Nothing Needs to Grow As Much As Our Faith In Jesus Christ

What is faith in Jesus really? What is the living faith that receives, holds, and applies the authority of Jesus Christ in life....that receives that Jesus himself is the Lord and Conqueror? Where does this faith come from and how can it be received?

Do you know what it says in Philippians 2 about Jesus Christ? Here is what it proclaims:

"Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Jesus often explained and reproofed that impotence and failure was due to unbelief in Him. The inability to do the impossible was due to a lack of trust and dependence on the living God himself as Jesus the Lord and Conqueror in their souls. The faith they were lacking was specifically that Jesus is the authority in all things, and that there are degrees of faith in him that one graduates into as a result of spending time with him, and as a result of surrendering all to him.

Here are some notes from Andrew Murray on the issue of  how unbelief can be turned into powerful faith in Jesus Christ through prayer and fasting:

• "Jesus Christ must have total a influence and control over one's life in order for faith to do it's mighty deeds.
• Faith is the simplest exercise of the spiritual life, and it is also the highest. Faith needs a life of prayer in which to grow and keep strong, and prayer needs fasting for its full and perfect development. There can be no true prayer without faith in Jesus Christ, and yet prayer is the way to more faith in Christ. There can be no higher degrees of faith without much prayer. We must look to the throne of God to know where and how faith is to start and grow. It is in prayer, exercising faith in fellowship with the living God, that faith can increase. Faith lives by feeding on what is Divine- God Himself.
• Adoring worship of God, waiting on, and for him in the deep silence of the soul is what increases the capacity for knowing and trusting God....it's where faith is born.
• Prayer implies a dying to self which will allow a closer union to Jesus in whom the Spirit of faith comes in power. Faith needs prayer for its full growth. Christ Jesus is a person's life, and the life of a person's faith. It is Jesus Christ's life in a person that makes them strong and ready to believe.
• Jesus said," He who loses his life for my sake will find it."
• Prayer is the one hand in which to grasp the invisible. Fasting is the other hand in which to let go of the visible. Only in a life of moderation, and self denial will there be sufficient heart and strength to pray much. Fasting helps to express, to deepen, and to confirm the resolution that one is ready to sacrifice anything, even self, to attain the Kingdom of God.
• Jesus knows to accept, value and reward with power the soul that is ready to give up everything for Him and His Kingdom."