Need Faith?

Last night, before hitting the sack, I read this from Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional, composed of selections from the vast library of writings by Martin Luther:

ASKING GOD FOR FAITH

Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
Mark 9:24

If you have difficulty believing, you should ask God for faith. For the ability to believe is in God's hands alone. God sometimes gives faith openly and sometimes secretly.


But you can spur yourself on to believe. To begin, you shouldn't continually focus on the suffering of Christ. This has already done its work and frightened you. Rather, move beyond that and look at Christ's caring heart. See how full of love it is toward you, so that it drives him to lift the heavy load of your sin. Then your heart will be filled with love toward him, and your faith will be strengthened.

After this, move beyond Christ's heart to God's heart. You will see that Christ wouldn't have shown you love unless God in his eternal love had wanted him to. Christ is being obedient to God when he loves you. You will discover the good heart of the good Father, and as Christ says, you will be drawn to the Father through Christ. Then you will better understand what Christ says in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son." We recognize the nature of God best, not by thinking about his power and wisdom, which are terrifying, but by thinking about his goodness and love. Then we are truly born anew in God, and we can grow in faith.