Hindrances to Full Faith (5)

…but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God…  Romans 4.20

The gift of faith
Christians are called to walk by faith, trusting in God and looking to His promises as their goal and substance in life. Faith is a gift of God, and those who receive it become stewards of this gift.

Scripture teaches us that we must seek to increase in faith, to grow in it and become more adept at living by faith. The Lord Jesus and the apostles were not in the least hesitant to chide those of their followers who showed themselves to be “of little faith” or who were “babes” or “infants” in the art of trusting the Lord.

Failing to nurture faith in God, so that we increase in full faith, is yet another hindrance that can keep us from knowing abundant life and transforming power in Jesus Christ.

Certainly we grow our faith by focusing on the promises of God, searching His Word day by day, and stretching out to live in the power of the Spirit wherever He is leading us in our everyday lives. But we will not be able to sustain even these important aspects of the life of faith until we learn, like our father Abraham learned, to give glory and praise to God increasingly, continuously, and sincerely in all things and at all times.

Read again the story of Abraham in Genesis chapters 12 and following. He received precious and very great promises from God, and he was determined to realize these as much as possible. His journeys in pursuit of the promises of God are marked by episodes of building altars and worshiping God. In his times of walking close to the Lord, Abraham was never very far from some act of praise, worship, and glorifying God. The more he looked to God in worship, and the more he leaned on God in life, the more the promises of God became the realities of his daily experience.

Faith through praise
We hinder growth in faith when we fail to nurture faith through praise.

Ah, praise – now there’s a topic we know something about. After all, we have all this cool praise music at our church, on our car radios, and in all kinds of CDs and downloads. That’s all well and good. We always need new songs of praise unto the Lord.

But if, during worship, your praise band is so loud that it discourages hearty singing on the part of the congregation, or you’re having to learn the latest pop praise hit while you leave behind the one you almost learned before, you’re defeating the very purpose of such a band and such singing in the first place.

Or if you find joy in listening to praise music, but not singing it, then the music may actually be hurting more than helping your growth in the Lord, because it’s entertaining you but not necessarily glorifying the Lord.

Paltry praise
Let’s face it: we’re just not very good at praising the Lord. We don’t know how to praise. Think of all the prayers you’ve heard where the best people can do is say, “Lord, we really just praise You”; and we aren’t inclined to praise the Lord unless we find ourselves in some situation where such seems to be in order, as in worship.

Praising the Lord on our own, throughout the day, with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs – indicators, I hasten to add, of the filling of the Spirit (Eph. 5.18-21) – is just not something we’re inclined to do. But Abraham grew in faith by praising and glorifying God, apparently, as something of a way of life. We will hinder growth in full faith, and the blessings that come from that, if we fail to nurture faith through praise.

Consider your own prayers: How much of real, Biblical praise do they contain? Or, during the day, as you might have opportunity to sing praise to the Lord, do you? Or does the latest pop tune more readily come to your lips? Praising the Lord grows from seeing the Lord and knowing Him in His glory. It issues from walking with Him in His Word and Spirit. But that takes time, focus, and discipline which our contemporary generation of believers often prefers to use for other things.
Which is fine, if you want to continue to live an uninspired, “as good as it gets” approach to following Jesus.

But if you want faith like your father Abraham, faith that transforms and changes people and situations and things, faith that lays hold on the precious and very great promises of God, and stretches out within you by the power of the Spirit of God, if you want full faith, then you’ll need to take up the work of praise more consistently and with greater delight.

For reflection
1.  How would you describe the state of praise in your Christian life at this time?

2.  How often do you find yourself with other Christians talking about the works of the Lord, sharing what He’s doing in your life, or celebrating His goodness to one another?

3.  Abraham’s faith was strengthened as he gave glory to God. How can you incorporate praising and glorifying God more fully into your walk with and work for Him?

Next steps: How can believers help and encourage one another to be more consistent in praising and glorifying the Lord? Talk with some believing friends about this question.

T. M. Moore

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This week’s ReVision study is Part 6 of a 10-part series, “Full Faith.” You can download “Hindrances to Full Faith” as a free PDF, prepared for personal or group study. Simply click here.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.