Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen. For by it the people of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the world has been created by the word of God so that what is seen has not been made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11:1-3 NASB)
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 ESV)
For the arts camp I asked a couple to lead a workshop on spiritual disciplines. This particular couple in their 60’s have been spiritual pillars of the church for decades. They lead classes on spiritual development because they have done and continue to do the work, to practice the disciplines, to seek the Lord daily through prayer, study, and worship. “When I grow up” I want to be like them, spiritually.
I know that depth and development of relationship with God doesn’t happen without some intentionality. My daily CS Lewis quote sent this the other day:
“Now Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes. I know that by experience. Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. This rebellion of your moods against your real self is going to come anyway. That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods ‘where they get off’, you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion. Consequently one must train the habit of Faith.
“The first step is to recognise the fact that your moods change. The next is to make sure that, if you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious readings and churchgoing are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed. And as a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?“*
Faith isn’t a matter of following our moods. Faith involves remembering what we believe and doing the spiritual work to strengthen that. Faith in God is “certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.” When we become believers that faith is planted within us and, like a seed, it can grow and produce amazing fruit. A little training by the Master Gardener and we gain approval by God. Today, let us train the habits of our faith so that it grows.
Faithful God,
Thank you for your ongoing kindness and love to you. Thank you for your patience and encouragement as we grow in faith. Holy Spirit, help us to believe more fully, trust you completely, acknowledge you in all we do, and have faith in you. Grow us up into the fullness of who you have created us to be, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mark 11:22-24 ESV)
For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)
*From Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis