Faith

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

March 22

THE ONLY LIMIT TO FAITH

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

When people struggle with their faith in God, it's not because their faith-object is insufficient. It's because people have unreal expectations of God. They expect Him to operate a certain way or answer prayer a certain way — their way, not His — and when He doesn't comply they say, "Forget You, God." But God doesn't change; He's the perfect faith-object. Faith in God only fails when people hold a faulty understanding of Him.

If you want your faith in God to increase, you must increase your understanding of Him as the object of your faith. If you have little knowledge about God and His Word, you will have little faith. If you have great knowledge of God and His Word, you will have great faith. Faith cannot be pumped up by coaxing yourself, "If only I can believe! If only I can believe!" Any attempt to push yourself beyond what you know about God and his ways is to move from faith to presumption. You choose to believe God according to what you already know to be true from His Word. And the only way to increase your faith is to increase your knowledge of God, your faith-object (Romans 10:17).

"Well," you may say, "that means there's a limit to our faith." Yes, there's a limit. But God isn't controlling it; you are. As the object of your faith, He is infinite. The only limit to your faith is your knowledge and understanding of God, which grows every time you read your Bible, memorize a new Scripture verse, participate in a Bible study, or meditate on a scriptural truth. Can you see the practical, tangible potential for your faith to grow as you endeavor to know God through His Word? It's boundless!

Furthermore, it is important to know that God is under no obligation to us. There is no way you can cleverly word a prayer so that God must act on your behalf. If God declares something to be true, you simply believe Him and live according to what is true. If God didn't say it, no amount of faith in the world will make it so. Believing doesn't make God's Word true; His Word is true, therefore I believe it.

Dear Lord, increase the boundaries of my faith today as I increase my understanding of You through Your Word.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson