How do I get Faith?
Do you have a desire to believe in God? Do you want to believe in God? Do you hope to believe in God?
If you answered yes to any of these questions you are in the right place. One of the most important things you can do in this life is to develop a relationship with your Father in Heaven.
The great news is that He can’t wait to develop that relationship with you. He is ready and waiting.
So what do you do? What steps should you take?
Today we will discuss ways to increase your Faith.
In Alma 32:27 we read:
But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
You have already taken the step to desire or want to believe in God. Good Job! You are on your way.
If you would like to learn more about this desire see the previous post: Desire to Believe in God
Here you are ready to learn how to believe and have faith. We will continue in Alma 32:28 to learn what we should do.
Now, we will compare the word unto a seed.
Alma is going to give you a visual of faith in God. He wants you to think of your desire to believe in God like a seed that you put in your heart.
Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts;
If you truly desire to believe in God then that desire is planted in your heart. And if you truly desire it for good and want to listen to the Spirit of the Lord you will soon feel that desire grow that growth begins your faith.
and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
As you work toward growing your seed you will feel good. You will begin to understand more, questions you have will be answered and your desire to believe in God will begin to turn into faith in God.
The next question is How? How do we grow this seed, how do we grow our desire into faith?
Alma continues: Alma 32:37
And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.
Now we want to nourish our seed. And how can we do that? Let's continue with the seed analogy. You learned in elementary school what a seed would need to grow and have fruit. It needs good soil, water and sunlight. It will benefit from a good environment free of bad bugs, strong wind and cold. It will grow even better if it is fertilized and if the weeds around it are pulled out and thrown away.
What does this look like in your life if you want your faith to grow?
Soil: Your Desire to Believe
Look at your life and see where you are “planted.” Are you seeking ways to build your faith or are you hoping to disprove it? This is your desire. Is it full of nutrients or is it desolate and sandy? Do you want to believe, how badly do you want it?
Water: What you are putting into your faith
Plants need water almost daily. What are you doing daily to water your faith? Are you reading scriptures or faith building literature? Are you praying or talking to God?
Sunlight: Inspiration
Sunlight is given to us. We don’t have to bring it to us, it is just there. Are you looking for it? Are you listening to see what God is saying to you. Are you taking time to just soak it in? Maybe mediation is a good practice for you, maybe a walk in nature without headphones. Sometimes journaling and writing down what you hear will help. What are you doing to feel God’s inspiration in your life?
Environment: Where you spend your time
Our environment is not always dictated by us but we can find ways to improve it. What are you listening to? What are you watching? Are you creating an environment that encourages faith to grow? Are you doing things that put you in the shade and block the light? What are you doing in your free time? All of this will affect your seed and how it will grow.
Bugs: Friends–Who are you surrounding yourself with
Are you seeking to be with others who are learning to grow their seeds or are you with people that will destroy your delicate seedling? The people we associate with can have a huge influence on our faith. Are they going to devour it and leave you with holes and scars? Or are they going to pollinate it and help it start to produce fruit?
Strong Wind: Trials
One guarantee in this world is that we will have trials. There will be wind that blows and sometimes blows hard. We have a choice to dig our roots further into the ground and hold strong to what we have learned or to let go of our foundation and allow the wind to carry us away at its will. I have learned that if we will grow our roots deeper and grab onto that soil and make our faith stronger we will be better and happier for it.
In nature, trees that grow up in a windy environment become stronger. As winds whip around a young sapling, forces inside the tree do two things. First, they stimulate the roots to grow faster and spread farther. Second, the forces in the tree start creating cell structures that actually make the trunk and branches thicker and more flexible to the pressure of the wind. These stronger roots and branches protect the tree from winds that are sure to return.
You are infinitely more precious to God than a tree. You are His son or His daughter. He made your spirit strong and capable of being resilient to the whirlwinds of life. The whirlwinds in your youth, like the wind against a young tree, can increase your spiritual strength, preparing you for the years ahead.
Cold: Alone
Sometimes we feel that the Lord does not care and is giving us a cold shoulder. We wonder where He is and why we can’t feel the warmth of the Son. You have to choose to believe that this cold will last forever or choose to remember that Spring comes and remember how it feels. Grow your faith in the knowledge that the Son does rise and warmth will return. The Son is always there even if you can’t feel it because of the season you are in or can’t see it because it is night. It is still there and will return if you believe it and wait a little longer.
Fertilizer: Doing More
Sunlight and water will grow your plant but if you nurture it with fertilizer it will grow much faster and stronger. Look and see where you can increase your faith. Read books about God in your free time. Serve others and think of God as you do. Watch movies and listen to music that will uplift and grow your faith.
Weeds: Distractions
Weeds are subtle. You don’t see them at first as they begin to root into the ground. You then maybe see them a little but they are only small green slivers hardly worth notice. But when you ignore them they quickly become rampant and it is only by pulling them out and sometimes disrupting your own roots, causing pain and discomfort, that you can get rid of them. Distractions cause us to not read our scriptures, to not pray, to focus more on what is outside of us than what is in us.
As we read again in Alma 32:37, Alma promises us:
And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.
There are lots of ways to grow your seed. We will continue to talk about many of them but for today I would like you to answer these questions:
What do I want?
What can I do to feel the “sunlight” on my desire to believe in God?
What am I doing that is hurting my desire to believe and how can I change it?
Record Your Thoughts
After you finish answering these questions, continue to the next section or find another one that gives you a feeling of sunlight.
I know that God loves you for who you are. That He wants to develop a relationship with you. He will help you grow, He will give you ideas and bring people into your life that will help you find Him. All you have to do is grow your faith.
Alma 32:37
