In Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Many of us, if asked, would say we desire to have a deeper relationship with Christ, but we’re not quite sure how to strengthen our faith. For some, we come across a time of crisis or desperation in our lives only to realize how fragile our faith is.
You see, the best time to strengthen our faith isn’t during those dark periods, it’s before those dark times arrive.
A marathon runner doesn’t train and increase her endurance by entering her first race without putting some work in ahead of time. She knows she’s going to compete in an upcoming race at some point in the future and begins training immediately.
I can guarantee you one thing sweet lady, if God blesses you with more time on this earth you’re going to come across spiritual, mental, and emotional marathons. You need to start training now!
The thing is, desiring a stronger faith is kinda like, well, keeping with our example, wanting to run a marathon. In order to complete the course on race day, we have to take action and develop self-discipline. The everyday kind of discipline.
We repeatedly hear how easy it is to lose weight and get fit. Watch what you eat + exercise = fit body. But we know that’s easier said than done. If it was that simple, we’d all be at a perfect weight and trying out for American Ninja Warriors.
The same is true for our spiritual life. We hear this simple formula: read your bible + pray = stronger faith.
Again, easier said than done with an oversimplified formula. That’s where the action and discipline come into play. That formula has to be broken down into certain specifics or your faith will stay shallow.
1 Timothy 4:7b-8 says: train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
Train – as in repeated instruction and exercise that leads to a developed, strong, enduring spiritual relationship with Christ.
When you begin to exercise your body you start out a bit simple. You try exercises that target particular areas of the body then increase from there. You can do the same with your spiritual life as well. There are a few key disciplines that are the foundation from which we’ll strengthen our faith.
Over the course of this series, we’re going to take a deep dive into six key exercises. With each one, we’ll look at practical daily examples of things you can do.
Here are the six building blocks to a stronger faith in Christ:
- Get in God’s word daily. In God’s Word, we will find eternal hope, unconditional love, complete peace, and everlasting joy. In addition, we’ll find instruction on how to conduct our daily lives and examples that will lead us to wisdom and understanding.
- Develop a prayer habit. I often hear people say they’re just not sure where to begin with prayer. I’ve found the best example is already given to us in the scriptures. The Lord’s Prayer was specifically given to us by Christ to teach us to pray. Prayer doesn’t always have to be a formal exercise with an extended time period. Informal chats with the Lord will help connect us just like informal chats with our friends
- Learn from spiritual mentors. Read books and listen to sermons and podcasts of mature believers. When you have time to throw on your headphones or pick up a book be sure you’re including pastors and authors that teach consistently with scripture.
- Surround yourself with godly men & women. Pray and ask God to lead you to a church where you’ll hear His word and can develop friendships with other believers.
- Live out what you’re learning and be obedient to God’s call on your life. If we just soak in all this information and don’t ever put what we learn into action we not completing the course.
- Tell others. In order to do this, we have to be able to see and recognize God working in our own lives and in the lives of others. Keeping ourselves aware of these moments so we can share them with others will help to strengthen our own faith.
This is the 1st post in the series on the 6 Building Blocks To A Stronger Faith In Christ. The second post will be coming November 9th! So be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it once it goes up!
