Day 12 – 3 Keys to Growing Your Faith (Abraham Style) – Julie Earl

Romans 4:18-21

Some people who are believing God for healing have the mistaken notion that we aren’t allowed to mention our illness to others, or even admit it to ourselves, because that indicates a lack of faith. Abraham is our example that it is okay to face the facts and be honest. “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed….Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:18-21).

Abraham wasn’t afraid his faith would weaken by stating the fact that he and Sarah’s reproductive systems were as good as dead. But…he was careful not to fix his focus on the facts. He fixed his focus on God and saw the situation through the eyes of faith. God had promised Abraham he would be the father of many nations and he chose to be “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” (v. 21).

How did Abraham become fully persuaded? We see in the verses above three keys to his faith:

• He did not waver through unbelief
• He was strengthened in his faith
• He gave glory to God

#1: He did not waver through unbelief: Waver means “to vacillate irresolutely between choices : fluctuate in opinion, allegiance, or direction” (Merriam-Webster).  Faith and unbelief are constantly warring against each other in our minds and hearts. This battle between the two is where the fluctuating takes place. One day you may be convinced God desires to heal you, and the next day the devil may have convinced you that you aren’t worthy, that you don’t have enough faith or that God doesn’t want everyone healthy.

Abraham chose not to waver when the devil came at him with lies, and we, too, must choose not to waver. Second Corinthians 10:3-5 says: ^3 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Our weapons are truth and the power of the Holy Spirit within us. They are like a wrecking ball that demolishes demonic strongholds, lies and false claims about who God is and what He can and can’t do. By rejecting and resisting the devil’s lies, and choosing to only believe God’s truth (no matter how bad the circumstances may appear), we are able to destroy the works of the devil (the unbelief that he constantly attacks us with) and to not waver through unbelief.

#2: He was strengthened in his faith: The second key is that Abraham strengthened his faith by using his faith. Just as a muscle must be used in order to be strengthened, faith must be used in order to be strengthened and to grow. Abraham grew his faith by trusting God and saying yes every time God asked him to do something. He didn’t start out believing he would be the Father of many nations when his wife was barren and they were both really old. He started out by saying yes to a lot of other steps of faith. He was first asked by God to:

• Leave his home and go to Canaan
• Rescue his nephew Lot from powerful kings who had captured him
• Intercede for wicked Sodom and Gomorrah
• Pay tithes (10%) to Melchizedek

Every time he said yes to God, he saw that God could be trusted to keep His word  and come through on his behalf. So when it came time to believe that he would be the Father of many nations through Sarah, his faith muscles and trust in God were strong enough for him to not waver in unbelief. He strengthened his faith by saying yes to God in everything He asked him to do long before that.

It is vital that we grow our faith by saying yes to God in everything He asks us to do. That is why I am so passionate about the message of my book, No More No. As we say yes to God’s promptings, we get to watch our faith strengthen one yes at a time!

#3: He gave glory to God: Giving glory means “to give praise, honor, or distinction” (Merriam-Webster). So often we think of giving glory to God as speaking or singing His praises, but talk is cheap if our actions and beliefs don’t line up with our words. We honor God and give Him glory by trusting Him implicitly with every detail of our lives. We honor God and give Him glory by believing His promises to heal, provide and encourage us no matter how sick, broke or discouraged we are. We honor God and give Him glory by obeying all that He prompts our hearts to do.

Abraham gave glory to God by realizing God is perfect in love and truth, and that God was worthy of 100% of his faith. Abraham was “all in” with God and said yes to His every request. Now it’s our turn!

Much love and many blessings!

Julie Earl with Crazy About You Ministries (CAYM)