may He increase your faith.

Peter Sebborn

March 2024