Developing A Great Faith

How many of us are walking by faith and not just by sight? True faith will take you beyond that which is only visible. It allows you to stretch yourself past difficult circumstances and develop your relationship with God in ways beyond your reasoning and understanding. There is faith, and there is great faith. Great faith is more than just lengthy prayer or Scripture memorization…it is how God demonstrates to you that He is more than able to provide for you as you demonstrate your persistence in prayer and trusting that God will act, no mater what the opposition. It is the development of your faith relationship between you and God at a high level of functionality.People who demonstrate great faith are able to overcome those who will fight against them, and are able to use those who are willing to help them.

Matthew 15:21-28

²¹ When Jesus left there, He withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon. ²² Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly tormented by a demon.”

    ²³ Yet He did not say a word to her. So His disciples approached Him and urged Him, “Send her away because she cries out after us.”

    ²⁴ He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

    ²⁵ But she came, knelt before Him, and said, “Lord, help me!”

    ²⁶ He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to their dogs.”

    ²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table!”

    ²⁸ Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was cured.

Luke 7:2-9

² A centurion’s slave, who was highly valued by him, was sick and about to die. ³ When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him, requesting Him to come and save the life of his slave. ⁴ When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with Him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this, ⁵ because he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue.” ⁶ Jesus went with them, and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell Him, “Lord, don’t trouble Yourself, since I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. ⁷ That is why I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be cured. ⁸ For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

    ⁹ Jesus heard this and was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following Him, He said, “I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel!”

In this example, the elders were willing to assist the centurion in his efforts to see Jesus about his ailing slave. He, too, had heard about Jesus’ ability to provide healing, and he trusted that it would be done. Jesus acknowledged his great faith and healed the slave.

People with great faith demonstrate humility and an unworthiness to receive His blessings (Matthew 15:26; Luke 7:6-7).

People of great faith know their unworthiness to receive anything from God, but they also know that their need cannot be met by anyone else. Both the woman in Matthew 15 and the centurion in Luke 7 recognized this fact.

People of great faith know that Jesus has the authority to speak into their situation. The woman acknowledged her position as a Gentile before Christ and did not think highly of herself before Him. God will help you to see where you are in your relationship with Him exactly where you are when you are making an appeal to Him. He will bring to mind areas of your life that need correction, and your heart and your conscience need to be clean and clear from sin.

The woman was willing to accept whatever Jesus would do to remove the affliction in spite of the opposition. She did not demand a response, but she remained persistent in her appeal to Him.

The centurion wad humble enough to recognize who Jesus Christ was, and that His authority was more than that of a man. In that culture, a Roman never took the steps that the centurion did in appealing to Christ, who was a Jew. He did not consider himself to be worthy to approach Him, because he saw Jesus Christ for who He was, in spite of his position of authority. He, in turn, recognized Jesus’ authority to speak and provide healing.

Both the woman and the man were willing to wait for Jesus to speak–their approach was one of humility and patience (Matthew 15:23-24; Mark 7:7). As soon as Jesus spoke out about their faith, the healing was done as He had commanded it (Matthew 15:28; Mark 7:10).

Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for all of us gives us the ability to appeal to the Lord, and it has nothing to do with our title or our position…it has everything to do with His love for us and the sacrifice for us on the cross. it is in recognizing the deity and stature of who Jesus Christ really is. The mote you recognize who Christ is, the more that we may see how unworthy we are to come before God (Isaiah 6:5).

Psalm 19:1-3

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.

    ² Day after day they pour out speech;
    night after night they communicate knowledge.

    ³ There is no speech; there are no words;
    their voice is not heard.

God speaks to us through His creation and in ways that go beyond just normal
speech and spoken words. He speaks to us as we demonstrate faith in Him.

Listen to hear from Jesus Christ and not just the voices of others around you. It will require a willingness to humble yourself, be persistent in prayer and seeking Him, and to focus on His voice. People of great faith are willing to wait and hear God’s voice, in humility, and accept the results. They are confident that, when God speaks, it is done according to His will.