All believers are called to trust the Lord Jesus for all of their needs; after all, Jesus clearly stated that we cannot work for God and money at the same time. (Matthew 6:24) When we take away money as our main source of income and when we are thrown into the wilderness, we have no other choice but to literally take Jesus at his word. He said, Don’t worry about food or clothing. Or where we will get those items.

With faith in Jesus’s promises that he will provide regardless of what situation you are in, you will have confidence wherever you go in service to God. Faith is believing what Jesus promises in the gospels and acting on that faith and believing it entirely. Countless people in the world, including very sincere people to God, struggle with practicing faith. When trials of faith come and difficulties arise with waiting upon God for needs in their hour of testing, very commonly an individual will leave depending on God because impatience replaces trust. They convince themselves that they don’t have any faith or that this way of living is not necessary. The “substance of faith” is dissipated, and the chance for increasing faith in Jesus is gone.

”Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

Carefully reading the Word of God (the gospels) and meditating on it daily, your mind will be filled with who God is and his character, and the more you meditate on the promises of Jesus, the more you will believe and be convinced that he will take care of you because that is who he is. Jesus is merciful and kind; he gives much, and he cares much. When reading the gospels, you will see Jesus giving all his followers all that they need: the poor are fed, the sick are healed, and Christ delivers his people from all kinds of suffering. And that the power of God is practiced not just by Jesus but by other common folk too.

So meditate on the Word of God as it is beneficial for the state of your faith, then God will give you instances of practice for the increasing of your faith.

We also need to make sure that we are not willingly indulging in bad practices that can damage our faith in God. He will not answer our requests or prayers if we are doing things that are not pleasing to God. This could be sin, but it also could be things that you know are not good to do or even see. A guilty mind can create distrust in God and thus produce distrust in exercising your faith, and then the faith is weakened. With every fresh trial of faith, it either increases by trusting him and then getting help, or it decreases by not getting help, and then there is less and less power of trusting simply and directly in Christ and God.

Often when people fail in trusting Jesus for everything and for living day by day, they go into a system of self-reliance or something like asking unbelievers for money. I know this myself because I practiced asking for money (people call it donations). I never once had to trust in Jesus because my real faith was in money.

Even though it was a small amount of money, that never changed the fact that it was money. If Christians really want to have real faith, then they should not move away from situations where our faith in Jesus will be tried, and therefore, through the trial, it can be strengthened afterward. In our sinful bodies, dealing with God like I am suggesting creates a natural dislike of not wanting to be in positions like this of dependence entirely on God; usually we naturally want to do things our way.

Even having faith in Jesus promises in the gospels as a believer, the sinful nature still creates a sort of alienation from not wanting to stand alone with God and depend entirely on his promises. Ironically, this is what creates more faith. The more you practice faith in Jesus for your material needs like food, clothing, a place to live, money for rent, etc., the greater your faith will be. So Christians should not try to stay away from situations where their faith will be tried, but they should embrace them happily just to see God move in all directions of supplying their needs. This will give you joy, as Jesus says too.

”Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:24)

We need to let God work for us in prayer, Jesus promises this when he said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30)

What Jesus is saying here is when we let him do all of our heavy lifting, like providing food, clothes, and money, we do not have to go around asking for help, exhausting ourselves. Or working a job seventy hours a week. Jesus brings all that we need to us because, like a father, he actually cares for us deeply. Faith is given to us to be tried over and over again.

As these verses say,“The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38)

”Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me.” (Matthew 17:17)

Here Jesus is criticizing his apostles for lacking faith. In simpler words, they doubted instead of believing in the power of what God can accomplish here on earth.

”And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20)

Jesus is promoting practice in faith. We are not just talking about small things like more disciples or feeding the poor. In this example, Jesus gives us something that is literally impossible to do in our strength: moving a mountain. Now the mountain can be a problem you are facing in your life, or it can be taken as is, an impossible problem you can’t solve by yourself without believing in God for assistance. When we practice our faith in asking God for help with specific prayers, we can be assured he will help, regardless of what it is. Here is Jesus a second time reminding his disciples that faith in God should be practiced.

”Now in the morning, as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon but leaves only and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon the fig tree withered away! Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matthew 21:18)

Look at the last part Jesus emphasized. Prayer and asking for things in prayer. With prayer, God does the impossible, and without it, we fail. We need to ask the Lord for help in doing things for him and the Kingdom. God still answers prayers today, friends, when we ask and pray consistently. It is true that a wicked generation will not see miracles and signs (Matthew 16:4), but faith is a different category altogether and is required by God to be used. It’s our weapon against all doubt in times when the world and Satan himself work against us and all other Christians.

”Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” (Matthew 6:30)

Jesus is showing us that He can provide all of our needs without us needing to ask any unbeliever for help! This can be money, food, clothing, or shelter. We only need to ask one, and that is God or the Christ. He will inspire others to provide all of our needs! We will not have to go around asking for help.

In Matthew 8:10, we see Jesus impressed by the centurion’s faith in God and how he didn’t even request Jesus to be there in person for his daughter to be healed. The more you practice your faith in Jesus and how he can help you with living expenses, food, clothing, and anything else, the greater your faith will be. The more you rely on others for money (like your boss or unbelievers), the less your faith will be practiced in the Lord and the more you will struggle. So don’t ask anyone besides God! He will provide everything you require! I know it, friends! I have lived it myself, and I have all that I need: no job, no income, no asking for donations or anything else.

”I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)

In this verse, we see that Jesus desires people to have real faith, not just believing in the existence of God or just obeying Jesus, but actually believing in His promises in the New Testament and acting on them. Asking God for help with all you do. There are many people who obey Jesus in different areas, but what I find is that the element of faith is not active in all those people. In some way, shape, or form, they are dependent on a system of income. Whether it’s from unbelievers being constantly asked for money, active fundraising campaigns, or receiving a salary for being a servant to Christ, they rarely use their faith God wants to be exercised.

Instead, their faith has completely dwindled, and it’s very difficult for them to let go of this constant flow of money. It’s too uncomfortable, or unpredictable, or they just don’t want to.

Imagine Jesus walking around asking for money, the Apostles, or the thousands of first Christians. What would people see? They would not see faith being practiced, would they, brothers and sisters? They would see the man-made system in practice, and they would say, “The only reason you get anything is that you ask for money, or you receive money.”

When I practiced asking others for money or material wealth, my confidence in God was nonexistent. My faith was so little, the only thing I believed was obeying, and I thought that was sufficient. But looking back, I realized I was missing so much encouragement from God when I would ask others for things instead of him.

Christians shall live by faith, depending on the Lord Jesus for all of their needs. It might be hard at first to try to use our faith in obedience to Jesus, but God will not give us more than we can handle. (Philippians 4:13) I hope the best for you, reader, depending on God! God be with you.