Matthew 9:27-31 ESV And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.
There are many things that I do not understand about God. Most of the things I do not understand are because I’m trying to fathom an infinite being with my very finite mind. Other things I do not understand usually involve the question of “why”. Why does God do this or why does God command that. Those questions are not always answered. Sometimes we just have to accept that the Bible says it so it is truth.
Jesus told the blind men in the passage above, “According to your faith be it done to you.” Why does our faith matter? God is God, right? He is sovereign and all powerful. Why does our faith seem to determine what God will or won’t do? This is one of those “why” questions that there isn’t a clear answer to.
What is quite clear is that the Bible says that faith plays an important role in how God responds to us. Repeatedly the Bible shows that God intervenes when people have faith (Mark 2:5, 5:34, 10:52, Luke 7:50, & Acts 14:9-10). Even more startling, lack of faith apparently hinders what God can or will do (Mark 6:4-6).
Is lack of faith the reason that the modern church in America does not see miracles on a more consistent basis? Perhaps God does to us according to our faith. There are countless churches in America that are full of committed Christians who love the Lord but no one in the congregation has ever seen anything that could be considered a miracle by biblical standards.
Miracles of biblical proportion still happen. I experienced a miraculous healing once. At the time a surgeon in Singapore was preparing me for emergency open heart surgery and telling my wife that I would likely die. However, after many people prayed, a pre-operation x-ray showed that the issue had been miraculously resolved and the surgery was not needed. I’ve had the joy of working with a pastor in Burma (Myanmar) who expects miracles on a regular basis. His ministry has repeatedly experienced events where resources accomplish much more than is physically possible, similar to Jesus feeding the 5000 or the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:10-16). I knew a woman who was once confined to a wheelchair who was walking when I knew her due to miraculous healing.
A friend of mine from a God-fearing, conservative church just returned from a mission trip to India. He was astounded at the number of people there who told him about miracles happening in their lives. His interpreter told him about a whole village that became Christian when God allowed him (the interpreter) to be present when He (God) raised a married couple from the dead four hours after they died.
Perhaps it is time for the church in America to increase its faith so when God does “according to our faith” miracles will happen. I do not mean that we should try to increase faith so that God will put on a better show. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith we are unable to please God. If we want to please Him, let’s work on actively increasing our faith so He will be pleased. When God is pleased, the miraculous tends to happen.
Before we discuss building faith, we need to define what it is. A simple definition of faith is believing and trusting something. To have faith in God we must believe He exists, believe what He says, and trust Him.
There are four things I recommend for increasing faith; hearing, acting, praying, and associating. By hearing I mean getting God’s Word in you. Read the Bible – daily. Read with a plan, not just haphazardly opening the Bible and reading. Read both large sections at a time for context and dig deep into passages by study and meditating on the Word. Also listen to sound biblical teachers/preachers. Hopefully you are hearing good teaching at church but also get CD’s or use Youtube to hear good teaching. We must know what the Bible says or we can’t have faith.
As you learn what the Bible says, act on it. When the Bible says do something then do it. If the Bible warns against something then stop doing it. Take the Bible at face value and follow what it says.
A specific action we should do is pray. Ask God to work and then believe He will do so. The Bible is full of promises. We should pray along with them. If God has promised it then He will do it. Make sure the promise is for you though. Check the context to make sure the promise is for God’s people and not a specific person. Some of God’s promises were given to individuals or designated groups.
Finally, associate with other godly people. Who you associate with will have a great impact on what you believe and how you will act. Find other believers and actively spend time with them. I do not mean exclusively. We need to interact with the world so that the world will see God in us and through us. But we need to make sure we are letting other believers influence us and allow them to make an impact on us.
Heavenly Father, I do believe, help my unbelief. Please honor my commitment to pursue the steps outlined above and increase my faith. Let me be a witness of Your miraculous power as You do unto me according to my faith.