Sunday School Series: How to Activate Your Faith
By Hope Harvard
Defining Faith
The Bible defines faith as the unequivocal belief that God exists, loves you, and sent His son to save you. Hebrews 11:1 (TPT) explains that, “faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen.” Faith is two-dimensional. It is the assurance of God’s character - He is who He says He is - and it is the confidence in His promises - He will do what He says. We demonstrate faith by believing in God even though we have not seen God and that He will do all that is guaranteed in the Bible.
Without faith it is impossible to please God, “because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him,” (Hebrews 11:6). It is an act, not a feeling. Faith gives feet to our hope as we stand on God’s sturdy foundation of love. In fact, faith is what you make things of and gives you the capacity to hope. We must activate our faith, cultivate it, and with God’s help, flourish it.
Building Your Faith
Growing your faith is ultimately deepening your relationship with God. How do you build a relationship with someone you know little about? You learn about them, talk to them, and spend time with them. The same is true for your relationship with God. When you draw close to God, He draws closer to you.
Faith comes by hearing, and by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17 NKJV). How I learned to build my faith in God was by first reading the word of God. I did not consistently read the Bible until I was 22, but when I disciplined myself to read God’s word every morning I began to thirst for it like Living Water. In Holy Scripture we find everything we need to know. Promise after promise on page after page, God has memorialized His love for us. The more you know about God, the more you love Him. How can we expect to trust Him when we do not know what He says? Would you trust someone you have never heard speak or spoken to? Romans 10:17 in The Message Translations puts it this way: “Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.”
If you’re unsure of where to start reading the Bible, just open it. The Bible is alive (Hebrews 4:12) and one of the ways God speaks to you. It never ceases to amaze me when I’ve stumbled into a storm in life and upon opening my Bible to a random page in hopes of finding His guidance, the perfect words written in red jump off the page and arrest my soul. The Bible is God’s Holy, inerrant, eternal and complete divine guide to take us from life to eternity with Him - read it.
The next step I took in developing my faith was by listening to sermons. Whether an old sermon I found on Youtube that I diligently took notes on or a podcast I listened to while getting ready, I found that Biblical instruction from Christian leaders was essential in fueling my faith. A few of my favorites to listen to are Lisa Bevere (I now use her lessons on the MessengerX app daily), Charles Stanley, John Hagee, and Billy Graham.
Out of necessity, I learned to pray. Prayer is our connection to God. It is our red thread that tethers us to the divinity of Heaven. We can rest assured that every time we speak to God He hears us. He bends down from on high in Heaven to lend us His ear. This intimacy with God was made possible by Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. Only by His death, resurrection, and ascension to Heaven are we able to openly and directly communicate with God Almighty. This is not a blessing to be taken lightly.
Prayer is where we pour out ourselves before God by confessing our sins, requesting our needs, expressing our desires, and thanking Him for His faithfulness. In turn, He fills us up with everything we need. Hannah is an impeccable example of this. 1 Samuel tells us that Hannah was distraught over her unfulfilled desire for a son to point that she could not stop crying and was too sad to eat. She pulled herself together and went to the temple to pray. Scripture notes that, “crushed in soul, Hannah prayed to God and cried and cried—inconsolably.” The priest in the temple thought she was drunk because she cried and prayed so hard. When the priest confronted her she replied, “the only thing I’ve been pouring out is my heart, pouring it out to God.” When she left the temple “her face was radiant” because God had filled her soul. I love that she was happy even before her prayer had been answered. Less than a year later, she gave birth to Samuel, who later became one of God’s prophets. Let it all out in prayer - the good, the bad, and the ugly - and God will you fill you with His strength, peace, and joy.
The Bible gives clear instructions for prayer. Matthew 6:6 (TPT) tells us “here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.” Basically, God wants you to spend time focusing on Him and to hear from you. You can be confident that He will work wonders for you if you simply ask (1 John 5:14). My favorite way to pray is by writing my prayers so that in time I can look back on the ways God has answered me.
Faithful Endurance
Knowledge of God will only take you so far when the going gets tough and your faith threatens to falter. You must combine God’s teachings with faith. The way you train your faith to endure even in the mundane or in crises is by remembering His faithfulness. Remember all God has done for you in the past and praise Him for it. Write the blessings out or list them out loud in praise. Continue on with the confident expectation that He will surely come to your aid once more. In fact, go ahead and thank Him for it in advance.
If you cannot muster up one even time God has answered you turn to His word and read of the miracles of old. Hebrews 11 explains that it was acts of faith, pure trust and belief in God, that delivered our Ancestors, and is also what drives us to be delivered today. The passage elaborates, “through faith’s power they conquered kingdoms and established true justice. Their faith fastened onto their promises and pulled them into reality! It was faith that shut the mouth of lions, put out the power of raging fire, and caused many to escape certain death by the sword. Although weak, their faith imparted power to make them strong! Faith sparked courage within them and they became mighty warriors in battle, pulling armies from another realm into battle array.” By faith, they overcame and by faith, so can you.
In the movie, War Room, Miss Clara, a woman of great faith, has a wall of remembrance. Her wall of remembrance was a collage of answered prayers she framed, photos depicting celebrations, and a list of the most powerful answered prayers. About the wall of remembrance she said, “I look back at all of these answered prayers. It reminds me that God is still in control, and it encourages me.” I think we should all build a wall of remembrance, at least in our hearts, so that when our faith stutters, we can lean on God’s faithfulness to nourish ours. Because ultimately, it is His faithfulness that fuels our faith.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, Thank you for the gracious gift of faith. Teach me to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Discipline me to read your word daily as my daily spiritual sustenance (Matthew 4:4) so I may understand you better and my faith may increase (Romans 10:17). Strengthen my faith until it is unshakable. Help me not to waver in unbelief regarding Your promises, but to be fully persuaded that You have the power to do all You have promised (Romans 4:21). Fuel my faith and set my soul ablaze for you, the Author and Perfecter of my faith (Hebrews 12:2). You alone are my Lord and Savior, worthy of all of my praise.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Scripture Reading
Old Testament: 1 Samuel
New Testament: Hebrews 11
Worship Song
Remember by Bryan and Katie Torwalt
Awake My Soul by Hillsong Worship
Do It Again by Elevation Worship
