You may ask – how do I grow in my faith, how do I start? How do I keep the doubts and unbelief out of my life? I asked myself the same questions before. There were times when I seemed to have gotten off track in my walk with the Lord. I got distracted. I started to focus more and more on my problems instead of God’s faithfulness to help me go through the challenges in my life. What did I do to get back on track?

Here’s what I did (and still do):

1. Spend time with God. This is why right at the beginning of this e-book, I already started discussing about the importance of a Quiet Time with God. This is very crucial in your faith journey. Read the Bible, ponder His words in your heart. Get to know your Creator, who He is, His promises. Because when you get to know Him, you will trust Him and trust as I said previously is the essence of faith.

2. Remember what He has done for you as often as possible. I consciously make an effort of recalling what God has done for me in the past. This brings me back to focusing on God’s ability to come through for me and reinforces my faith.

3. Listen to Christian Music. I love music and I enjoy singing, especially contemporary Christian music. Such music just move my heart and soul. I can identify with the lyrics of the songs, they seem to speak to me and convey a message I need to hear at that very moment in time.

4. Join a Ministry. You grow by serving others and using your God-given gifts. I joined our Church’s music ministry and committed to it. By committed I mean attending scheduled practice sessions consistently and being there on time to sing during the Mass.

5. Be part of a small group of fellow believers. We grow better together. There is nothing like having that special “bond” with a few people who are in the Lord when you need someone to talk to, when you are discouraged, when you need a shoulder to cry on, when you need advice and other times when you simply need a friend. Oftentimes the Lord will communicate with you through them. They will also hold you accountable in a loving way.

6. Attend Mass regularly. I don’t mean every day (although that would be good) but even just on Sundays. Some people don’t go to church anymore or just hear Mass when it’s Christmas or Easter Sunday or when they act as a sponsor for a child during the sacrament of Baptism/Confirmation or when they want something from God badly. How can your faith grow if you don’t even feed yourself with the Word of God even once a week? If you don’t get excited going to your parish church, then find one which inspires you and motivate you to grow in faith.

7. Acknowledge God often or say short prayers. During the course of your day, talk to God. Even a simple ‘Thank you Lord for the nice weather’ or ‘God, how beautiful those flowers are. And I know you made them. You’re awesome!’ You know what I mean. When you make Him part of your daily life, things go more smoothly.

8. Choose carefully what you read, watch and listen to. In this day and age, there is just so much out there which can confuse someone growing in faith. Don’t watch too much news, documentaries or books which go against your faith, movies with lots of nudities, etc. Don’t listen to radio announcers who swear on air or music containing references to violence, swearing, depressing thoughts, sex, etc.

So take that first step of faith. I remember the time when I took the first step to trusting God. I was working in one of the coastal villages in the Philippines many years ago and I remember going to the beach after work and noticing the beautiful sunset over a very calm sea. That spectacular view so touched my heart that I stopped for a while and said to myself, “Surely God alone can create such an amazing scene. If He can do that, certainly HE can easily take good care of me.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Babes Tan-Magkalas has 2 major passions in life: St. Joseph and prayer. She wrote a free ebook entitled “Prayer Tips (for Prayers That Get Results)” where she gives out valuable information on how to make prayers more powerful and effective. Grab your copy HERE.

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