Lord, Increase Our Faith
This past Sunday I preached one of my favorite passages of Scripture. Hebrews 11 speaks to those who are struggling to press on in their faith in the context of a hostile world. Hebrews 11 gives a word of encouragement to anyone who is faced with discouragement and even outright defeat. It is hard not to come away from that passage with a sense of awe and appreciation for the forerunners of our faith. When we read through all of these heroes of faith it would be easy to conclude that we could never measure up or never attain anything like what these men and women have done.
I mean just listen to the victories won by these men and women who:
“…by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.” (Hebrews 11:33-38).
I’ll never do much of anything compared with that. But don’t miss this verse hidden away at the end of chapter 11: “because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.” Somehow God has something for His followers to do today that continues in these footsteps of faith. Somehow, their work, as great as it was, is incomplete. God wants to use you and me as He continues to write His story in this world.
But what if we are not really people of great faith? What if we struggle in walking by faith? Jesus' disciples faced this very same question. They asked for the Lord’s help in Luke 17:5: “Increase our faith!” No matter how strong your faith is at the moment this is a helpful prayer for all of us to pray: “Lord, increase our faith.”
For more, check out the message here.