“And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”–Romans 10:15–17
The importance of faith to the Christian life cannot be overstated. Paul wrote, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). There is no part of life that can be separated from faith. Yet despite this central importance, many people struggle to truly believe and act on what God has said. We may know that we need a stronger faith, but not everyone understands how to increase their faith.
D. L. Moody said, “I prayed for faith and thought that some day faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, ‘Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.’ I had up to this time closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I now opened my Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since.”
The key to increasing our faith is not in finding a new technique for prayer or a newly discovered method of living—it is found in going back to the basics of the Bible. When the writer of Hebrews described men and women of faith in Hebrews 11, he talks again and again about people who simply believed what God told them and acted accordingly. When we approach the Scripture as the authoritative Word of God and act in obedience to what it says, our faith will grow.(Daily in the Word)
