FIVE WAYS TO DEEPEN YOUR FAITH IN THE NEW YEAR

Do you sometimes experience the same feelings as the apostles did when they said to Jesus: “Increase our faith!” (Luke 17,5) Or yearn for a stronger faith, as the father of the demon-possessed boy did when he cried out: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.” (Mark 9,24) It’s hard to keep believing and trusting when life throws curved balls at us. So I am going to present you with FIVE useful tips on:

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR FAITH

1. Look around you at the beauty of creation.
2. Consider who spoke everything into being.
3. Remember how God has answered your prayers.
4. Be awed by the 8000+ promises God has fulfilled from Genesis to Revelation.
5. Think about how the Holy Spirit guides and helps you daily.

1. GOD IS MIGHTY, POWERFUL AND CREATIVE

Why wouldn’t you trust such an AWESOME Creator?

• Who else could make the heavens with their vast array of galaxies, planets, and moons…?
• Who else could create gravity, fix the world in the universe, and set it in motion around the sun…?
• Who else could form soaring mountains, plunging cliffs, roaring seas…?
• Who else could tailor-make men, women, and children all with their unique DNAs…?
• Who else could fashion multitudes of birds, animals, sea creatures…?

Why wouldn’t you believe in a God of such might, of such power, of such creativity?

Looking around you every day, wherever you are, and appreciating all the things, small and significant, that God made is guaranteed to increase your faith.

Many great hymn and songwriters have waxed lyrical about how extraordinary God’s creation is and what our response should be to this God who created our marvellous world. Songs like:

• How Great Thou Art
• All Creatures of our God and King
• Indescribable
• Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation
• God of Wonders

Listening to and singing these songs and hymns can make our spirits soar, increasing our faith.

2. LIFE-GIVING WORDS

When I read these well-known words from the very first chapter of the Bible, I am struck by how amazingly incredible they are:

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Gen 1,3)

By the time I get to the end of the most amazing creation story ever told, I feel so moved that God has taken such care with his creation:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness… (Gen 1,26)

And so privileged that our almighty God intended us to be like him.

So –

INCREASE YOUR FAITH BY:

• LOOKING AROUND YOU AND –
• BELIEVING GOD’S LIFE-GIVING WORDS

3. GOD HEARS YOU

If you ever doubt that God listens to your prayers, that he hears you, that he gives you answers,

then start –

• Listing your prayers from the past that have been answered
• Counting the number of times in a week that God answers your prayers
• Remembering how often God has surprised you
• Thinking about how he’s given you better answers than you could ever have imagined
• Sharing your delight in answered prayer with your family, friends, and fellowship groups.

It’s so encouraging to hear from other people about how much God has done for them and how perfectly he answers prayer. Often, the outcome is so much better than we had expected.

INCREASE YOUR FAITH BY:

• REMEMBERING THAT GOD HEARS YOU

4. PROMISES FULFILLED

Use Google to get an idea of how many promises God has fulfilled in the Bible. People have

made studies of this and have carefully counted God’s promises, matching them with the ones that are fulfilled. Google threw up the figure of 8000+ for me. Your search might yield different results. But of one fact you can be sure:

GOD ALWAYS FULFILS HIS PROMISES.

Test this out by lingering on a biblical promise when you come to it and seeing where the promise is indeed fulfilled in the Bible.

INCREASE YOUR FAITH BY:

• DWELLING ON GOD’S FULFILLED PROMISES

5. GUIDANCE FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT

Ever feel that you’re being prompted to do something – or not?

Is this your God-given conscience working?

And do you sometimes battle to understand a difficult passage in the Bible?

You pray about it. And get some clarity. And when you can’t pray, do you sometimes feel the responsibility has been lifted off your shoulders? That someone is praying to God on your behalf?

Then, thank the Holy Spirit for:

• GUIDING YOU
• AIDING YOUR UNDERSTANDING
• PRAYING TO GOD FOR YOU

INCREASE YOUR FAITH BY:

• KNOWING THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THERE – WITHIN YOU

So, if you want to increase your faith in the new year, follow these FIVE steps:

1. ADMIRE CREATION
2. CONSIDER THE POWER THAT MADE ALL THINGS
3. PONDER ON ANSWERED PRAYER
4. DELVE INTO FULFILLED BIBLICAL PROMISES
5. BE AWARE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT’S HELP AND GUIDANCE