One of the indispensable and integral parts of being a Christian is the element we call faith. We cannot even experience salvation if we don’t first believe that God exists and have at least a small amount of faith.

In the middle of several Bible summaries about people living out their faith, Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “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.”

Those of us who love the Lord do have that desire to be close to Him with faith being a strong component in our lives, right? However, with the barrage of noise and obstacles that surround us in life every day, the clear route to stronger faith can become muddled and hard to hear. Even so, the power of God is never diminished, and the ability to develop and increase our faith is possible!

We can think of our faith as a staircase. We may know sensibly the stairs lead to the next level, but we won’t actually experience that level until we climb them. When we are at the bottom looking up, it can seem like a long distance from where we are to where we are going. There might even be a few obstacles and weak spots on our upward climb, but all are passable with help from our Savior, building other Christian qualities in us with each new challenge.

A staircase of faith has no shortcuts, but it does have a guarantee of higher ground when we climb it. To have soaring trust and confidence in our Lord, we must put one foot in front of the other until we arrive on higher ground.

We can also take a few words of encouragement from Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the entire staircase.”

It all starts by understanding that faith is an action word!

James 2:14-18, 20, 26 say:

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. … Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? … For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

The Message translation of the Bible challenges us in this same passage with the bold question, “Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?”

And so, how can we deepen our faith and trust in God?

1. Understanding what faith really is. It isn’t proclaiming that God is going to give us a new car, thus twisting His arm and forcing Him to grant our wishes. Faith is trusting God for the outcome of our situations, whatever they may be. It isn’t snatching our needs out of His hands when we don’t get the answer we want.

2. By removing things from our lives that work against greater faith. When we give no room for the enemy to dwell and fester, His weapons and threats lose their power in our lives.

Doubt makes room for us to question God’s faithfulness and care for us and our situations. if we don’t trust the Lord, we won’t be able to walk faithfully. 

Complaining makes room for unthankfulness, which can taint our attitudes toward God. It furthermore hurts our witness to those who are lost and may cause us to sin.

Human reasoning by well-meaning friends can cause us to doubt God’s ability to work miracles today and convince us to be self-reliant instead of trusting Him to guide us. Sometimes, it is necessary to leave friendship circles that are wrong for us as well.

A lack of Bible knowledge doesn’t allow us to know God as He really is. We can’t learn His ways if we don’t allow His Word to teach us. We won’t take in the spiritual food that helps us grow in every area of our Christian walk, including faith.

Unrighteous living assumes God’s forgiveness will make everything all right. Faith and trust cannot walk with unrighteousness. It just isn’t possible.

3. Putting feet on our faith! While God does not answer us in a manner that looks like Santa Claus, He does act on our faith!

Do we believe God is going to give us a job? Let’s fill out some applications!

Do we believe God is going to move in our communities? Let’s step out and talk to people, share the love of God, and connect on a personal level with others!

Do we believe God will increase our knowledge, faith, and trust in Him? Those things are guaranteed when we spend time in prayer, read His Word, and are proactive in spiritual things!

4. By keeping a journal of prayer requests and when God answers. It will be there for our regular reminder of what He has already done!

5. By studying the lives of the men and women in the Bible. We will see what happens when everyday people like us trust in the mighty God!

As each of us climbs the ladder of faith and reaches higher levels in our Christian walk, our confidence in God will grow in ways we never dreamed possible. Power, healing, blessings, deliverance, and more can all be ours when we treat our faith like a bottle of shaken fizzy, taking the “cap” off and giving it the opportunity to explode!

One of the indispensable and integral parts of being a Christian is the element we call faith. We cannot even experience salvation if we don’t first believe that God exists and have at least a small amount of faith.

In the middle of several Bible summaries about people living out their faith, Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “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.”

Those of us who love the Lord do have that desire to be close to Him with faith being a strong component in our lives, right? However, with the barrage of noise and obstacles that surround us in life every day, the clear route to stronger faith can become muddled and hard to hear. Even so, the power of God is never diminished, and the ability to develop and increase our faith is possible!

We can think of our faith as a staircase. We may know sensibly the stairs lead to the next level, but we won’t actually experience that level until we climb them. When we are at the bottom looking up, it can seem like a long distance from where we are to where we are going. There might even be a few obstacles and weak spots on our upward climb, but all are passable with help from our Savior, building other Christian qualities in us with each new challenge.

A staircase of faith has no shortcuts, but it does have a guarantee of higher ground when we climb it. To have soaring trust and confidence in our Lord, we must put one foot in front of the other until we arrive on higher ground.

We can also take a few words of encouragement from Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the entire staircase.”

It all starts by understanding that faith is an action word!

James 2:14-18, 20, 26 say:

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. … Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? … For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

The Message translation of the Bible challenges us in this same passage with the bold question, “Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?”

And so, how can we deepen our faith and trust in God?

1. Understanding what faith really is. It isn’t proclaiming that God is going to give us a new car, thus twisting His arm and forcing Him to grant our wishes. Faith is trusting God for the outcome of our situations, whatever they may be. It isn’t snatching our needs out of His hands when we don’t get the answer we want.

2. By removing things from our lives that work against greater faith. When we give no room for the enemy to dwell and fester, His weapons and threats lose their power in our lives.

Doubt makes room for us to question God’s faithfulness and care for us and our situations. if we don’t trust the Lord, we won’t be able to walk faithfully. 

Complaining makes room for unthankfulness, which can taint our attitudes toward God. It furthermore hurts our witness to those who are lost and may cause us to sin.

Human reasoning by well-meaning friends can cause us to doubt God’s ability to work miracles today and convince us to be self-reliant instead of trusting Him to guide us. Sometimes, it is necessary to leave friendship circles that are wrong for us as well.

A lack of Bible knowledge doesn’t allow us to know God as He really is. We can’t learn His ways if we don’t allow His Word to teach us. We won’t take in the spiritual food that helps us grow in every area of our Christian walk, including faith.

Unrighteous living assumes God’s forgiveness will make everything all right. Faith and trust cannot walk with unrighteousness. It just isn’t possible.

3. Putting feet on our faith! While God does not answer us in a manner that looks like Santa Claus, He does act on our faith!

Do we believe God is going to give us a job? Let’s fill out some applications!

Do we believe God is going to move in our communities? Let’s step out and talk to people, share the love of God, and connect on a personal level with others!

Do we believe God will increase our knowledge, faith, and trust in Him? Those things are guaranteed when we spend time in prayer, read His Word, and are proactive in spiritual things!

4. By keeping a journal of prayer requests and when God answers. It will be there for our regular reminder of what He has already done!

5. By studying the lives of the men and women in the Bible. We will see what happens when everyday people like us trust in the mighty God!

As each of us climbs the ladder of faith and reaches higher levels in our Christian walk, our confidence in God will grow in ways we never dreamed possible. Power, healing, blessings, deliverance, and more can all be ours when we treat our faith like a bottle of shaken fizzy, taking the “cap” off and giving it the opportunity to explode!