“All you need is faith, and everything will be alright.” Have you been told this before by a well-meaning Christian? It sounds good, but how do we develop faith? Does it just come because we wish for it? Does it come if we pray for it? Where does faith come from? We need to revisit I Corinthians 12: 8 & 9a, To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit…. We see that faith is given to us by the Holy Spirit. This means that we can’t develop it ourselves, but rather, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to develop our faith.
So, how does the Holy Spirit develop our faith? The answer lies in the example in the life of Abraham. God called Abraham and he obeyed. Indeed, Abraham became the father of the Jewish nation because he trusted God with not only his life, but the lives of his family. See how Abraham obeyed God when He called him to separate from his father and brothers.
Now the LORD said to Abram [Abraham’s name before God changed it],
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan. (Genesis 12: 1-5)
The writer of Hebrews gives a good commentary on Abraham’s faith in chapter 11:8-10
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
The Holy Spirit prompted Abraham to obey God immediately, even though he didn’t know who God was when he was called. However, Abraham believed God’s promise to him that he would become the father of many nations, even though his wife was barren. There is no way Abraham could have understood why God was calling him to the land of Canaan, but in faith he didn’t barrage God with a thousand questions (which I would’ve done,) but rather trusted God with all he owned and loved and followed His leading. When we trust God whole-heartedly with our obedience, the Holy Spirit is developing our faith.
