Small Faith, Big God

Jesus said faith the size of a mustard seed could move a mountain. Read that again. He didn't ask for more faith. He asked for a small amount pointed at the right object.

The prayer Jesus didn't answer the way they expected

One day the apostles came to Jesus with what sounds like a perfect request.

"The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!'" (Luke 17:5, BSB)

It is exactly what most of us would ask for. But Jesus didn't respond by topping up their supply. He answered with a picture of how little is actually needed: "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you" (Luke 17:6, BSB).

Matthew records the same image after the disciples failed to heal a boy. When they asked why, Jesus told them:

"'Because you have so little faith,' He answered. 'For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.'" (Matthew 17:20, BSB)

At first glance that sounds contradictory. Their faith was too little, and yet a tiny amount would be enough? The point is not quantity. A mustard seed is tiny, but it is alive and it is planted. Real faith, however small, is faith that actually rests on God. The disciples' problem was not the size of their faith but where it was pointed.

Faith is only as strong as its object

We spend a lot of energy trying to manufacture bigger faith, when the actual issue is usually a small view of God. Faith isn't a muscle you grow through effort. It's trust that grows the more you actually know who you're trusting.

Think of stepping onto a frozen lake. A person with nervous, trembling faith who steps onto thick ice is perfectly safe. A person with bold, confident faith who steps onto thin ice falls through. The strength that holds you up belongs to the ice, not to your feelings about it.

Hudson Taylor, the English missionary who founded the China Inland Mission in 1865 and spent more than fifty years serving China, knew about impossible situations. Speaking at his mission's 21st anniversary meeting in 1887, he reflected on the disciples' request to increase their faith. His summary of Jesus' answer has been quoted ever since: "It is not great faith you need, but faith in a great God."

That is the heart of it. Peter walked on water while he looked at Jesus and began to sink when he looked at the wind. Even then, all it took was three words, "Lord, save me!" (Matthew 14:30, BSB), and Jesus immediately reached out His hand.

How to grow a bigger view of God

The psalmist tells us how trust grows: "Those who know Your name trust in You" (Psalm 9:10, BSB). You can't trust someone you don't know. So the way forward is not to stare at your faith, but to get to know God.

Read what He has done. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17, BSB). The stories of the Bible are a record of God's character in action. Every time you read how He provided, rescued or kept a promise, your picture of Him grows.

Look up. When Israel felt forgotten, Isaiah told them to look at the night sky.

"Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name." (Isaiah 40:26, BSB)

The God who names every star has not lost track of you.

Remember your own history. Keep a record of answered prayers. On the day your faith feels small, read it back. You are not trusting a stranger. You are trusting Someone who has already carried you.

Pray honest prayers. You don't have to pretend to have more faith than you do. The father who cried "I do believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24, BSB) saw his son healed. Small, honest faith brought to Jesus is enough.

A mustard seed is enough

There is freedom in this. You don't have to work yourself into a state of certainty before you pray. You don't have to feel strong. Paul could say from prison, "I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him" (2 Timothy 1:12, BSB). Notice what Paul was confident about: not his own faith, but whom he believed.

Spend less time trying to feel more faithful, and more time getting to know the God your faith is aimed at. The size of the faith matters less than the size of the God.