I can think of many times in my life that I have asked Jesus, “Lord, please increase my faith.” How awesome would it be to have the kind of faith the bible talks about? I have always dreamed about having great faith, to see incredible things happen like the stories in the bible. To see the blind receive sight, paralyzed men begin to walk, the dead come to life, the spiritually oppressed set free! I look at the life of the apostles and think WOW! What a life they lived.

I believe we have all asked for increased faith, or found ourselves in a struggle to find faith at all. One of the world's greatest conflicts is faith in God. Belief in Jesus Christ as the son of God is one of the most debated topics in the world. Faith is something everyone thinks about at some point. Faith is something that we as believers find ourselves struggling with from time to time. I'm willing to bet that if we had a statistic from God stating what is most prayed for, it would be for an increase in faith.

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU AN INCREASE IN FAITH IS ACTUALLY WAITING FOR YOU?

Reading on in Luke 17, Jesus answered the apostles perfectly. The answer he gives is the Key to increasing our faith. I would like to take a moment and read verses 6-10.

6So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 7And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.”

THE WAY TO INCREASED FAITH

Jesus first gives an example of great faith in verse six. Then at verse seven he begins to explain the way to great faith through the relationship of man and his servant. During this time the servant had no standing in society, no rights, no possessions, in fact he was considered the property of his master. During this time this was the truth concerning the relationship of the master and servant. Jesus often used the things around him to teach, and this relationship of master and servant could be seen everywhere at this time. Verses 7-9 gives the response of the master to his servant during a day of the servant's duty. At first glance the responses seem very harsh and inconsiderate, not allowing the servant to eat until he fed his master and not saying thank you.

JESUS WAS POINTING OUT THROUGH THIS CARNAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MASTER AND SERVANT WHAT IS ACTUALLY A MODEL FOR A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MAN AND GOD

The biggest faith killers are self righteousness, self centeredness, false entitlement and unbiblical expectations. Just as the servant in Jesus’ teaching is wholly submitted to his master, so should the believer be submitted to God. We lay aside all sense of self and take our place as a servant of our master. Verse 10 shows us that no amount of preaching, ministry, serving, nor anything we accomplish for the Kingdom can save us, these things are merely our duty and lifestyle as a servant of God.

WITHIN THIS LIFESTYLE OF SERVING GOD YOUR FAITH WILL BE INCREASED

I think it is worth noting that the apostles had a desire to increase their faith just as we do. Before obeying jesus’ command to follow him they did not know what it was like to see the blind receive sight, the crippled to be healed, spiritually oppressed to be made free. It was in obedience to Jesus and living life by his commands that they began to see miraculous things that in turn increased their faith, and so can you! If you will take these two steps in your life you will see an increase in you faith.

1. FAITH IS INCREASED THROUGH OBEDIENCE

Through a lifetime of obedience to the Gospel, which is #1, repentance, #2, discipleship and #3, evangelism, we will begin to see God do amazing things, as is written in Mark 16:17,” these things will follow them that believe.” Our faith will begin to grow as we see Jesus do not only do great things in our own personal lives, but perhaps more importantly in the lives of the people we influence.

2. FAITH INCREASES THROUGH ENDURANCE

Too many times we see a person quit before they see their break though. Living in obedience to God requires grit and determination. We are in a world that seeks to quiet the word of God and the voices proclaiming it. A life of obedience to God comes with a promise found in Galatians 5, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. The only way to receive these things is to be disobedient to the world, being obedient to the world is also found in Galatians 5 and it looks like this, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness. We become obedient to God in all that he commands us and we will begin to see him move in our everyday life!

CLOSING

Sadly we live in a world where we have taken the word of God and changed the requirements from obey and walk in blessing to live anyway you want and walk in blessing. It is very dangerous to our spiritual state to confuse being fortunate with being blessed. Being blessed is not determined by whether you drive a nice vehicle or live in a nice home. Being blessed depends solely on whether you are obedient to God or not. You and I have the opportunity to see our faith increased through obedience to God today! I pray that we submit ourselves wholly to him and our life becomes a mission for the Kingdom of heaven.