Do I have enough faith?
This question haunts many Christians when they realize that God will answer the prayers of those who believe. They are excited to know that God will answer their prayers, but the catch is, He only does that for those who have enough faith.
This leads many to evaluate themselves and their level of faith and begin to question if it is enough. In my experience this is always a losing proposition because anytime we look at ourselves, we will always come up short.
I struggled with the question about if I had had enough faith for many years in my walk with the Lord. I knew God’s promises about healing, deliverance, and prosperity and saw them work in the lives of others, but I didn’t see them work in my own life. I assumed the reason I didn’t receive from God is because I didn’t have enough faith. I felt like a faith failure!
Does any of this sound familiar? If it does, I want to share with you a truth that set me free. Look at Romans 12:3:
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
According to this passage, God has dealt to every person the measure of faith. The measure means a defined amount. For example, if I was serving several people soup in a kitchen using the same ladle, the ladle is the measure. It determines how much soup each person gets. This is the idea Paul is trying to communicate when he says, God has given every man the measure of faith. In other words, we all have faith, we just need to learn how to use it.
If you get a hold of this, it will revolutionize your faith walk. It will take you from trying to evaluate if you have enough faith to realizing you do have enough faith so you can live with boldness and authority.
It may also lead to a question about other passages of scripture. For example, didn’t Jesus say in Mark 8:26 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Or what about Mark 4:40 where he said Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
In both of these passages of scripture Jesus told the disciples they didn’t have enough faith. How is this different than Romans 12:3 where Paul says we all have the measure of faith?
The difference is prior to the cross, the Holy Spirit didn’t permanently dwell in followers of Jesus. There are times he would come upon them, but then he would leave. After the cross, He permanently dwells inside of all Christians and one of the benefits of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us is the spirit of faith. This is why 2 Corinthians 4:13 Paul wrote:
13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
Everything changed at the cross and major part of what changed is the ability to believe with Jesus’s faith. When we understand that we already have Jesus’s faith, it shifts our focus from questioning if we have enough faith how do I use the faith I have?
Grace gives us the ability to believe! This is so different than common religious and faith teaching, I want to share one last scripture to establish us in the grace of God so we can believe BIG! That scripture is Galatians 2:20:
20 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.
Do you see it? We now live by the faith of the Son of God. It’s the faith of Jesus that provides, not our faith in Him. When we understand this, it allows us to rest in His promises, not try to work up our faith to believe. Our responsibility shifts from trying to believe more to discovering what His promises are and directing the faith we have into them.
I hope this article has encouraged you. It’s good news when you find out you don’t have a faith problem, instead you have a knowledge problem. I’d encourage you to study the scriptures I shared and study the promises of God so you can begin to talk hold of the gifts Jesus has freely provided for you.
If you want to learn more about how to live by faith, check out this teaching I did at Grace Life Church.
