Are You Growing in Your Faith?

Some of the greatest blessings of my life are the men that God has brought into my life. I am most thankful for the men who are apart of my family. My son, my son-in-law, my grandson, my brother, and an adopted son all mean more to me than life itself. The veteran preachers who have mentored me have been a profound blessing to my life. My life has also been richly blessed because I have the opportunity to mentor some younger men. The preachers who are my closest friends by virtue of age/life stage are a part of life’s greatest blessings.

There are also many men in the church as well as some outside of the church who are a tremendous blessing to my life. There are four men who are especially a rich blessing to my life. None of them are preachers.

We have traveled together, shared many, many meals together, laughed together, cried together, and prayed together. These friends would do anything in the world for me and I would do anything that I possibly could for any one of them.

One of the things I love most about these guys is the opportunity to hear them pray. They don't pray like most of the preachers I've listened to in my life. Not that there is anything at all wrong with the way preachers pray.

My friends prayers are from deep in their hearts, they are extremely honest, and they challenge me to be a better man. One of my friends says at some point in every prayer I've heard him pray, "Help us to grow in our faith."

What a tremendous request that we should all consider on a regular basis. "Help us to grow in our faith." Are we growing in our faith? Do we really want to grow in our faith? How can we experience growth in our faith?

We grow in our faith through the study of the Word. Whenever we study the Word of God we increase our faith and we grow which is what He wants for all of His children. (1 Peter 2:2; 2 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 5:12-14; 1 Timothy 4:13)

We grow in our faith through prayer. Prayer has been called our lifeline to God. It is our way of communicating to Him the desires of our heart. Just as a husband and wife need to communicate with one another to strengthen their marriage, we should communicate with God to strengthen our relationship with Him. (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Philippians 4:6; Hebrews 4:14-16)

We grow in our faith through worship. The more time we spend worshipping our Lord, the more we will grow in our faith. We should work hard to find times for private worship and family worship. We should do everything possible to worship with the Body of Christ whenever worship takes place. (Hebrews 10:23-25)

We grow in our faith through fellowship. The more time we spend with others who are trying to grow in their faith, the more we will grow in ours. We should find people who have common goals, interests, and dreams. We should associate with people who will build us up rather than those who will drag us down. (1 Corinthians 15:33; 1 Timothy 4:12)

We grow in our faith through the trials of life. No one enjoys facing trials and difficulties of this life. No one looks forward to them. Yet the Scriptures teach us that as we endure the trials of life properly we will grow in our faith. (James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-9) Even our Savior grew as He suffered in this life. (Hebrews 5:8)

These are just a few of many ways that will help us grow in our faith. Please feel free to leave your thoughts and suggestions that will help us all grow in our faith. As we enter another New Year my prayer for you is that every day and in every circumstance of your life you will grow in your faith. With God’s help and our commitment to Him we can all be stronger in our faith with every passing year.

Dear Father in Heaven, we want to grow in our faith. We want to be more like Jesus every day. We want to bring glory to You and Your Son in everything we do. Help us dear God, to work diligently in each day of this New Year to grow in our faith. In the Name of our Savior we pray, Amen.