Defining Faith: 3 Easy Steps To Unlocking Its MeaningSample

So far we have discovered that faith:

• Produces a confidence or assurance in WHAT God is doing
• And stirs our expectations that God WILL do something

For this final day, we are going to borrow some wisdom from the inspiring A.W. Tozer. 

Tozer also believed that understanding faith was critical to a powerful Christian life. If we didn’t get this piece right, nothing else would work.

Over his years of being a pastor, he gradually fine-tuned his understanding of faith until he boiled it down into a few stunning lines…

“Faith is not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God…Faith is the last self-regarding of the virtues. It is by its very nature scarcely conscious of its own existence. Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied with the Object upon which it rests.”

“Faith is a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of the focus of our own vision and getting God into focus.” - A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God

Tozer shows us that the third and final piece to understanding faith is WHERE. 

Where is our focus? Where is God right now – and are we constantly recalibrating our lives to follow Him and keep our eyes on Him? 

To have faith means: 

• To believe in WHAT our God is capable of
• To expect God WILL do something
• And to follow WHERE God is leading.

This is the heart of the Christian life. The way forward into the better, higher, greater things Jesus has for us – both in this world and in the world to come.

Faith may not be easy, but it is certainly not optional.

God is ready and able to do incredible things in your life. The question is…will your faith invite Him to do them?

If you’ve enjoyed this reading and would like to continue learning about what faith is and how to develop it, check out this book!