Increase Our Faith

Luke 17:5
“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.”

Two things were obvious to the disciples about Jesus that made Him so different from everyone else. The first thing that the disciples noticed about Jesus was His prayer life, and the second thing was His faith. What is interesting is that you can’t have one without the other. A person’s prayer life will always increase their faith, but a person of faith always has a great prayer life. In the verse above, the disciples bluntly asked Jesus to increase their faith. In the next few verses, Jesus showed several things that would increase one’s faith that I would like to share with you.

First, acknowledge your lack of faith. You won’t ask for your faith to be increased if you feel that you have enough faith. The only reason a believer feels that they have enough faith is because they are comparing their faith to others instead of to Christ. You will always realize your lack of faith when your comparison of faith is measured to Christ’s faith.

Second, desire an increase of faith. Jesus never rebuked the disciples for their desire for faith, which shows that it pleased the LORD that they had a desire for more faith. It is a sad day when most believers have no desire for more faith. If you would take your eyes off of worldly possessions and place them on Christ, you will find that your desires will change from possessions to a need of faith.

Third, act on the faith that you do have. Jesus said in verse 6, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say…” Jesus is showing that you need to act on whatever size of faith that you do possess. My friend, it is not the size of faith that matters to God; it is the fact that you are acting upon the faith you have that causes God to perform the miraculous. Your faith does not need to be increased until you start acting on the faith that you do have.

Fourth, serve God. In verse 7, Jesus talked about the servant plowing in the field. You will always realize your need for more faith the more that you serve God. The only reason some don’t feel that they need more faith is because they are not doing anything that requires more faith. The more that I serve God, the more I realize I need greater faith. Serving God opens your eyes to the need for more faith because of the need of the harvest.

Fifth, obey God. The need for faith will be realized when you start obeying what God commands you to do. You will find that God will command you to do things greater than you are capable of doing; thus, you will find your need for greater faith, which will drive you to your knees to ask God to increase your faith.

Sixth, let duty drive you. Verse 10 shows the working servant not commending themselves after they have served Christ, but you see them saying that they only did “that which was our duty to do.” My friend, duty must drive you to continue doing the works greater than you for God to increase your faith. The increase of faith happens after you have obeyed God in doing the work that was greater than your capability.

A keyword in this verse is the word “our.” When God increases your faith, it will always help to motivate others to increase their faith. You will increase another’s faith when they see what God did through you when He increased your faith. Are you motivating others to increase their faith? I hope so!

Author: Allen Domelle