The Shield of Faith pt. 12

Faith Comes

Do you ever feel like you need more faith?

The question is…do we really need more faith?

Luke 17:1-10 “And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink…”

James 2:14-26 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend …”

It is possible to get more faith.

Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Story of me struggling and walking through Mardel. Picked up Derek Prince book and read about Derek being in a rough spot and how he read Romans 10:17 and understood that he could gain more faith.

But we don’t NEED more faith.

Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

Romans 12:6 “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;”

We don’t need more faith. We need to be obedient with the faith we already have!

We don’t need more faith…we need less doubt!

We dont’ need more faith…we need more trust!

As we learn to trust God and experience HIS faithfulness, our faith will grow!

Mark 9:23-24 “And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!””

The man here does not ask for more faith. He asked for less doubt. He wanted to be able to trust Jesus more!

Judges 7:2-15

Judges 7:2–15 ESV

The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’ ” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.” As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand.”

Gideon was afraid. He didn’t have a great faith! God said… “if you are afraid go down”. Gideon went down! But He saw God’s faithfulness and it gave him courage!

2 Timothy 2:13 “if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.”

God’s faithfulness is what will help you with your faith!

4 Practical ways to improve your trust and therefore improve your faith:

1. Start trusting God with whatever you can currently…big or small. See His faithfulness in action. (money, relationships, etc)

2. Get in the Word and get to know God better. Ask Holy Spirit to help you know Him better! (Faith comes)

3. Remind yourself of God’s faithfulness in the past!

4. Listen to how God has been faithful to others…their testimonies

How does this tie in with the shield of faith? We have everything you need to be protected from the enemy right now! We don’t need a bigger shield! We don’t need more boldness and courage. We simply need to be obedient with the faith you have currently. We each need to learn to trust God and to know Him better so that our faith can increase!