3 Proven Ways To Effectively Build Your Faith In God In This Season

Struggling to effectively build your faith in God in this season that you’re in? Have you ever wondered how you can grow spiritually this year?

Hey sis! I never truly understood what it meant for me to build my faith in God. This was such a hard concept to grasp for me because I thought that once you became a Christian you automatically had mountain-moving faith. But that’s simply not true.

It takes work to build your faith in God. It takes consistency and it takes being put into situations that test your faith for you to experience any spiritual growth at all.

As the years have gone by, and the more that I’ve grown from a babe drinking milk to an adult eating bread, God has slowly shown me how to be still and patiently wait on Him as He builds the faith that I need to be victorious in my life.

I’ve learned that God did not create us to worry.

God did not create us to fear the future.

God created us to worship and to trust in Him no matter what our circumstances might look like.

But is trusting God easy? How do you trust God and walk in obedience to His word when you can’t control the outcome of a situation?

You have faith.

 

 

How To Build Your Faith In God In This Season

For the past year, one of my favourite quotes has been “we walk by faith and not by feelings.”. At first, it was really easy for me to live by this quote because the things I was believing God for were small and the “risks” seemed minimal at the time. I wasn’t believing God for a house or a 6-figure salary or anything like that so living by faith and not by my feelings became second nature.

As I sit here, however, in this “waiting period” for God to come through in a big way for me, the words in this quote have taken on a whole new meaning. Walking by faith isn’t a job that everyone signs up for. It isn’t a task that many people voluntarily accept.

It takes a special kind of person to keep moving forward even though they can’t see what lies on the other side of that decision.

For me, walking by faith in this season has really taken a lot out of me. As I wait on the email to confirm that I am to pick up the visa that will determine if I can move to Europe or not, and as the day until the expiration of my current work draws closer, I’m made aware that I need faith and God now more than ever to bring me through this time.

 

Walking By Faith

Back in 2015, I had made up my mind that I would be moving to Japan. It was time for me to leave where I was and nothing was going to stand in my way. I wouldn’t look for another job, I wouldn’t think about another alternative and I wasn’t planning on staying in Jamaica anymore. I’d be moving to Japan in July 2016 and that was it.

There was no plan B.

Making this decision in my heart was terrifying at first because when we are younger, we’re told to not put all of our eggs into one basket. Clearly, I wasn’t listening to this lesson because I had shoved all of my eggs (and everything else I had) into the “Japan” basket.

After I sent in my application and before I ever got accepted, I started giving things away, downsizing and saving up for the money I would need to bring with me to Japan. 

I didn’t listen to any negativity.

I didn’t entertain the possibility of failure.

And I didn’t come up with any alternative plans or possibilities.

As far as I knew I had already been selected and that’s all that really mattered to me. Now, as I sit here writing this blog post, I feel the same way.

I’ve already been given a visa.

God has already taken care of the “how”, and all I need to do now is to go and pick it up.

 

Building Mustard Seed Faith

It only takes faith as small as a mustard seed to move mountains. (Matthew 17:20)

That’s what the bible has always said and God’s word never changes.

But how do we build mustard seed-sized faith?

I honestly don’t know if I have a straight answer, but I believe it’s a process. Building faith in God means that you step out on that limb and start walking because you trust God to catch you if you fall. It means putting your actions where your mouth is because you know that whatever it is you need God will provide.

I think I’ve always been a “big talker”, figuratively speaking. I’ve always been someone who wasn’t afraid to tell people what I was going to do.

Did I always follow my words up with actions? No. But I did talk a lot.

For the past 4 weeks, I have had to put my money where my mouth is in all senses of the quote. I’ve had to put actions behind my words and really show God that I meant what I said when I said that I trusted Him.

 

So what exactly did I do?

Well, I did a few things.

In order to apply for my visa, I needed my work permit to be complete in four weeks time. The problem was that the company had previously told me that it would take a minimum of six to eight weeks to be processed and that I shouldn’t book anything before October 2nd. 

I went ahead and booked my time off for the week of September 14th, my birthday. Although they advised me otherwise, I did it anyway.

Three days before my trip to Tokyo, the work permit was sent to me via email. Even the person who sent me the email couldn’t believe it had been processed so quickly.

Mustard seed faith moved a mountain.

Upon advice from the company again, I was told not to buy an actual ticket but to instead purchase a flight itinerary. At first, I thought that this was a great idea, but one afternoon as I was worshipping, tears streaming down my face I felt an intense desire to buy the ticker. 

So in spite of the advice I received, I went to work, got the money, charged my card and did it anyway.

In going to Tokyo I paid for the work visa.

I’ve since paid for the relocation package.

I’ve given away most of my stuff to others who wanted (or needed) them.

I’ve given up the lease on my apartment.

I’ve resigned from my current job and have started the process of looking at apartments in Europe.

Building faith as small as a mustard seed has taken a lot of guts, a lot of being still, tons of waiting mixed with hope and tears, but here I am alive and kicking.

I’m still standing and I’m still waiting…

 

What’s The Best Way To Grow In Your Faith?

At every important point in my life, I’ve asked myself this question because building our faith is such an important part of our spiritual walk. But how exactly do we grow in faith? And what practical steps can we take to “effortlessly” build our faith in God in this season? 

Here are three things that I believe you can do to grow spiritually in this season:

 

1 Build Your Faith In God By Reading The Bible

Spending quality time reading the Bible each day is one of the best ways to learn how to grow closer to God and to grow your faith if we learn how to make reading the Scriptures a habit.

Growing in faith is incredibly important to God. Because of this, there are various scriptures throughout the bible that speak about faith so when you read your bible you are tapping into the best source of information for spiritual growth.

When you want to learn about Biology or Chemistry, where do you look? You go to a scientist who specializes in that subject or you use books that are known to contain quality information on the subject.

I’ve learned that the amount of quiet, quality time we spend with God each day reading the word and drawing closer to Him will help to determine how strong we are to face the challenges of that day. 

The bible tells us that:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

John 15:7 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

Psalm 119:11 “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Matthew 4:4 “But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Grow through reading the word of God. Grow through hearing the word of God.

 

2 Build Your Faith In God Through Prayer

The Bible tells us to pray and that prayer is the most important form of communication with our Heavenly Father. Think of it as your unlimited cellphone plan with unlimited hours and a direct connection to God.

Prayer is such a simple act for us as Christians to do yet it makes such a profound difference in our daily walk with Christ.

If we want to be bold and brave Christians then we have to learn how to pray like one. Our prayers, and the time that we spend talking to God act as nourishment for our souls.

Every day we wake up and eat a good breakfast (hopefully) so that we can start the day off right, and even if we don’t eat lunch, we tend to finish off the day with dinner or a snack. In the same way, food gives us the energy that we need to face the day, our prayer time with God gives us the spiritual armor we need to face the supernatural battles that come our way.

Prayer is one of the most powerful (if not the most powerful) weapons that God has given us as women of God, and I honestly believe it has never been more important for God’s people to get down on their knees and pray. 

In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus taught His disciples about the importance of prayer and how they should pray.

“After this manner, therefore, pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”

Jesus made it very clear that prayer is just as essential as the air we breathe. 

Edwin Harvey once said: “A day without prayer is a day without blessing, and a life without prayer is a life without power.“

 

 

3 Build Your Faith In God By Surrounding Yourself With Fellow Believers

Surrounding yourself with people of faith has so many benefits for us as believers. The bible tells us in Hebrews 10:25 that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as believers, as the manner of some is; but encouraging one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.

I’ve learned that I am the average of the five people that I spend most of my time with. If you are struggling with your faith and your walk right now, take inventory of the people you are spending your time with.

Are you spending time with doubters, gossipers, and people who have nothing good to say about the Kingdom of God? Or are you spending your time surrounded by people who enjoy prayer, people who fast, and people who would love nothing more than to encourage and give you a hug?

Growing in faith doesn’t have to be a road that you take alone. By surrounding yourself with men and women of God who live a life of faith, you are learning by their example.

When I lived in Okinawa and went to church with the military people there, I learned so much about prayer and faith. I learned how to be bold in prayer and how to ask God for big things knowing that He would come through if it was in His will.

I even learned that a big portion of faith and spirituality is in the wait because it’s in the wait that we are molded and transformed into the people who can handle the blessings coming our way.

 

It’s In The Wait

When I was waiting for the results of my application for the JET Programme to come back, I would listen to “While I’m Waiting” by John Waller. The song is from one of my favourite movies about marriage called “Fireproof“, which, whether you are single or married, you should definitely check out.

In the song John says the following:

“While I’m waiting, I will serve You

While I’m waiting, I will worship

While I’m waiting, I will not faint

I’ll be running the race

Even while I wait.”

It is in the waiting, I believe, that your faith is really built and strengthened.

If God were a genie who granted our wishes instantly then we would not need faith at all. It’s in those hours, days, weeks or years, that God is able to mold our faith.

We learn to persevere.

We are taught to hold on.

We learn how to keep putting one foot in front of the other even when all hope seems lost. but that’s the thing about faith.

The longer it takes for your breakthrough to come, the stronger your faith becomes because you see that God, though He took His time, still comes through.

In the bible, Lazarus was already dead when Jesus raised him back to life. That woman had the issue of blood for years. Job suffered enough pain for two lifetimes.

Even though they waited, even though their backs were against the wall, they waited on God. They took Him at His word and I know He will do the same for me.

So I will keep waiting.

I’ll keep packing and I’ll keep making preparations because God will come through.

He always has.

And He always will.

 

What Do You Think?

• Can God really do the impossible?

 

 

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• What To Do When It All Feels Like Too Much
• How To Be Completely Fearless In The Face Of Fear: Be Bold And Brave Like Esther

 

All my love,