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How to Get/Receive Faith (Explained)

The only way to get the ability to have faith in something is by receiving words about that thing, whether through hearing or reading it does not matter. Faith only comes by words.

This is why the Bible says “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

If we want faith in God, we must indulge in the words of God. If we want faith in worldly things, like investment advice, philosophy, science, etc., then we must listen and give heed to those words.

When we have faith in worldly advice all that really is in God’s eyes is unbelief.

All unbelief is faith in something other than God.

So the more we listen to and heed the world’s words, the more our unbelief will grow towards God and the more our faith will grow towards the world.

On the other hand, if we listen to and heed the word of God then our faith in God will flourish, and our unbelief in the world will increase.

Then suddenly, the knowledge of God will outweigh the knowledge of this world and our faith in God will be strong.

So the biggest hindrance to someone who is wondering “how do I get faith in God?” or “how do I receive faith from God?” is indulging themselves in this world’s views, opinions, advice, beliefs, entertainment, etc.

You cannot receive faith from God if you are more concerned with this world and what it has to say than the very words of God.

If you want to get faith in God then you must first choose to exalt God’s views, opinions, advice, beliefs, and joy above all the things of this world. And the only way to do this is to read, hear, and consume the word of God.

You cannot expect to grow your faith in God if you only read the bible for 2 minutes a day but then continue to consume junk for the rest of the day. You have to choose to be someone who consumes the Bible and then chooses to act on it.

Now that I have established that, let’s cover how we can do this.

Get faith in God (Step by Step)

We have already looked at Romans 10:17, which says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So we know how faith comes.

But as we read in passages like Mark 4, Matthew 13, and Luke 8, we find that in order for our faith to become fruitful and actually do something it must go through a process.

This process that Jesus described in these passages is called “the parable of the sower”.

Essentially, the parable goes like this; a man went out to his field to sow his seed, and as he did, the seed fell on 4 different types of ground.

The first ground is the wayside or the road. When the seed landed on this ground, immediately the birds of the air came and ate it.

The second ground is the stony ground that did not have much earth. When the seed was sown, it grew quickly but when the sun rose the plant died.

The third ground is the one that had thorns in it. When this seed was sown, it grew next to the thorns and the thorns choked it out.

Finally, the fourth ground was the one with good soil. When the seed was sown here it grew and brought forth much fruit.

This process can either be simultaneous or step-by-step, but either way, it must happen.

Before I cover these steps, I must first establish some principles that Jesus established when He taught this teaching. If I don’t mention these principles these steps won’t make much sense.

Principle #1: The word of God is a seed (Mark 4:14). In fact, it is an incorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23). What the scripture means by “incorruptible” is that if the word of God does not grow faith in our lives, it is not the fault of the seed.

Principle #2: Once the seed is planted and watered, it grows automatically. The only hindrance to the seed not growing is the quality of the soil (Mark 4:5-8).

Principle #3: The soil is our hearts. This is where the word of God gets planted (Mark 4:15).

Now that I’ve established these truths, let’s get started.

Step 1: Hear the Word of God

The first and most obvious step is that we must hear or read the word of God.

No seed can be sown if the sower never went out sowed (Mark 4:14) and faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

I know that it’s obvious but it is the first step that must be taken. If we neglect this we will never bear fruit and we will never have faith operating in our lives.

Become a sower to your own heart by daily reading the word of God. [Related article: Spending Time Reading the Bible (Common Questions Answered)].

Step 2: Understand the Word of God

The second step to getting/receiving faith is to understand what the word of God is saying.

“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.” (Matthew 13:19)

So the first soil, or condition of our hearts, is the seed that was sown by the wayside. This soil represents the heart condition that does not understand what the word of God is saying.

This is why Jesus said, “if anyone hears the word and does not understand it” then the wicked one snatches it away.

This is the only soil that did not allow the word of God to grow. Every other soil causes the word of God, or the seed of faith, to grow in our lives.

So if we want faith to grow in us then we have to first hear the word of God, and second, understand the word of God so that it gets planted in our hearts.

Step 3: Be rooted and grounded

The third step is to have a heart that has much earth so the seed can take root.

“But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.” (Matthew 13:20-21)  

Luke’s Gospel even adds the word temptation to persecution and tribulation. So this is referring to every type of trial that can come into our lives.

This is the soil that confused me for quite some time. It took me a while to understand what Jesus meant by someone who has no root in themselves.

Obviously, having root in ourselves is a key to enduring trials, and Jesus says in this passage that if we can’t endure trials then the word of God will be hindered and we will be unable to grow faith in our lives.

Because remember; faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. So if the word of God is how faith comes to us then that means that the word of God is the seed of faith that we are to sow into our hearts.

So what does it mean to have root in yourself and how do we get it?

Well, Jesus revealed how we are to endure temptation, trials, and persecution when He was about to be taken to be killed.

Jesus said to His disciples when He found them asleep and not praying, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:40-41)

In this passage, Jesus is hours away from being taken to be crucified and He spent the whole time in prayer, while His disciples spent the time sleeping.

Long story short, the disciples ended up forsaking the Lord and Peter even ended up denying that even knew Him three times.

Prayer is the secret to increasing depth of soil to our hearts so that the Word of God can take root and we can we can endure trials no matter the difficulty.

Devote yourself not only to the word of God, but also to prayer if you desire to have great faith. (Related article: 7 Tips to Develop and Maintain a Consistent Prayer Life)

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Step 4: Avoid the cares of this World

The fourth step is to have a heart that is not concerned with, nor worried about the things of this world.

“Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22)

If we desire to have faith that flourishes then it is incredibly important to learn the principle of God’s provision.

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:31-33)

If we desire to have great faith in our lives then we need to get to a place where we seek God’s Kingdom and righteousness first and learn not to worry about all of the natural things that we need and not to covet the things of this world.

This passage was mentioned right after Jesus got done teaching on prayer, fasting, and giving. Which shows me that to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness first and not to worry about everything else we need to be practicing these things so that we can grow in our relationship with God.

Also, remember that as we seek His Kingdom first there is a promise that He gives us, “all of these things will be added unto you.”

And in another place Jesus says that those who forsook all for Him and for the Gospel will “receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mark 10:30)

So let’s seek Him first with a heart that desires nothing but Him and the blessing of the Lord will come upon us and provide for us, and faith will sprout in our hearts to bear much fruit.

Step 5: Be the good soil

The key to being the good soil is having less within your heart.

All the good soil is is a heart that (1) hears the word, (2) understands the word, (3) grounded in love and prayer, and (4) isn’t worried or concerned with the cares of this world.

Thats it!

Simply being someone who devotes themselves to hearing the word and spending time in prayer will automatically produce in us faith that is as strong and powerful as a mustard seed. [Related articles: What a Mustard Seed of Faith Means (And How to Have it) and Little Faith vs. Maustard Seed of Faith: What’s the Difference?].

In the beginning our faith may look small, but after giving ourselves to these things day in and day out our faith grows to become the biggest tree in the garden where all the birds of the air come and nest in it’s branches.

I hope you enjoyed this article and that it helped you in your walk with God.

God bless you all!

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