How to Build Stronger Faith

During Jesus’ ministry, a man came to Him with a son who was demon-possessed and suffering from terrible seizures. This man begged Christ to cast the demon out and said something relatable to all of Christ’s followers: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). Jesus did not chide or correct the man—He had compassion for him, as He has for all who want stronger belief and faith.

There are times when even those who sincerely believe in God, who know that He exists and trust that He knows what He is doing, need help to be more at peace, to have stronger conviction, and to feel a deeper connection with Him. In a world of uncertainty and stress, we all need more peace and tranquility. Jesus Christ told His disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1), but He also recognized the challenges His followers would face—especially in the last days—when He asked in Luke 18:8, “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Faith is vital, and this world does everything it can to destroy it—and to make people think it is something it’s not. It is not just thinking positive thoughts, though we should certainly try to do so. Neither is it just believing in God—Satan and his demons believe in God (James 2:19), but they are not pleasing God and have no intention of doing what He commands. So, while belief in God the Father and His Son is vitally important, faith must go beyond just believing in God.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). In other words, faith is having trust in God even while patiently waiting for answered prayer and intervention. Faith is not a vain, impersonal hope in difficult times that “things will just work out,” but rather a rock-solid conviction that there is a real and living Creator who gives us every heartbeat and every breath—who not only has our best interests at heart, but has the power and wisdom to give us what we need at the right time and in the right way.

We read that “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). The man who asked Christ to help his son also asked for help to even have the right kind of faith and belief—the very attitude we should have when we come to God. So, are there specific things we can do, even as we are asking God for stronger faith?

Absolutely! Here are three profound but simple keys that we can apply every day.

Key 1: Get to Know the Real Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is not real to most people. Many will say they believe in Him, but most do not really know the true Jesus. Consider the earliest moment recorded in the entire Bible: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1–2).

The Apostle John teaches here that before the creation of anything, there were just two Beings: God and the Word. John then explains that the Word was the one who created the vast universe: “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:3–4). And he goes on to explain that this Word was the One who became Jesus the Christ: “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:10–12).

The One who became Jesus Christ was the One who created the stars and the planets—the very One who said, “Let there be light.” He created the mountains, seas, and rivers. He took dust from the ground and made the first man. He took a rib from Adam and made Eve. Jesus is not only our Savior, but our Creator as well.

John’s gospel gives us another profound truth: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (v. 18).

Why is this significant? Many people assume that the Father was the God of the Old Testament, but John says that no one has seen God at any time—and there are several Old Testament accounts of people seeing God. As just one example, “Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel…. So they saw God, and they ate and drank” (Exodus 24:9–11).

The One they saw was the Word, who became Jesus Christ. He created the universe, He fashioned Adam out of the ground, and He also thundered the Ten Commandments from Mt. Sinai.

That is not the common conception most people have of Jesus Christ—yet, if we are to truly know Him, we need to avoid the common misconceptions that so many today have. He’s not a rebellious son who overturned His Father’s laws. No—in fact, He was the all-powerful One who thundered God’s laws down from the mountain engulfed in fire and smoke. He is the Ever-Living One, ancient and mighty, who was with God and was God from the beginning. As we approach Him and ask Him to help us in our unbelief, we need to correctly understand just who we are coming before.

Jesus warned His followers, especially those living in the end-times, not to be deceived into accepting a false Christ: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:4–5). Get to know the real Jesus. That’s the first step to having stronger faith. The next step is understanding what He wants us to do.

Key 2: Regularly Study God’s Word

If we believe in God our Father and in Jesus Christ, we need to know what They say and what They want us to do. We do that by reading God’s book of inspired instructions, the Bible.

Some people think of the Old Testament as harsh and the New Testament as good. But all of the Bible is God’s word, and all of it is good. By studying it, we learn how God thinks and what He expects of us. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

The Bible is the mind of God in print, teaching us how to live. And, as we follow God’s instructions, we grow in faith. Jesus plainly taught, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).

Christ came to fulfill the law—to fill it to the full. In fact, as we have seen, Christ was the One who actually gave it at Mt. Sinai. It makes no sense that He would do away with the same law He gave.

Just as physical food gives us vitamins and minerals to make our bodies work, God’s laws—His words and instructions—are spiritual food for us. As Jesus explained, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). That spiritual food teaches us how to live, how to relate to our fellow man, and how to honor our Father and our Elder Brother. It gives us spiritual strength, energy, and faith.

Jesus explained, “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me” (John 6:57). Feeding on Christ means listening to and doing what He says, going the right way and rejecting the wrong, and being willing to be corrected. God’s loving correction helps us grow in faith, keeping us on the right path and bolstering our confidence that we are following His will. We read that “the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

We should not be afraid of God’s gentle correction. It teaches us to make better choices and overcome our sins, and it gives us spiritual strength as we grow in faith and confidence toward God. To have a stronger sense of trust and connection with God, we need to make regular Bible study a part of our life—we need to feed on Christ.

Key 3: Let Christ Live in You

Paul revealed this key when he wrote, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, KJV).

When we accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins, we are not just expressing sorrow for our past—we are allowing our old self to be crucified with Christ. We then carry on, living a new life, but not through our own power. And in this new life, our faith isn’t sufficient. We need the faith of Christ in us—the very faith and mindset Christ had from eternity past, the faith and courage He had while alive on this earth, and the faith and focus He has to this day, as He sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

Christ wants us to see things from His perspective. He wants us to look beyond our trials, as hard as they sometimes are, by having His very mind and spiritual focus. In short, He wants to put His faith in us. That’s the faith that transforms lives.

You may think you don’t have what it takes to have the faith God wants you to have. Well, guess what? You don’t.

But that’s okay—because Christ does. And if you let Him teach you, if you let Him gently correct you, if you let Him live His obedient life in you, He will help you to grow in the faith and strength you need. And it will lead right into living with Him and the Father forever in the Family of God. What could be more awesome than that?

The Bible is full of encouragement that can help us overcome the difficulties we face in everyday life—especially as we find ourselves in these perilous end-times. Paul faced plenty of obstacles in his own life. He understood discouragement. But he also knew how to face trials and troubles squarely and positively. He made this encouraging observation to his disciple Timothy: “Stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6–7).

Having stronger faith is not just the power of positive thinking, and it is not just believing in Jesus. It takes actively responding to God’s Spirit, as our Father and our Elder Brother work in us—and even live in us—and there are practical steps we can take to develop it. When we are frightened and worried, in trouble and distressed, we don’t have to despair. We can go to God, crying out to our Elder Brother, “I believe—help me in my unbelief!”