Start with the Faith You Have
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[The boy’s father said,] “… If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!” Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!”
Mark 9:22-24 (MSG)
Is it possible to be filled with faith and doubt at the same time? Yes!
You can have faith that God wants you to do something and still be scared to death. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is going ahead and doing what you’re called to do in spite of your fear.
You have to begin with the faith you already have: it may be just a little, but you start there. A beautiful example of this is the story of the man who brought his sick son to Jesus in Mark 9. Jesus looked at the man and said, “I can heal your son. If you will believe, I will heal him.”
The father then makes a classic statement: “Lord, I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief.”
Have you ever felt like that? “Lord, I have some faith. But I also have some doubts.” This man was filled with faith and doubt, yet despite his honest doubts, he went ahead and asked Jesus for a miracle. And he got his miracle – Jesus healed his son.
Mustard seed faith moves mountains. No matter how weak or how frail you think your faith is, it’s enough to get you through what you’re facing because your “little faith” is in a big God.
Matthew 17:20 says, “If you have faith as small as the mustard seed, nothing will be impossible to you.” That’s not a lot of faith; in fact, it’s just a little faith. But what else does that verse teach? “If you have faith as the mustard seed, you can say to the mountain, ‘Move’ and it will be moved.”
Mustard seed faith moves mountains. Don’t get this reversed; we tend to read this verse backward; we want it to say, “If you have faith like a mountain, you can move a mustard seed” – as if it takes enormous faith to do a very little task.
Everybody has faith. You had faith this morning when you ate your cereal – faith that your spouse didn’t put poison in your granola!
You had faith when you sat down in your computer chair – faith that it wouldn’t collapse.
Everybody has faith; the difference is what you put your faith in.
Sometimes people will tell me they don’t want to surrender to Jesus until all their questions are answered; they don’t want to make a commitment until every thing is understand.
God wants you start with the faith you have; and based on the example of the mustard seed, you don’t need a whole lot of faith to do great things for God. You just need a little.
So here’s a trustworthy equation: Little Faith + Big God = Huge Results!
· You take your little faith; “Lord, I believe! Help me with my unbelief!”
· And you place your faith in our big God,
· And then he’ll show you how he works out huge results.
Question: Have you asked God lately to help you overcome your areas of “unbelief”?
About this Author: Rick Warren
i have bouth doubts and faith i know this sounds strange but this is how i fell. i have faith in God to heal me but don’t know why it is taking so long but i know He will
I have to say that was a message that alot of people have heard but do not understand, spiritual anyway!
I have been praying for someone for well over a month, but I should have prayed for myself before I prayed for him Anyway, all he does he talk negative and ask “what I am suppose to do?” I prayed and in my spirit I saw something very uncomfortable. It was a twister and was not destroying a home or a town, but me and as I watched it suck the spiritual out of my body I called my spiritual mentor and had her pray for me, too! She saw the samething in the spiritual and she gave me some good advice. “When you feel that something is missing and you have everything you need, look at who you are talking to.” I called the person and left a message for him telling him not to call me, text me. I will not be spoken to and mulilated as you have done others. If you continue to do the samething and the results are the same, then you need to keep asking God for directions stop live through ours and seek God and pray like everyone else. I prayed with him and gave him scriptures all to which, he has not looked up! My grandpapa always said that once you learn to breath on your own you have to use the tools that were given to you to help you surivive, if you keep asking me you do not learn for the lesson at hand.