(Pastor Chen)
In our previous lesson, we established that every born again believer already has faith. It is our responsibility to develop and exercise the faith that we already have. Faith receives what God provided for us by grace. We will not be able to enjoy God¡¦s provision without the exercising of our faith. Even prayer itself without faith is of no avail. One of the prayers that I often hear people pray is, "Lord, give us more faith!" But this is one prayer that cannot be answered. The Bible is very clear that, "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom 10:17). Faith does not come by praying.
Often when I shared along this line, someone will point out that the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith when Jesus preached on forgiveness (Luke 17:1-5). But in verse 6 of the same passages, Jesus did not pray for the apostles to have more faith. Instead, He gave the apostles the principles to increase their faith. Basically, Jesus told the apostles that faith works like a seed. We know from the parable of the sower that the Word of God is Seed. The Seed must be planted and watered for it to grow and produce fruit. As long as we plant, water, and cultivate the ground, God will bring an increase. But, the responsibility to take care of the garden of our hearts belongs to us.
Nowhere in the Bible are we told to pray for faith. Often we like to place all the responsibility on God for our faith. Like the father of an epileptic child who came before Jesus and pleaded with Him, "if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us" (Mark 9:22). Jesus placed the responsibility right back to the father and said, "if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23). God sometimes, out of His mercy and compassion, does come through with an answer to our needs. But He expects us to develop and utilize our faith. Throughout the gospels, we see again and again Jesus rebuking His disciples for lack of faith. If it was God's responsibility to give them faith, then Jesus should not have rebuked His disciples for lack of faith. Jesus should have instructed His disciples to pray for faith, or He should have rebuked God for not giving the disciples faith.
Romans 14:23 tells us, "For whatever is not from faith is sin." How can we be sinning if it is God's responsibility to give us faith and He failed to do so? Heb 11:6 states, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him." This is a real strong statement. It literally means that there is absolutely no way that we can please God without faith. Again, if it is God's responsibility for our faith, why not just give us faith so that we can stop sinning and so that He can be pleased? If we can ask God for faith, then these two Scriptures do not make any sense. Why hold us accountable for something that He is responsible for?
James 1:5-7 instructs us, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." These passages clearly tell us that faith is required to receive from God. If faith can be obtained through prayer, why not instruct us to ask for faith at the same time we prayed so that we can receive what we desired? Why promise us something without giving us the means to receive it? Thus, we can conclude with one thing, it is our responsibility to develop and exercise faith. More to come in the next lesson.