The only limitation to Jesus’ power in our lives is the level of our faith. If you want to see Jesus’ move powerfully in and through you, follow these four steps to grow on-fire faith.
From the moment Jesus turned water into wine we see His power in action in the gospels. He healed fevers, blindness, leprosy and more. He regularly functioned with supernatural knowledge about what people were thinking or what they had done in their lives. Jesus miraculously provided money and food. Jesus raised people from the dead. And these were only the miracles that got recorded. How many more of them were there?
The only time we see Jesus’ power slow to a trickle was in his home town. In Nazareth, Jesus was met with cynicism rather than faith.
And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. -Mark 6:5-6 (ESV)
The people who had watched Jesus grow into a man could not fathom that the son of the carpenter in their community could rise to be a wise and powerful teacher. They met him with questions and criticisms. When Jesus encountered these people who lacked faith their unbelief hindered his power. Similarly, the level of faith we have today directly correlates with the power of Christ in our lives.
If we want Jesus’ full power to function in and through us we must grow our faith to match His capability.
When I read about Jesus throughout scripture, I love the man that he is. His goodness, His power, His tenderness all jump right off the pages and make me hungry to know him more. I don’t simply want to know about Jesus. I want to know Him personally and I want Him to live fully active in me. I don’t want my heart to be like Nazareth. I want him to be able to do mighty work in and through me.
It is appears that the biggest hinderance to knowing Jesus like that is a lack of faith. The question remains then, how do we grow our faith?
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1. Identify and fight lies that undermine faith
The first step to growing on-fire faith in our lives is to identify and fight the lies that keep us from fully trusting Jesus. We often grip tightly to our fear and unbelief without fully realizing why. If we take a moment and invite God to examine our hearts, He’ll unearth the hidden lies that keep us bound.
In His gentle whisper, He may uncover several different kinds of lies which keep you from fully believing in Him. Perhaps you believe lies about God’s true nature. Maybe for you, it is difficult to believe God’s love for you. Each lie we believe about God stacks on the others to build a wall between us and the God we love.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ -2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV)
Our job is to deliberately dismantle every thought that keeps us from a true understanding of God’s character. When the wall is demolished, we will be ready to build up faith instead.
2. Ingest faith-building content
The next step in growing on-fire faith is to ingest faith-building content. In our media driven world, we are absorbing a myriad of messages every day. We have to pay attention. If we want white-hot faith, we must purposely consume content that connects us to God.
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. -Romans 10:17 (ESV)
The most important content for us to consume is the Bible. Reading the stories of the Bible help us know who God is and help us predict how He’ll respond in future. This process of reading about and understanding God’s character builds our trust in Him. Actively and regularly reading the Bible is the best fuel for fiery faith. If you aren’t sure where to start, trying using one of these simple Bible reading plans:
https://bit.ly/SimpleBibleReadingPlans
Actively and regularly reading the Bible is the best fuel for fiery faith.
Other great faith-building content sources are worship music, faith-filled books, and videos or podcasts of sermons and testimonies. Get creative and pay attention to what types of content fill your heart with expectancy that God is good and He wants to move in and through us. When you find content that inspires you, search out even more if it and make it a regular part of your life.
Ingesting faith-filled content is a great start, but we cheat ourselves if all that reading, watching and listening stays only in our minds. It is important to put it into practice.
3. Put God’s Word into practice
The Bible was never intended to be solely a source of information. It is full of stories, poetry, legal records and letters. All if it serves two purpose: first, the Bible tells us about God; and second, if we let it, the Bible shapes us.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. -James 1:22
If all we do is read the Word and we never let it influence our lives, we cheat ourselves. We gain some level of faith from reading the stories; however, our faith goes to another level when we put what we are reading into practice. Living out the truths in the Bible yields positive changes in our lives. The changes we see build up our faith because it proves the truth of what we are reading.
For example, one day you read in the
Lord’s prayer and feel convicted that Jesus wants you to forgive someone. When you forgive them and experience the freedom forgiveness grants you, your heart will swell with affection and trust.
This powerful combination of reading AND practicing God’s Word makes God that much more real to us. Over time we build a track record of trust, shoring up faith in our hearts.
4. Expect God to fulfill His promises
The next step in growing on-fire faith is to know God’s promises in scripture and to live expecting them to be fulfilled. This practice of expectancy does two things for us: as God fulfills his promises, our trust in Him grows; and it gives us specific, concrete targets for our faith.
Faith, by its very definition, involves believing both that God exists AND that He desires to act on our behalf. It is not enough to say, “I believe in God.” Faith must be accompanied by an expectation that God cares about us and will reward us for seeking him.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. -Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)
What better way practice our faith than to hone in on specific, Biblical promises from God and then to see Him fulfill them? Studying and knowing God’s promises in the Bible will deepen our knowledge of God’s heart and character. Then seeing God move and respond to our obedience by answering our prayers cannot help but construct vibrant, resilient faith in us.
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. -Malachi 3:10 (ESV)
Like a body builder lifting weights to grow his muscles, deliberately searching out, leaning on, and believing in God’s promises grow the muscles of our faith.
Watch your faith grow
The fortitude and magnitude of our faith increases as we deconstruct the lies we believe about God, ingest faith-building content, put God’s Word into practice and search out and stand on God’s promises. Over time, seeing God repeatedly prove Himself to us builds a bonfire of faith in our hearts.
If you want to learn more ways to grow fiery faith, subscribe to this YouTube series called Following Jesus. Each short episode equips a believer with tools to develop their own personal relationship with God.
Photo by Joshua Newton on Unsplash
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