How to Strengthen Your FaithSample

Living Faithfully

What is faith? Faith is trust based on evidence that leads to obedience. 

How can we strengthen our faith? 

1. Build your trust. Strong relationships are never built accidentally. They are built intentionally. If you go months without talking to your best friend, distance will start to define that relationship. If you go months without talking to God, distance will start to define that relationship. Make time to create space for God. God meets us in the space we make. Carve out 10 minutes of your day to be with God. Start with a few minutes of quiet prayer. Then, open up your Bible and read a chapter or two of Scripture. Write down in a journal or in a note what God is showing you through that passage of Scripture. Finally, ask God to be with you and guide you throughout the rest of that day. At first, this might feel like hard work, but over time you will discover just how meaningful this intentional time really can be. 

2. Study the evidence. If someone were to ask you why you believe Christianity is true, what would you tell them? Could you point to the evidence from history, science, philosophy, or your own experience? Knowing why we believe what we believe is a really powerful way to build our faith. Instead of just wishing these things were true, we can have confidence based on evidence. Start by thinking through the ways God has shown up in your life. Then, ask people close to you about how God has shown up in their lives. Let these moments and stories inspire you to trust God more. After that, begin looking into the works of great apologists like William Lane Craig, C.S. Lewis, and Mike Licona. Or, check out our Switch Plan: Does God Exist?  for an introduction into some of the different arguments for the existence of God. 

3. Practice obedience. Believing in God doesn’t make us Christians. Following Jesus does. When Jesus began His ministry and called His disciples, He didn’t tell them to have all the right answers. He told them: “Come and follow Me.” Faith is always an active thing. It’s trust based on evidence that leads to obedience. When we put our trust in action, we see how trustworthy God really is. When we practice faith, we start to experience the faithfulness of God. Jesus taught, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32 NIV). What does it mean to “hold to His teaching”? It means to do what He says. Obedience. When we obey the teachings of Jesus, we will know and experience the truth, and the truth will set us free. If you really want to know if following Jesus is worth it, then put His words into practice. As you do, you will discover that a life in service to Jesus is so much better than life in service to anyone or anything else. 

Without faith it is impossible to please God. You have been called by God to live “by faith.” To trust that God is real, that He’s good, He cares about you, and He wants to partner with you: a trust that is based on evidence and leads to obedience. 

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