“Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said, ‘If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.’” Luke 17:5-6
Jesus didn’t increase their faith, not because He didn’t want their faith to increase, but because that is not how faith is increased. Instead, He replied, “If you had faith…as a seed…You might say…and it should obey you.” In other words, He was telling them to use the faith they already had by speaking to their problem, and by doing so, their faith would begin to increase.
Most of us know that God doesn’t use a magic wand, but many – even believers, pray like He does; like He waves His wand and, Poof, their faith is increased! That kind of thinking is not Biblical thinking. No, we need to think God’s thoughts, which is why the Bible was given to us by God! The disciples thought they needed more faith, but Jesus in effect, said, “Guys, you don’t need more faith. You need to know how to work the faith you have; and by working the faith that you have your faith will increase.” He said, “If you had faith…like a seed…you would say…and it should obey you!” We can clearly see by Jesus’ words that speaking is necessary in order to operate in faith. “If you had faith as a seed you would SAY…”
There are two powerful faith secrets here: Faith is as a seed, or works as a seed; and you plant it by speaking! The point is many don’t realize what they have! But Paul and Silas in Acts 16, when they were in jail in Philippi, demonstrated that all we need is a mouth filled with faith-filled praise! Their backs were bloody, their feet were in the stocks, they were locked in the inner prison, and Paul realized that the one thing the devil forgot to do was to tie Paul’s mouth shut. Paul knew that as long as he could move his mouth he could move mountains! And guess what; all the doors of the prison obeyed him! They opened up and let all the prisoners free! Jesus didn’t say the sycamine tree would obey God. He said the sycamine tree will obey YOU! Because that’s where God’s faith resides – in YOU!
So, let’s start planting all the faith seeds we can and begin to increase our faith as high as we can get it, and we’ll find that the prison doors around our own minds will explode right off and we can turn the world upside right for Jesus! Just use what you’ve got!
With Love,
Pastor Tom
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