Increasing Your Faith Level
And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. Lu 17:5
In the reply Jesus gave following the apostle’s request for their faith to be increased, He told them:
If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. Luke 17:6
It is interesting to see that Jesus was not talking about the “size” or the “amount” of their faith. Instead, He was talking about the “quality” of their faith. According to the language Jesus used in this reply, the word “as” in the phrase: “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed…” can be translated “like” instead of “as.”
This noted, the response Jesus gave would read like this: “If you had faith LIKE a mustard seed…” or, in other words, “If you had the same kind (quality) of faith a mustard seed has, you could say to this tree, be plucked up by the root and be planted in the sea and it would obey you.”
What kind of faith does a mustard seed have? In the Gospel of Mark Jesus said that the mustard seed is “less than all the seeds that are in the earth” but when it is grown it has huge branches. In Luke chapter 13, He declares that this mustard seed becomes a “great tree” in which birds find refuge.
Mustard seed faith is a faith that believes and sees. The mustard seed believes and sees that it will actually become what God created it to become…. no matter what. Therefore, in spite of its small size it believes and sees that will actually become a great tree, because that is exactly what God created it to become and said it would become.
So, if it is planted in a difficult place under less than ideal conditions, it will become a great tree. When it is challenged, the mustard seed will confess: “I don’t care what is around me or over me or under me, I am a great tree.” “If there are rocks that block my progress, I am a great tree and I can and will overcome that impossible obstacle.” “I may be small but there is a great tree in me and that great tree will be stronger than any circumstance or situation that may stand in my way.” That is mustard seed faith and it is that quality or kind of faith that will call things that be not as though they are and will never be stopped. Any time and every time. No matter what. This is the God-kind of faith.
God tells us in the Word how we can increase our level of faith.
Our faith level can be increasedby hearing(Akoe: understanding) the Word.
Faith cometh (eltho: to grow) by hearing and hearing by the Word of God… Rom 10:17.
There is a difference between listening to the Word and hearing the Word. Literally thousands listen to the Word but only those who hear the Word are in store for Revelation Knowledge. It is not coincidental that God tells us at least seven times in the Book of Revelation “he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit sayeth…”
Akouo means hearing the Word with comprehension and understanding. It also means to hear the Word with the intention of obeying it. It is more than head knowledge. It is more than sense knowledge. It is more than intellectual knowledge. It is hearing the Word with understanding and with the intention of acting on it. It is doing the Word.
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: Jas 1:23
For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. Jas 1:24
Being a hearer of the Word and not a doer will result in us “forgetting the manner of man” we are. In other words, we will be forgetful of who the Bible says we are, what the Bible says we can do, and what the Bible says we have. We will forget who we are in Christ. We will forget the power that resides in us. We will forget the benefits and possibilities of the Treasure that God has endowed us with.
Hearing the Word, understanding the Word and acting on the Word will increase our faith level. We can actually “feel” our faith level rising when we hear the Word with the understanding and when we purpose in our heart to do it. This often happens as we hear the Word preached and taught by an anointed minister. I have experienced this many times and perhaps you have as well. I was preaching along this line one Sunday many years ago. The anointing was powerful. Suddenly, one dear lady way back in the middle of the church auditorium shouted out, “I got it! I got it! I got it!” She “felt” the revelation come into her spirit and could not contain her joy.
There is an anointing that comes when we move in faith to do what the Word tells us to do. It is an empowering that comes from the Holy Spirit that will enable us to achieve what we set out to accomplish. It is like an “adrenalin rush” in the natural… but in the spiritual it is an awareness of the Holy Spirit moving in us. It permeates our very being. It encourages us and builds our determination and confidence. It lessens our awareness of weakness, inability and impossibility. It feeds our spirit man and motivates us into action. This is exactly what happened to that sweet lady who hungered for the truth and heard the Word under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
However, our faith level will never exceed our Word level. Our faith cannot grow any greater than our knowledge of the Word. Ignorance of the Word will limit our faith. What we know about we can believe for. If we don’t know what the Word says, we can’t believe to receive what it promises. When we submerge ourselves in the Word and drink of its promises and power, when we come into a revelation of the goodness and grace of God and the miracle of the finished redemptive work of Jesus, we experience an exponential surge of our faith. It increases our faith level.
Our faith level can be increasedby praying in the Holy Ghost.
Building up your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost… Jude 20.
Praying in tongues (in the Spirit) will build up our level of Faith. V
Praying in tongues is one of the most advantageous aspects of being baptized in the Holy Ghost. When we pray in the Spirit, we pray in agreement with the Word and we pray correctly. It allows us to pray “without ceasing” since we do not have to “think” about what we are praying. Praying in tongues bypasses the natural thinking mechanism and comes directly out of our recreated human spirit.
Praying in the Holy Ghost means praying in the will of God. This is praying the Word and praying the answer to the problem instead of praying about the problem. Praying in the Spirit is praying with an attitude of praise and praying with the full expectation of God to answer. It is praying with the picture (image) of the answer in our mind and believing in our heart that we have already received the manifestation.
Our Faith Level can be increased by speaking the Word only.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only,and my servant shall be healed. Matt. 8:8
The tongue is a powerful member of the body. (Probably the most powerful). With it we can build faith or limit faith. With the mouth, confession is made unto salvation (deliverance)… Rom 10:10. How we talk will have a powerful effect on the development or lack of development of our faith. We will also be held accountable to God for every useless word we speak.
But I say unto you, That every idle (inactive, useless, barren) word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Mt 12:36
Our “born again” mouth coupled with a renewed mind will practice speaking the Word only. It will call things that be not as though they were… Rom 4:17. It will be positive. It will be encouraging. It will be faith-building. It will see the good and speak the good. It will be never give place to doubt, to unbelief, to defeat, to criticism, gossip or slander.
The words we speak set things in motion. Words will create and words will initiate. We will taste the good or experience the bad according to what we say with our tongue.
A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth… Proverbs12:14
He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life… Proverbs 13:3
A wholesome tongue is a tree of Life… Proverbs 15:4
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Pr 18:21
Our faith level can be increased byLove.
..but Faith which worketh (energeo: to be active, operative, effectual, powerful) by Love… Gal 5:6.
How much workable faith we have is determined by how much we love with the God-kind of love.
Our faith level will never be higher than our love for those whom we love the least. The more we love, the higher the level of our faith. Faith works by love. Every action of every believer should have its motivation grounded in agape love. This kind (quality) of love will identify us to the world as sons and daughters of the Most High God.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Joh 13:35
As a matter of fact, the God-Kind of love is more important and more essential to the believer than any other spiritual weapon. Paul declares that love is greater than faith or hope and is greater than any of the gifts of the Spirit. (1 Cor 13).
dickbraswell 
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