In the School of Faith
Bible Study
From a study of Charles Stanley
Date: 8/26/14
Week # 7
SUBJECT: Advancing In Faith:
Key Passage: Matthew 14:22-23
Supporting Scriptures: Luke 1:80; 2:51-52; Colossians 2:6; Acts 2; Hebrews 11:6; 13:5
God want you to grow.
Many people accept Christ as their Savior and do not realize this is only the beginning of their relationships with Him. Some believe they can stay where they feel safe and comfortable, and merely talk about trusting God. However, the Father desires more than that for each of us. His plan is that we mature in our knowledge and understanding of His ways—living vibrant lives in obedience to Him. He wants us to grow in our faith, which is the confident conviction that He will do all He has promised. Are you growing in your faith? Is your trust in the
Lord increasing? Do you believe that God hears and answers your prayers? If you have been struggling with doubt and unbelief, it is possible that you have begun to stagnate in your faith. The Father wants to bless you and work through you in a powerful way, but you must trust Him to do so. You see, many believers are not being used by the Lord because they're unwilling to rely upon Him. But if a person is to advance in his or her faith, dependence upon God is absolutely critical. You have the presence, power, and wisdom of almighty God to help you through anything you must face in life. You can have complete confidence that He will do as He has promised. And you can trust Him to increase your faith through the following avenues.
Ten Ways to Advance in Faith
1. Facing and overcoming adversity and trials. God looks at each person's life and designs trials to achieve His purposes. God knows exactly how to strengthen you spiritually. Also, He will use and bless you in proportion to your faith. It is when we encounter troubles, temptations, and obstacles that we must decide whether we truly trust God or not. He will challenge us to obey Him, even though our circumstances appear absolutely impossible. Will we give up and quit when the path ahead becomes trying and difficult? Or will we cling to the Father and praise Him for answering our prayers, despite how things look?
2. Understanding the nature of God. The Father wants His children to know Him better. We must comprehend that He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient as well as holy, righteous, merciful, and kind. As you come to understand the totality of the God who reveals Himself through His creations and Word, your faith will grow. The Lord is fully trustworthy. He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, holy, loving, and merciful. It is in discovering His unfailing character that we realize we can completely rely upon Him. Therefore, we should make every effort to spend time with Him and get to know Him more intimately.
3. Meditating upon His Word. The Bible is the Word of God, the very fuel of our faith. If we want to know what God thinks, how He acts, and what He can and will do, the Bible is the place for answers. Daily meditation on it allows the Father to reach our minds and hearts, protect us, and provide for our needs. Of course, one way we can know the Lord better is through His Word. In fact, we cannot grow in our relationships with Him if we ignore Scripture. It is the fuel of our faith and how He directs our paths. If we desire to know the Father—how He thinks and acts, as well as His will for our lives—we must meditate on the Bible daily. This means we read it, think about what it means, and ask the Lord how He wants us to apply it.
4. Applying the principles of His Word. We cannot expect to grow if we do not apply the Bible's principles. If we follow His will, God will enable us to succeed. He honors our willingness to follow Him, and our faith grows because we can see the evidence of His hand working in our lives. Once the Father reveals His direction for us, we must step out in complete confidence of His wisdom and provision. The Lord wants us to succeed, so He enables us to do so. As we watch Him working in our lives and honoring our obedience, our faith in Him grows.
5. Observing the ways of God. At times, God allows hardships to help us learn dependence. Other times, He is silent in order to develop patience. Also, He uses seemingly inopportune situations or people who seem unfit for His purposes to accomplish what He desires. Knowing all the ways in which God works will broaden your faith. By comprehending how the Lord works in others' lives, we can understand His activity in our own circumstances. The Father often operates in unusual ways that we do not expect. However, by learning how He demonstrates His power through believers and teaches us during times of adversity, we can remain confident regardless of what happens.
6. Observing His work in the lives of others. God will put certain people in our lives to influence and challenge us. Watching their actions and hearing their testimonies can help our faith mature. The Lord will also instruct us through the lives of the biblical saints and believers we know and respect. They are truly examples of His principles in action. He works through them to strengthen our faith and plant His truth in our hearts and minds.
7. Obeying the will of God. Obeying God and leaving all the consequences to Him is the perfection of faith. The willingness to do what He asks is the greatest example of obedience, and it brings the ultimate blessing because it honors and pleases God. We live out the words of Hebrews 11:6, "He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." This is the perfect expression of faith. We do as the Lord says, regardless of what it costs or requires of us—all the while trusting that He will help us. We believe wholeheartedly that He will not only honor our obedience, but will also bless us abundantly.
8. Receiving answers to prayer. We should pray with expectation, confidence, and boldness that our heavenly Father will provide everything we need. Much like a father who promises to catch his child when he leaps into a pool, God wants us to trust Him and "jump" in faith. He'll catch us every time. It is such a wonderful experience when the Father responds to our requests. We see the full power and provision of heaven employed in helping us. This is why we should always pray with expectation, confidence, boldness, assurance, diligence, and persistence.
9. Worshipping God. When we sing, whether in church or by ourselves, we are making a public profession. We're saying we believe in God's power and greatness. We're confessing what we believe and receiving a blessing at the same time. The songs we sing in praise to the Father offer us an opportunity to profess our absolute trust in Him. We remember all the ways He has been faithful to us, and that never fails to bolster our confidence in the Lord.
10. Confessing faith failures. We can't fool God; He knows when we've made a mistake or failed Him in some way. The only thing we must do is confess it immediately. Then, recommit ouselves to live according to His will and learn from our errors. The Father will not reject us because we've failed. He wants to forgive us, give us another opportunity, and bring us back into unhindered relationship with Himself. When we fully experience His unconditional love, it will deepen our trust in Him and help us continue growing in our Christian walks.
We will never know what our potential is unless we are willing to "walk on water," to step out and trust God in faith. Whatever your situation or circumstance, God can transform your life and help you advance spiritually if you're ready to call on Him.
Walking in Faith:
The Father of Our Faith
Abraham is known by this title because of his inspiring and historic trust in God. Although he grew up in a pagan land and knew nothing about Yahweh, he obeyed when the Lord called him (Josh. 24:2-3). God said, "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you" (Gen. 12:1-2). It was an incredibly difficult command—Abraham was to leave his family and everything he had ever known to go to a place he had never seen. Although Abraham's faith was severely tried, we know that he remained devoted to God even when everything appeared contrary to the Lord's covenant with him. And the Father blessed him beyond measure—fulfilling every promise. Yes, Abraham failed at times and had doubts like we do. He wasn't perfect. This is the reason he is an excellent example of what it means to live a vibrant life of faith. We all experience faith failures, but if we pick ourselves up and renew our trust in the Lord, we will see God's promises to us fulfilled as this patriarch did. Thankfully, Abraham also demonstrates what is necessary for remaining confident in the Father's provision. These five requirements are as follows:
Requirement 1: Learn to Listen to God
The Lord is speaking to each of us individually—just as He did with Abraham. But if we do not learn to listen to Him, how will we ever have a relationship with Him? The first question we should ask is "How does the Father communicate with us?" He does so primarily through His Word and prayer. As we read the Bible daily, He shows us how to handle the issues that concern us. However, He may also communicate through other people, sermons, Christian books, songs, and circumstances. In fact, He will move heaven and earth to show us His will when we seek His face. The key is to begin each day by praying, "Father, if You have anything to say to me, please speak—I'm listening." Though there may be times when God's directions do not make sense to us, be assured that He would never tell us to do anything that contradicts Scripture.
Requirement 2: Learn to Obey God
As you and I grow in our relationships with the Father, we learn by trial and error how crucial it is for us to do exactly as He tells us. In fact, once we hear the Lord's direction, our best course of action is to submit to His commands fully and immediately—no matter what it costs us—because obedience to God always brings blessings. As we mature, we also discover that when we attempt to take shortcuts or circumvent God's plan, we get ourselves into trouble. This is because partial obedience is disobedience, which always brings terrible consequences.
Requirement 3: Learn to Depend on God
The more closely we walk with the Father, the more we understand how perfectly He leads us. This is why God will sometimes only show us where to go one step at a time—so we will rely upon Him completely. When this happens, we may become frustrated or impatient with our progress and begin to doubt. However, when we do so, we show that we don't truly trust and depend on God. As a result, we begin to feel we must handle things on our own and pull away from Him. This is always a mistake. Instead, we must constantly remain in complete dependence upon the Father, which is the position of ultimate safety.
Requirement 4: Learn to Wait Upon God
Time is a tool in God's hand, and its passing will either strengthen our faith or undermine it, depending on how we respond. Take note because Scripture is clear: "God . . . acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him" (Isa. 64:4). No matter how many days, weeks, months, or years pass, the Lord will still keep His promises to you. Trust is all He requires of His children.
Requirement 5: Learn to Acknowledge, Repent, and Profit from Faith Failures
We all make mistakes and fail to rely on God at times. We run ahead of His timing, trying to invent our own solutions to the problems we face, or achieve the desires of our hearts in our own ways. Although there are certainly consequences for this, we must never imagine that the Father gives up on us. The Lord never turned His back on Abraham, and He will not forsake us either. However, God will continue to try our faith until we are able to trust Him with everything we love in life. Therefore, instead of merely regretting our failures, we should acknowledge them, repent of our unbelief, and make every effort to avoid such mistakes in the future. Do you have confidence that God will fulfill every promise He's made to you? Do you trust Him to lead you in the best possible path for your life? Are you willing to put those you love most in His capable hands? I hope you can answer "yes" to these questions because when you become a believer, you entered the school of faith for this very purpose—to trust Him more. Friend, don't miss God's best in your life because of fear. Grow in your relationship with the Father by listening to, depending on, waiting on, and obeying Him. At times when you fail, learn from your mistakes. Remain devoted to the Lord even when everything appears contrary to what He has promised you. You can rest assured that He is trustworthy and will keep His promises to you. You cannot lose by trusting Him, and there is no substitute for faith in the life of a believer.
Reflection:
1. What makes waiting on God's timing so difficult?
2. Do you take an active role in the waiting process by praying, reading God's Word, and counting on His promises with expectation?
3. Would these make the waiting process easier to handle. If so, how?
4. What active steps you currently taking to further your relationship with God?
5. Recall a time when God answered a prayer of yours. How did that answer grow your faith in Him?
Questions:
1. How do we grow in our faith?
2. Advancing in your faith require what?
3. When you walk by faith what can you expect on your daily walk with the Lord?
4. Will the Father reject us if we have faith failure?
5. When we grow in the Lord, what does it bring Him?
6. What does it means to walk in faith?
7. Why is Abraham known by the title "Father of faith"?
8. What is necessary for remaining in confident in the Father?
9. How does the Father communicate with us?
10. Instead of regretting our failures, we should do what?
Prayer:
Father of all, we come to You thanking You for Your grace and mercy. In this study show us things to help us continue to walk in good faith, so we can please You. Walking with the Lord Jesus Christ is the most exciting life a person can live, and we thank You for giving it to us. We stand on Your Word that says we are overcomers even when we have adversities and trails. Give us discernment on Your nature as Your dear children. We acknowledge that Your are omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, holy, loving, and merciful. Thank You Lord! Help to always meditate, apply Your Word, observe Your ways and works. We do desire to obey You and Your laws. As we study this lesson teach us how to advance in our faith. As said, we will never know what our potential is unless we are willing to "walk on water," to step out and trust You in faith. We call on You now to help us advance spiritually, transform us to Your image, Your ways, Your thoughts, so that in all our situations or circumstances we will trust You always. In our Lord Jesus's Mighty Name, AMEN.
Quiz:
HEBREWS 11 HEROS: WEEK # 7
1. Which man, mentioned in Hebrews 11, was taken up to heaven without dying because he had lived a godly life?
2. Whose faith and actions as a result of that faith condemned the world?
3. Who didn't know what was ahead when he obeyed God's call to follow Him and to leave his current location?
4. Who lived in a tent while searching for a city designed and built by God?
5. Who believed that she could have a child even though she was past child-bearing age?
6. Which man of faith promised future blessings to his twin sons?
7. Which man mentioned in Hebrews 11 foresaw that the people of Israel would leave Egypt?
8. What former prince of Egypt chose to suffer with his people instead of lead the life of a royal?
9. Who saved her life by harboring spies in her house?
10. Can you list five other men mentioned in Hebrews 11, who haven't appeared in the prior quiz questions?
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