The world is full of information of how to do this or that, and there are many who have devised things like “A twelve step program to financial prosperity”, or “a twelve step program to a better you”.  The Holy Bible has similar instructions about how to become a man or woman of God, and how to mature into all you can be in Christ Jesus.  Today I’d like to write about how to make your faith work for you, for it is written “without faith it is impossible to please God”.  God places great importance upon faith, you know.
So, let’s get started on “twelve steps to making your faith work”.  The first step is the most important one, so pay close attention so you won’t miss anything.
Step 1. These words were spoken by Christ Jesus to a man whose daughter had just died: Fear not: believe only. Don’t pay any attention to what the circumstances look like; God can handle it, and He isn’t worried. Disregard ALL of the remaining steps, because they aren’t important anyway. Step 1 will take care of everything you need.
Step 2: Maybe you don’t have enough faith, everyone says if your prayers are not being answered, you need more faith. (Yeah, that’s it, get more faith.  Everything is on sale, today only.)
Step 3. Some say you can sow your way into increasing your faith. That statement is usually made right before they take up an offering. (It usually helps increase THEIR faith, or at least their bottom line)
Step 4. You need to release your faith. (But if I release it, won’t my faith be gone? Then what? Where do I buy, I mean, get more? Refer to step 3???)
Step 5. You must get others to agree with you for your faith to work. (But what if the others I’m agreeing with don’t have enough faith?)
Step 6. You must be sure it’s a NEED, and not a WANT. (Maybe God wants you to do without everything but the bare necessities; after all, Jesus had only the clothes He wore, right?)
Step 7. It is said, money is the root of all evil. (Actually, the Bible says the LOVE of money is the root of all evil, so give all your money to the church just to be safe. Then maybe your faith will work. But will my being in severe poverty make my faith work better? Likely not, but the devil would like for you to be broke and needy.)
Step 8. It is said, great faith only comes by MANY, MANY hours of praying. (The Bible says in Romans 10:17, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. However, even HAVING faith is not enough, you need to USE it. You could be a millionaire, but if it sits in the bank and you never spend any of it, you could starve to death.  At least you would die rich, for whatever that is worth.)
Step 9. You must be right with God for your faith to work. (Uh, excuse me, it that was so, how could the sinner be saved in the first place? The sinner is DEFINITELY not right with God, yet the sinner can be saved by grace.  God answers the prayer of faith.  He will work on the relationship part as you go.)
Step 10. Maybe you aren’t “trying hard enough”.  Try harder?
Step 11. You have to be in a Bible-believing denomination. (Uh, isn’t EVERY denomination supposed to believe in the Bible?  Does that mean only THEIR denomination is right and everyone else is wrong?  I guess that means ALL their prayers are answered, right?)
Step 12. Well, I couldn’t think of a twelfth one, but no matter, if you followed directions, you will only need Step 1 anyway.
You see, even the most faith-filled person will be stopped in their tracks if they are focusing on the circumstances instead of the Word of God.  The Lord Jesus revealed to us life-changing instructions in Mark 11:22-24 of how faith works.
Mar 11:22  And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
Mar 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Mar 11:24  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
We all know faith comes from God, it isn’t something we can come up with on our own.  It’s GOD’S faith, for He is the giver and the source of it. And so, He gave unto every person the measure, or as some Bible versions put it, “a measure” of faith.  Therefore, we all have it from birth.  Yet until we learn to USE our faith, it pretty much lies there dormant, waiting for us to put it to use.  Even the sinner can activate that faith by simply believing.  Does that mean you can remain in sin and still use faith?  Well, no, that’s not the point here.  God gives His grace to the sinner to activate faith so they can believe unto salvation, then the process begins where God and that redeemed sinner begin their life-long, indeed, eternity long relationship, and along the way, that person learns to use their faith, just as a baby learns to walk.  Or at least that’s the way it’s SUPPOSED to work.  Yet, some never seem to get it, due to false teachings and the traditions of men.
What stops faith from working?  US, not the devil and his crew.  The devil CANNOT  stop our faith from working, and he knows it.  But if he can deceive someone into believing his or her faith doesn’t work, he’s got’cha, as the saying goes.  You see, the faith God gave you is perfect, for God does not create junk.  It’s the same faith He used to create the entire creation, and He has given it to YOU.  Do you believe that?  You’d better, for it is biblical.  Is it working for you?  That’s YOUR decision, not God’s.  God gave you faith, but if you aren’t using it, well, that’s YOUR fault.  You can’t use the blame game and say, “Well, I prayed and it didn’t work.  It must not have been God’s will.” The Bible says if you ask ANYTHING according to God’s Will, He will do it.   Here, let’s read it:
1Jn 5:12  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
1Jn 5:13  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
1Jn 5:15  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
So, you ask, how can you know the will of God before you ask?  Good question.  READ THE BIBLE AND YOU’LL KNOW HIS WILL.  If you love God, you will want to know Him.  If you want to know Him, you can by searching the Bible, for He has revealed Himself to us through His Word, and by His Holy Spirit given to those who love Him.  That means, being led by the Holy Spirit, you will always be praying His will when you pray.  “Believe ye receive them and ye shall have them.” So simple, anyone can do it.Thus, your faith will work for you.
I can’t possibly in one article cover everything, so I gave you what is necessary to get your faith working.  Step 1 is all you need, period.  Forget all the religious junk people try to feed you.  Do it the way Jesus did it, He knows faith, after all, it came from His Father in the first place.