10 Ways To Strengthen Your Faith in God

Strengthen your faith in God with these 10 actionable strategies to deepen and revitalize your relationship with Him with trust and unshakable hope.

Have you ever been told to “have faith”?  What does it mean to have faith, anyway?  A dictionary definition of “have faith” is to encourage someone to stay confident, with related words being believe, reliance, depend on.

Faith can be defined as an active trust in God and a belief in the unseen.  You have no doubt heard the saying, “seeing is believing.”  With faith, believing involves more than just sight, it involves confident trust in that which is not yet seen.

In the Bible, Hebrews 11:1 says:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1

There are a number of reasons why you might feel that you do not have faith, or that your faith is weak. Experiencing difficult trials can cause you to doubt God’s goodness. If your prayers seem to go unanswered for a long time, it can lead to weakened faith.

Sometimes interactions with people who seem to be hypocrites or acting against their professed beliefs can cause a weakening in your confidence which leads to a lack of faith.

Faith is an essential part of the Christian life, or for anyone who seeks a deeper connection with God or the divine. Without a strong faith in God, you will not be able to find inner peace, or gain resilience, and you will struggle with navigating life’s challenges.

Faith acts like an anchor that keeps you from drifting because it is secured in God and in His Word, which is the strongest and best foundation imaginable (Hebrews 6:19).

Whether you are an established Christian desiring a deeper connection with God, someone who feels spiritually disconnected, or simply an individual curious about developing a stronger relationship with the divine, there are several ways to increase faith and deepen faith in God. 

These ten steps for how to grow in faith include deepening your prayer life, immersing yourself in Scripture and meditating on God’s promises, surrounding yourself with community while serving others, practicing gratitude, patience and trust, forgiving yourself and others, embracing trials as a way to grow, and actively seeking the presence of God in your life.

If this sounds like something you want to pursue, read on! You will learn how to strengthen your faith in God with these 10 actionable strategies to deepen and revitalize your relationship with Him with trust and unshakable hope.

1. Deepen Your Prayer Life

The first strategy for strengthening faith is to deepen your prayer life. Prayer is direct communication with God, involving not just talking to God but also listening to what He has to say to you. Being in direct communication with the One who created you is a powerful way to enhance your faith.

Scripture tells of the importance of praying continually even when distracted or busy; this is confirmed by John Elmore in an article about ways to improve your prayer life. He says,

“In a world that is increasingly busy and full of distractions, prayer can tend to fall by the wayside. Yet simultaneously, we all would say and believe that prayer is important, but often it’s far from focus in our walk with the Lord. We forget or are overwhelmed by the call to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and at all times (Ephesians 6:18).”

John Elmore

Elmore goes on to share ten ways to improve your prayer life, including keeping a prayer journal, praying scripture, choosing a helpful prayer posture and putting prayer reminders on your phone. Read the full article for more helpful suggestions of ways that will help you grow more in the practice of prayer.

There are several different kinds of prayer. Adoration is worshiping God and praising Him for who He is. Confession is acknowledging your sin and wrongdoing and seeking forgiveness from God after repentance. Thanksgiving is prayer that expresses gratitude for God’s provision and blessings in your life.

Supplication is making requests of God, asking Him to supply what you need or desire.  Petition is also making requests of God but it is on behalf of other people, praying that God would help others rather than yourself.

Here are a few practical tips for enhancing your prayers:

• Find a quiet place and a dedicated time to pray. Quietness will help you focus, and if you have a dedicated time for prayer you are less likely to forget about it.
• Express honesty and vulnerability in your prayers. You are speaking with God, who created you and knows you intimately. He also loves you and wants you to share honestly with Him.
• Listen for God’s guidance. Listening is part of a two way conversation, and God will speak to you if you are quiet and listen for it.
• Pray aloud and with others. Praying out loud can help you focus better as it will keep your mind from wandering as it might do when praying silently. Prayer is also powerful when it is a shared activity, so praying with others can provide mutual encouragement.

2. Immerse Yourself in Scripture

The second strategy for strengthening your faith is to immerse yourself in Scripture. Studying the Bible is one of the most important spiritual disciplines you can practice; it is how you learn about God and what He says about Himself and how He has interacted with people throughout the ages. It is where you will learn to understand God’s plan in history, His sovereignty, His providence, and His love for everyone.

More than that, the Bible is the living Word of God. It applies to everyone at all times in history. It is not just a historical record or stories of times past or a listing of inspirational thoughts, it is living and active and has the power to change people’s lives.

There is great benefit in reading and studying the Bible daily. Daily reading will reveal God’s character — even reading a passage that is very familiar can bring new insight every time you read it. Bible reading can guide you in making decisions because it will help you understand God’s thoughts more clearly as you seek His will.

Reading the Bible provides comfort during difficult times and when you are afraid or grieving. All through the Bible, God is shown as the one who comforts and offers His presence, peace, and assurance to those who seek Him.

Here are a few tips for meaningful Bible study:

• Start with shorter passages. Studying a short passage will give you valuable experience in gleaning what God wants to tell you in His Word before you launch into studying longer passages.
• Use study guides and commentaries. Don’t be afraid to look into what others have learned in their own studies of the Bible. Guides and commentaries can provide valuable background information or help in understanding difficult texts. 
• Look for practical applications. The best part about studying the Bible is figuring out what God is trying to say to you through the passage. Pray for Him to open your eyes to what He wants to teach you and how to apply it to your life. Study guides and commentaries found on sites like Bible Gateway can offer helpful insights.
• Find a Bible study group. Studying God’s Word with other people provides structure to your study and can be very beneficial to gaining a deeper understanding working out together anything that is hard to understand.

3. Surround Yourself with a Supportive Community

The third strategy for strengthening your faith is to surround yourself with a supportive community. Community provides support through friendship and encouragement, as well as accountability and the opportunity to be mentored. Fellowship with those who are like-minded brings about unity in the body of Christ and support so that you never feel alone.

There are several benefits to being involved in a Christian community. One is encouragement and accountability. When you are meeting with other believers regularly, you will have support for any difficult situations you are going through, as others pray for you and encourage you.

Community also provides accountability as you seek to grow in areas of weakness and ask for help from others to help you live a godly life.

Another benefit is that you will find opportunities to serve and build others up. When you are involved in a community of believers, you are able to serve others in the same way they might serve you, by holding them accountable and building them up in their faith through encouragement and help.

Collective worship and spiritual growth is another benefit. Collective worship is an opportunity to gather with others and worship God together. Your spiritual growth will benefit as you sing, pray, take communion and hear teaching from the Word of God as part of a faith community.

If you are not currently meeting in fellowship with other believers, then finding the right faith community can be a daunting task! Before beginning your search, be sure to spend time in prayer asking for God’s wisdom and guidance. Visiting a church (or churches) and becoming involved in some of the activities there will help you decide if it is a place where you can thrive.

Small groups are a great way to become involved in a community that is smaller and more personal than the larger community of a church. You can become involved in a small group in the church you are attending as a way of plugging into the church even more.

You can also join small groups that are connected to other churches but are offering fellowship and study that might benefit you. This can broaden your fellowship opportunities and strengthen your faith.

Online forums are also a good way to participate in the faith community. You can find and meet people to interact with in ways that will stretch you and help you grow, as you converse on topics of faith.

An online forum might lead you to a physical church fellowship that interests you, or it may simply be a way to supplement your growth as you interact with others on topics of faith.

4. Practice Gratitude

The fourth strategy for strengthening your faith is to practice gratitude. Gratitude is when you focus on blessings and thankfulness for what God has done for you. It is recognizing all the good in your life is a gift given to you because of God’s enduring love and mercy.

Being grateful and expressing gratitude allows you to shift your perspective. Gratitude sees God’s hand in everything and that He has provided everything you need or desire, but it can also help you see your life with a more positive outlook.

If you look at a difficult life challenge through the eyes of gratitude, you will see it more positively as an opportunity for growth or a chance for God to work through you to show others His power and grace. In addition, looking for things to be grateful for will help you focus the positive instead of on problems and difficulties.

There are several simple ways you cultivate gratitude:

• Keeping a gratitude journal is a proven method of developing a more positive outlook, reducing stress, and seeing more clearly how God is working in your life. For some helpful hints and prompts for your gratitude journaling, read the article at So Very Blessed.
• Expressing thanks to others is another way to cultivate gratitude. Whether you are expressing your thanks verbally, or writing a thank you to someone, or even just acknowledging them with a smile or a nod, such expressions of gratitude will increase your ability to be grateful and also bless the other person.
• When you focus on thankfulness in your prayers, it is bound to spill over into your daily life! Be sure to regularly thank God for His provision and help. The more things you find to thank God for, the more your gratitude will grow!

5. Meditate on God’s Promises

The fifth strategy for strengthening your faith is by meditating on God’s promises. Remembering what God has promised in His Word is one of the best ways to internalize the truth and be strengthened by it.

God has promised to comfort you, to give you strength when you need it, to give you peace in your heart and to always provide for you. These are just a few of the promises to be found in the Bible.

Mindfully practicing meditation on God’s promises will help you see more clearly His character, and this will help you internalize the truth of His promises as you apply them to yourself and to your daily situations.

Here is one technique for scriptural meditation:

• Choose a promise that is meaningful to you or that seems to apply to a situation you might be struggling with.
• Write it out, and speak it aloud. This will help you see more clearly the truth contained in the promise and can go a long way in committing it to memory.
• Quiet reflection focusing on the meaning is key to understanding how the promise applies to you in your current situation or need.

If you need help in finding promises in God’s Word, there are many websites that share lists of promises in the Bible. Bible Study Tools and Christianity websites are two of many such lists of promises.

6. Serve Others

The sixth strategy for strengthening your faith is to serve others. Service to others is a physical expression of your faith and can be considered a form of worship and obedience to God.

When you serve you are demonstrating Christ-like love in action as you show your gratitude to God by using the gifts and the abundance He has given you to serve the body of Christ.

Some of the benefits of serving are that you will witness God’s work in the lives of others, and this will increase your own faith. Another benefit is that service shifts the focus from yourself onto others, and this will help you be more mindful of the needs of others.

In addition, you will experience an increased feeling of purpose, which will bring you joy as well as more opportunities to serve the Lord through service.

There are countless ways to serve – finding the right fit for you is important! It could be volunteering at a local organization, being a kind and dependable neighbor, or using your unique skills to benefit others. A great source for exploring how your passions meet genuine needs is the website CRU.

7. Practice Patience and Trust

The second seventh for strengthening your faith is to practice patience and trust. Faith in God does not mean you will have instant answers on everything. Trusting God as you wait develops character and a reliance on God’s timing.

It truly can be a leap of faith to wait patiently and put your trust in something that is unseen and unknown, but you can find peace in God’s sovereignty.

God’s authority is over everything, whether in the present or in the future, and that includes everything that is happening to you today, even this minute. Letting go of the need to be in control yourself and giving that control back to God brings a great amount of peace as it strengthens your faith.

8. Forgive Yourself and Others

The eighth strategy for strengthening your faith is to forgive yourself and others. God has forgiven you completely through the atoning death of His Son. It was not because of anything you have done to deserve it.

In the same way, your forgiveness of yourself and of others should be freely given, in spite of any view you might have of not deserving it. Extending forgiveness strengthens your faith even as it releases the hold bitterness and hurt can have on your heart. If you do not forgive, then your relationship with God will be hindered.

Ephesians 4:32 says,

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.“

Ephesians 4:32

A helpful explanation of how to apply this verse can be found in an article by Focus on the Family about how to forgive:

“When forgiving someone, remember that God forgave you first. Therefore, the Bible tells us we are to forgive others as God in Christ forgave us. We are called to follow Christ’s example of forgiveness – but it can be difficult. Someone may have hurt us deeply.
One way to put things into perspective is by thinking about all the things that God has forgiven us for. We have each hurt God through our sin, but he is always willing to forgive. If God can forgive us for what we have done, can’t we extend that same forgiveness to someone else?”

Focus on the Family

Remember, forgiveness can be a process. Ask God to give you the strength and compassion as you forgive yourself for past mistakes, and seek ways to forgive those who have hurt you. Websites like Focus on the Family are great resources for navigating the steps of forgiveness in a healthy way.

9. Embrace Trials as Opportunities for Growth

The ninth strategy for strengthening your faith is to embrace trials as opportunities for growth. It is not always possible to know why you are facing a trial, but considering it as an opportunity to trust God in spite of your difficulty will increase your faith.

It will also help you to develop perseverance and the ability to rely on God during the storms of life.

If you are able to practice gratitude, even in a difficult situation, it will help you be able to see things in a more positive light, and this may help you find God’s purposes even in the difficult.  Learning to trust that God works all things for your good is possible!

10. Actively Seek and Expect God’s Presence

The tenth strategy for strengthening your faith is to actively seek and expect God’s presence. He has promised to go before you and to be with you, to never leave you or forsake you (Deuteronomy 13:8), and you can trust that promise. 

Being expectant is active rather than passive, it is like waiting for something you know will happen, maybe even going out to meet it! In the same way, growing in faith requires you to be intentional about it, it won’t just happen while you sit there not seeking it out.

How can you proactively seek God in everyday life? Several ways come to mind:

• Allow yourself quiet time for reflection. It is in the quiet times that you will be able to hear God speaking to you through the Holy Spirit.
• Finding God in nature is a beautiful way to see the glory of what He has created and find peace and quiet to listen to His voice at that same time.
• Do not hesitate to ask for and expect His guidance. God desires fellowship with us, and He is waiting for you to ask Him to draw closer!

FAQs On Ways To Strengthen Your Faith in God

In summary, there are a number of good ways to strengthen your faith in God:

• deepen your prayer life
• immerse yourself in Scripture and meditate on God’s promises
• surround yourself with community and serve others
• practice gratitude, patience and trust
• forgiving yourself and others
• embrace trials as a way to grow
• actively seek God’s presence in your life

Remember that seeking to strengthen your faith is a journey, not a destination! It will always be a work in progress, but if you persevere and are consistent in these practices, you will be encouraged and strengthened.

My favorite passage of Scripture is 2 Peter 1:3, 8, which was shared with me at a time when I was struggling with the feeling that I was weak and useless in my faith.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness… For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I think Peter’s words apply very well to the pursuit of stronger faith in God. God has given you and me everything we need to live a life acceptable to Him, and He will draw near to us as we seek Him and our faith will be strengthened.

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