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Colin Smith: Luke records that the disciples on one occasion said to Jesus, "Lord, increase our faith." These men, the disciples, had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They were followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, but they came to a point in their lives where they knew that they had to grow in their faith.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I'm Steve Hiller, glad you're with us today. Colin, do you think that every genuine follower of Jesus comes to that point where they need to pray that prayer?

Colin Smith: Oh, absolutely. I mean, what happens in life is that you are going along and it seems that things are okay and then suddenly you find yourself confronted by a situation that you had not known before. It may be to do with health, it may be a crisis in a relationship, it may be a loss, it may be something to do with employment.

And you find yourself saying, "You know, I thought I was doing fine, but now I'm in a position where I know I really need more help. Lord, increase my faith." And I'm sure that's where the disciples were when they made that famous prayer. It's a wonderful, wonderful prayer, and that's what we're looking at today.

The reality is that we do need to grow in faith and the question is how. And we're going to continue to see some of the strategies by which we can grow in faith as we confront some of the greatest challenges that we face in life.

Steve Hiller: Well, let's continue to look at that. We're in Matthew chapter 6 today as we continue our message, "Little Faith." Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Faith grows as we get to know Jesus. Walk with him, learn of him, look to him, and your faith will grow. You know, Paul says that he is able to do far more abundantly above all that we ask and even above all that we think.

Little faith believes enough to ask Jesus for help. Little faith thinks that God can help. That is why he or she asks. But God is able to do far abundantly more than little faith asks or thinks. He's able to do far more than any of us here today even thinks. Walk with him and you will find out what he can do.

Now, the third time that Jesus refers to little faith is in Matthew chapter 14, and you might like to turn over to that with me now. This is the story of when Jesus came to his disciples walking on the water. And from this story, we learn that little faith is easily distracted.

Notice Matthew 14:31. Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and took hold of him, that is Peter, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Now, again, this is a story that some of us know well.

The disciples were in the boat at night, and Jesus had gone up to a mountain on his own in order to pray. But late in the night, Jesus came to the disciples walking on the water. At first, the disciples thought that they were seeing a ghost, but Jesus said, "Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid."

And Peter said, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." And Jesus said, "Come." Peter got out of the boat and he walked on the water to Jesus. Now, here we learn something else about faith. Faith takes bold initiatives at the command of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we look at this story, Peter getting out of the boat, our first thought is most likely, "Well, Peter must have had great faith to do that. I mean, I'm not sure I would have done it. Would I have got out of the boat?" Peter must have had great faith to get out of the boat. And yet what Jesus says to him here is, "O you of little faith."

Spurgeon suggests that Peter's faith was little from the beginning because little faith is always looking for a sign. Listen to what he says, and I quote, "Little faith is far too eager for signs." Spurgeon says, "I do not think Peter's faith suddenly became little; it was always little, and the sight of the wind made its littleness apparent."

He continues, "Strong faith is content without signs. It believes God's bare word and asks for no confirming miracle." Now, it's clear from this story then that little faith, that's the name by which Jesus addresses Peter here, little faith can achieve great things.

But it's also clear from the story that little faith gets easily distracted. Here's Peter taking what looks like this bold initiative of faith. He's responding to the invitation of Jesus to come. But Matthew tells us that when he walked on the water, he saw the wind, verse 30, and he was afraid.

So picture this: his eyes are on Jesus as he walks towards the Master, but you see, the thing with little faith is it's easily distracted. And when he saw the wind, oh, well then he was afraid and he began to sink. Now, this is one of the marks of little faith: it looks to Jesus and then it looks away to something else.

Now, we're asking the practical question throughout this series: how can my faith grow? Well, again from this story, we've got another very obvious answer, and it's this: that faith grows as we worship. And that's where the story ends here, verse 32.

When they got into the boat, the wind ceased, and those in the boat worshipped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." Worship is the gaze of the soul upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and your faith will grow as you worship.

Now, the fourth time that Jesus speaks about little faith is in Matthew chapter 16, and again, you might like to turn there. And here we see that little faith forgets what Jesus has done. Matthew 16:8: "But Jesus, aware of this, said, 'O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?'"

Now, the context of this here is that Jesus had said to the disciples in verse 6, "Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." And Matthew tells us that on that particular day, the disciples had forgotten to pack lunch; they had forgotten to bring bread.

And so when Jesus referred to leaven, they thought that he was raising the subject of lunch. "Did he say leaven? Oh, no, we've forgotten the bread. Oh, we should have brought some lunch." "Yes," says one of the disciples, "but why did he say beware of the leaven of the Pharisees?"

"Oh," says another, "well, maybe he's saying that we shouldn't be asking the Pharisees to give us bread. I mean, they did give alms, they did give help to people who were in need; maybe Jesus is saying don't ask them." "No, no," says someone else, "maybe he's saying that we shouldn't eat with the Pharisees because we are not walking in fellowship with them," and so forth.

Their conversation was all about food, and Jesus says, verse 8, "O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?" And then he says, verse 9, "Do you not remember?" And he reminds them of how he fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, multiplying them.

So that all the people had plenty to eat with 12 baskets left over. And how on another occasion he did something very similar with a crowd of about 4,000 people. Verse 9: "Do you not remember?" Little faith forgets what Jesus has done.

And this points us surely to another way in which faith grows. Faith grows as we remember the words and the works of Jesus. That's how faith grows. And this is why the Lord's Supper is such a marvelous gift for the strengthening of our faith.

Faith grows as we fix our minds and our hearts on what Jesus has done. And this is why a daily diet of the Word of God is so vital to a growing faith. Little faith forgets what Jesus has done, but faith grows as it is nourished by the Word of God.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith in a message called "Little Faith," and we'll continue to look at how faith grows in just a moment. So hope you'll stay with us. Our message is part of a larger series called Grow in Faith.

And if you ever miss a broadcast in the series, come and listen online. Our website is openthebible.org. Or you can listen through the Open the Bible app, which is free; you'll find it at your App Store. Simply look for Open the Bible and stay connected with Pastor Colin's teaching whenever you're on the go, basically listen on demand.

Again, the app is free at your App Store, just look for Open the Bible or come and listen online at openthebible.org. Back to the message, here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: And then the fifth and the last time that Jesus referred to little faith is found in the next chapter, Matthew chapter 17. And here we learn that little faith gives up too soon. Notice verse 19 and 20 of this passage.

The disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" and he said to them, "Because of your little faith." Now, the story here is that Jesus had gone up on the mountain with Peter, James, and John where his glory was revealed in the transfiguration.

The other nine disciples were left behind at the bottom of the mountain. And while Jesus was gone, a man whose son was possessed by an evil spirit came to the disciples and asked them for help. Now, the disciples had been in situations like this before.

Much earlier, the Gospels tell us that Jesus had sent them out. In Mark chapter 6 and verse 7, we read these words: that Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits. And Mark tells us that they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

So these disciples had been successful many times in bringing deliverance to people who were oppressed by evil powers. But on this occasion, they were unable to help. When this man brought his afflicted son, I expect that the disciples said and did what they had said and done before.

But this time, nothing happened, and they were perplexed. Why is this? I expect they were embarrassed as well. Jesus came down the mountain, and Jesus immediately delivered the boy from the evil power that had afflicted him.

But I want you to notice what happened next, verse 19. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" Well, that's the question. And of course, this is a problem that all of us will recognize.

Here we find ourselves today; we're surrounded in so many ways by great evil that manifests itself in all kinds of ways. And the church seems powerless. People say, "Why can't the church do something about it? Why could we not cast it out?"

That's the question. And Jesus says, "Because of your little faith." Now, you read that and you think, "Ah, what he's saying is you need greater faith. If only you had stronger faith, if only you believed more, then you would have been successful in dealing with this problem."

But I want you to notice that is not what Jesus is saying, because in the very next verse, verse 20, he says, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed," that's the smallest of all seeds, "if you have, in other words, even the littlest faith, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."

Now, you see very clearly what Jesus is saying there in verse 20 is that even the smallest faith can move mountains. Even little faith can see great things happen. Now, we saw that already in the story of Peter, who had little faith walking on the water.

So why were the disciples not able to deliver the boy from the evil power that afflicted him? Well, if you look at your Bible very closely, you will see that there is a footnote here. And the footnote reads, "Some manuscripts insert verse 21: 'But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting.'"

Now, whether or not that was originally part of Matthew's Gospel, for sure it is recorded in the Gospel of Mark, Mark chapter 9 and verse 29. And fasting, in its nature, is something that you do over a period of time. You can't fast for five or 10 minutes.

You do it over a period of time. That's the point. And it seems to me that when Jesus says, "O you of little faith" here, he's saying you've given up too soon. Even with a little faith, even with faith as small as a grain of mustard seed, you would have been successful if you had persevered. But that's what you didn't do.

You know, when there's a difficult passage of Scripture to understand, and this one isn't easy to understand, it's helpful to be able to look at some commentaries. What have people who are wiser than us been able to see and discern?

And I found great help after meditating on this myself just to check what John Calvin said and to find that this is actually the point that he makes. He says this: "When Satan has taken deep root in anyone and has been confirmed by long possession, the victory is difficult and painful, and therefore the contest must be maintained, continued with all of our might."

So I'm convinced that Jesus' critique of the disciples here is not that their faith was too small, because he says even faith like a grain of mustard seed would move mountains. His critique is that they gave up too soon. Now, here's the application for us, and it's very obvious.

When you are faced with great evil, when you find yourself in a struggle with great darkness, keep praying. Keep fasting. Keep seeking the face and the help of God. If you have a loved one who seems trapped by the power of the enemy and it's been like this for a long time, don't give up hope.

Remember that Jesus said that we ought always to pray and not to lose heart. Someone here today has been fighting a particular temptation, and that battle for you has been hard, and it's been quite discouraging. And now you're tempted to say, "Oh, it's no use. I can't overcome this."

I want you to hear the word of the Lord Jesus Christ to you. O you of little faith, you're giving up too soon. Understand that some victories are only won after a long and hard struggle. Stay in the battle, and your faith will grow as you persevere.

So here from the Scriptures, we have seen five reasons for growing in faith. Why should we individually and together be praying and crying out to the Lord Jesus Christ, "Lord, increase our faith"? Why should we own that? Why should we pursue that together?

Well, we want to grow in faith because little faith is ineffective against anxiety. Little faith underestimates the ability of Jesus. Little faith is just so easily distracted. Little faith forgets what Jesus has done, and little faith gives up too soon.

And none of us wants to be content to remain there. And from these stories, we've seen five strategies for growing in faith. Faith grows as we seek God's kingdom. Faith grows as we get to know Jesus. Faith grows as we worship.

Faith grows as it is nourished by the word, and faith grows as we persevere. May God grant that we will grow in faith.

Steve Hiller: What a great thing to think about as we wrap up our time together and a great thing to pray about, that God would increase our faith. You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.

Our message is called "Little Faith," the first in our series Grow in Faith, looking today at Matthew 6, verses 25 to 33. And if you ever miss a broadcast in our series, you can always come and listen online. Our website is openthebible.org.

You can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. Again, that's at openthebible.org. You can also listen if you have the Open the Bible app. You'll find that for free at your App Store. It's a great way to listen to Pastor Colin's teaching when you're on the go.

It's really listening on demand. And in addition to this daily radio program, you can check out the weekend broadcast, our daily devotional, and a lot more. So again, get the app for free at your App Store, just look for Open the Bible or come to our website, openthebible.org.

Well, Open the Bible depends on your generosity to bring you Pastor Colin's teaching, and we're grateful for your support. As you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a copy of Pastor Colin's new 30-day devotional book called Grow in Faith. And Colin, what is one thing that you want people to take away from this book?

Colin Smith: Well, this is a book for ordinary Christians. You talk about grow in faith, someone might think, "Well, you know, I'm no giant of the faith, so that's probably not for me." Well, you know, Jesus spoke on five occasions about people with little faith.

"O you of little faith," and that's where we start in this book, Grow in Faith. If you feel that your faith is small, this is exactly for you. It's a place from which you can begin to grow. And you know, there are two wonderful things about little faith.

One is that little faith is saving faith if it is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the other is that little faith, because faith is a living thing, is faith that really can grow. And I think that this book will help people to grow in faith.

That's our hope and our prayer as we've been working on it and preparing it, and I hope that it's going to be a real blessing to you.

Steve Hiller: Well, we'd love to send you a copy of this new book from Pastor Colin. Again, it's called Grow in Faith, and it's our thank you for your financial support this month. You can give when you call 1-877-OPEN-365 or online at openthebible.org.

Again, our phone number is 1-877-673-6365 and the website is openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening, and I hope you'll join us next time. This program is a listener-supported production of Open the Bible.

Colin Smith: This is Pastor Colin, and I love the story of the thief on the cross because it's the best story we have to help people understand grace. You know, many people have the idea that if a person was to get into heaven, they'd get there by living a good enough life.

Well, the thief on the cross hadn't lived a good life, and he wasn't in a position to start living a good life either. But Jesus said to him, "Today you will be with me in paradise." Well, if the thief could get into heaven, so can everyone you know and will ever meet.

"Heaven: How I Got Here" is a compelling 60-minute film in which Stephen Baldwin portrays the thief on the cross in a one-person play. We've seen God use this film to help many to trust in Jesus as the thief did.

So who is there in your life who needs to understand grace? For more information or to watch this film for free, visit openthebible.org/heaven. That's openthebible.org/heaven.