5 Powerful Ways to Grow in Faith
Sometimes my faith can feel dry and lacking. I want to grow in faith but I struggle to find that fire for God and to feel as if I’m growing every day.
The busyness of my days seems to take over and the few minutes I spend with God feel fleeting.
Today I’m going to share with you 5 powerful ways to grow in faith. Last year, I took these to heart and saw God set my faith on fire. I am sharing them as a reminder to myself and as a tool for you to strengthen your faith and to find deeper intimacy and devotional time with God.
There are so many things that keep us from growing in faith. The world tears at us, begging us to stay busy and distracted. Satan tempts us, trying to keep us from God’s will. And our own hearts wander from the very things that God says will bring us life.
So will you commit with me today to changing that? Will you commit to actively pursuing that growth and intimacy with the Lord?
Because as you do, you will find joy and peace and hope and strength grow within you.
And don’t miss the free printable prayer and scripture card to help you with this commitment below!
Rest
God calls us to rest in Him. He is our Shepherd that leads us to this rest. He wants us to be still before His mighty presence.
This rest displays a deep intimacy and trust in Him. When we slow down and acknowledge God is in control, we surrender our hearts and our fears to Him. We place ourselves in His hands.
No wonder this is hard! Everything in today’s culture tells us that we must be in control.
The hustle. The grind. We have to work, work, work and never slow down in order to be happy.
This is not what God has for us. Instead, He has a rest that brings life.
Because when we slow down and rest in God, we can remember that He is the one in control. He is the one who feeds us. He is the one who brings us life and provides for us.
Have you taken time to truly be still in God’s presence and rest? Have you allowed your heart and mind to slow and bask in God’s almighty power and grace?
Practical application: Take even just 5 minutes each day and be still before God. If this is a struggle for you, print out the prayer & scripture card below and meditate on the scripture during this time. Set your timer, 5 minutes may seem long at first, but as you do this consistently, you will wish it were longer!
Worship
Where do we focus our worship? We all worship something - whether we are aware of it or not.
And that is why I want to encourage you to take steps to actively worship God each day. Because worship is as natural to us as eating.
The Israelites so badly needed to worship that they created a golden calf the moment they could no longer wait for Moses to return.
We worship God on Sundays, but what about the rest of the week? What about within your heart?
Sometimes I go to church on Sunday morning and then come home to find myself worshipping others on Instagram or Facebook Sunday afternoon. I worship TV shows and I worship products that I want to buy.
Worship can be defined as adoration or reverence. What is it that you adore?
Just because we may be inclined to worship things apart from God, doesn’t mean it needs to stay this way. You can choose who and what you worship.
I believe this is a choice we need to make daily.
Practical Application: Take just a few minutes today, even during the busy hours, and choose to worship God. Choose to acknowledge His power and might. Choose to stand in awe.
If you struggle with this, find a Scripture that tells of God’s power and meditate on this. You can find more Scriptures on this in the Grow Your Faith Scripture and Prayer Card Set. As you actively orient your worship to the Lord, you will find it becomes more natural and this will bring you immense peace and joy as you grow in faith.
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Surrender
So often I want to grow in faith and yet I struggle to truly offer my full heart to God. I give Him many things but, if I’m honest, not everything.
I keep certain things tucked away, in fear of facing them. I hold onto some things, unable to release the sense of control I’ve convinced myself I have.
I think the question we must ask ourselves is: What keeps us from surrender?
For me, I fear I cannot fully trust God. When I really dig into why I hold onto certain things, it comes down to fear.
And who is behind fear but Satan? Satan wants me afraid, living in fear. He will do anything to keep us from a total surrendered heart. Because surrendered hearts are ready to be used by God in big ways.
Surrendered hearts live in freedom and peace and walk in the will of God.
Practical Application: Answer the question: What is keeping you from a completely surrendered heart? Is it fear? Now find Scripture that combats this lie and write it down. Meditate on this Scripture and then pray a prayer of surrender.
A Grateful Heart
Gratitude is healing but it doesn’t come naturally. At least for me.
My natural inclination is to complain, to feel discouraged and to focus on the things that make me feel less than grateful.
It wasn’t until a few years ago when I read a book that this changed for me entirely. I began to take the advice in this book and make a running list of things I was grateful for. Big things and even the small, seemingly insignificant things like the sunlight streaming through my window.
As I did this over the course of a few weeks, I began to see a major shift - not only in my attitude but also in my anxiety!
I began to see my faith grow in ways that I hadn’t ever before. I began to notice more and more the things that I was thankful for. I began to see the blessing in every little moment of my day!
As we shift our hearts to one of a posture of gratitude, our faith will grow. Because we will begin to see God in every corner of our life.
Practical Application: Start a gratitude list. I like to write mine out in a journal, but you can use a list in your phone too. Write down at least 5 things each day that you are grateful for - big and small. Keep this list running throughout the day and watch how it transforms you!
The resource below includes a free printable gratitude list. Print this out and place it somewhere you can fill out throughout your day.
Be a Light
Faith is displayed in our actions. God has asked us to go out into the world and to spread His Kingdom. His greatest commandment to us is to love Him and to love others.
There is no way to truly grow our faith unless we exercise it and go out and serve.
No matter what ministry you are involved in currently, whether it be your full-time job or not a part of your life at all, I want to ask you these questions:
Are you shining God’s light to the world around you? What may be smothering its glow?
Sometimes I can get so caught up in serving that I forget to bring God with me! I need to stop and ask the Holy Spirit to work within me and through me as I serve.
As we shine God’s light to those around us by serving and making disciples, we will see our faith grow in big ways.
Practical Application: How can you be a light and spread God’s Kingdom? Be sure to pray for this specifically!
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I absolutely needed to read this today, so thank you so much for sharing! There is always room to grow our faith and these tips are vital to the process. I appreciate your heart in this so much.
Your portion on ‘surrender’ really resonates with me. God shows me time and time again that he’s got everything figured out, but I still struggle to trust him with all the pieces of my life. Thanks for the reminder to give up that control and hand it to God!
“rest” really spoke to me because I’m trying to focus on that this year. (I haven’t been so good at it!)
These are such great ways to grow with God. I love when you mentioned to surrender! So important!
I love how you made a point to share how rest is a display of intimacy and trust with the Lord. I never thought about it that way before, but think it makes so much sense. Thanks for sharing!