Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10: 17). It doesn’t come from within us. It is given as a component of the divine, spiritual nature contained in the fact that God’s words are spirit (John 6: 63).

It follows, then, that if faith is to be increased, one of the ways to do it is to increasingly stay within earshot of the Word. When the Spirit urges us to pick up the Bible, it is for the reason of ministering to our faith. The reasoning is the same for being urged to listen to preaching and teaching, be it live or visually and/or aurally recorded.

But I submit that that’s not enough. Embracing the Word as described above is crucially important to receiving faith, but to increase our faith requires that we go deeper into the Word. By that, I mean that we must not rely solely on hearing the written Word. We must also hear the Living Word.

We know that we are capable of hearing Him because 1 Corinthians 2: 16 says that we Christians have within ourselves the mind of Christ. What a blessing that is; to have Mr. Faith Himself as part of us, willing to illuminate the practical meaning and ways of faith.

To receive that blessing, the Living Word is best heard and understood by cultivating an intimate relationship with Him. That is the only way to get to truly trusting Him. And trust is what we must have if we’re to learn from Him how to step out of our comfort zone into increased faith.

First and foremost, and to realistically experience faith in all things Christian, we must rely not on our own strength. We have to depend on Jesus’ power. Without Him, we can do nothing of our own accord that amounts to an everlasting blessing. Holding tightly to Jesus is what’s required for increased faith. We must allow ourselves to listen to His thoughts and feel His emotions.

Nothing else matters. For if we walk with Him, listening and talking to Him, all other things expressed as growth in faith will take place; those things being moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge; and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control, perseverance; and in perseverance, godliness; and in godliness, brotherly kindness; and in brotherly kindness, love (2 Peter 1: 5-9). It’s a circle, actually. Getting to know Him will help the above qualities increase in our lives; and as they increase, we better get to know Him—the ultimate Truth.

And faith just keeps on expanding.

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Let your roots grow down into Him [Jesus] and draw up nourishment from Him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all He has done (Colossians 2:7).