How Faith Grows: What Scripture Says About Increasing Faith

Not long ago, I sat across from a dear friend who serves as a missionary overseas. In his context—where resources are scarce and risk is constant—he trusts God for things I often hesitate to believe. His faith, in that moment and setting, felt enormous: resilient, expectant, unshaken. 

But on a later trip to the U.S., he admitted struggling to trust God for things I found easy to believe. “You have more faith than I do—for this,” he said.

That exchange stuck with me. It taught me something important: God grows our faith. But He often grows it specifically, not generally—deepening it in one area through experience, suffering, and wisdom, while leaving us weaker or less mature in others.

In that sense, faith is both given and grown. But we must be careful how we talk about this.

Some teach that faith is a spiritual force—a kind of power we activate through words or declarations to shape outcomes. But this is fundamentally unbiblical. Faith is not a force we wield. It is trust in God. It is a gift, not a power (Eph. 2:8). It rests not in our words but in God’s. It doesn’t shape reality according to our will. It believes God’s promises and submits to His.

And yet, this faith can be increased—not through self-effort or positive thinking, but through the sovereign work of God. Scripture shows us this in at least three ways. 

First, God assigns different measures of faith to each believer. Paul tells us, “God has assigned to each a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3). In context, he’s urging humility—not every believer has the same capacity of faith, especially as it relates to service.

In verse 6, Paul continues: “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith.” There is variance—some have more faith, others less—but all are given their measure by grace.

Second, faith can grow. Paul rejoices that the Thessalonians’ faith is “growing abundantly” (2 Thess. 1:3). The disciples ask Jesus, “Increase our faith” (Lk. 17:5). And Scripture makes clear that some are “weak in faith” (Rom. 14:1), while others are “strong in faith” (Rom. 4:20).

While saving faith unites every believer to Christ, the strength and maturity of that faith develops over time. But this growth is not random. It comes through the means of grace—God’s appointed tools for spiritual transformation. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17).

The Word of God creates and strengthens faith. The ordinances confirm it. Trials refine it (1 Pet. 1:6-7). Prayer stretches it. Community encourages it (Heb. 3:12-14). God doesn’t increase faith by magic or manipulation. He grows it through truth and testing.

Third, faith grows in specific areas, not all at once. Our faith is not strengthened uniformly. God often matures us through particular experiences that deepen our trust in Him in one domain, while leaving other areas of our life in progress. This is why a believer can be strong in faith in one season or circumstance but weak in another.

This is where my friend and I help each other. God increased his faith in a jungle of need. He increased mine in the comforts of pastoral ministry. Neither of us conjured up stronger faith. We simply walked the path God laid for us. And in doing so, we learned to trust Him more—each in different ways, for different things.

This fits perfectly with the doctrine of sanctification. Just as love, humility, and wisdom grow progressively through the Spirit’s work, so does faith. Yet none of it originates in us. God gives it. God grows it. God sustains it.

Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” It is not a spiritual lever we pull—it is a fixed confidence in God’s truth. That confidence can be weak or strong. But it is always anchored in God’s Word. And when faith grows, it doesn’t feel like spiritual power rising. It feels like fear fading. Trust settling. Obedience deepening.

So yes, faith can grow. But it does not grow by human will or spiritual formulas. It grows as God enlarges it through His Word, His Spirit, and the circumstances He wisely ordains. “Lord, increase our faith” (Lk. 17:5).

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