Ask the Pastor

Ask the Pastor?

“Pastor, I’m frustrated. I keep hearing that I need more faith, but I don’t feel like I have enough. I pray, I try, but nothing seems to change. Maybe I just don’t have the kind of faith that other Christians have?”  Mary C.

My response 

Let me say something plainly, and with love:
You probably don’t lack faith — you lack the Living Word in your life.

The Bible does not say faith comes from trying harder, feeling stronger, or comparing yourself to other believers. It says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

Faith is not self-manufactured. It is God-generated.

If the Word of God is absent, neglected, or only visited occasionally, faith will always feel thin and fragile. But when the Living Word is present — read, believed, obeyed, and trusted — faith grows naturally, quietly, steadily.

Jesus never rebuked people for having questions. He rebuked them for not knowing the Scriptures (Matthew 22:29). Because faith is anchored not in emotion, but in truth.

Here’s the hard part: Many believers are asking God for stronger faith while ignoring the very source that produces it.

The problem is not that you don’t have enough faith.
The problem is that you don’t have enough of God’s Word shaping your mind, your heart, and your decisions.

When the Word takes root, faith follows.

So don’t ask God for more faith first.
Ask Him for a deeper hunger for His Word.

Because where the Word lives richly, faith will never starve.

Let me pray for you 

Dear Heavenly Father, I come before You today on behalf of Mary, who feels weary and uncertain in her faith. Lord, You know her heart better than she does. You see her doubts, her questions, her disappointments, and the quiet fear that she’s not “strong enough” for You.

Father, remind her that faith is not something she has to manufacture—it is something she receives from You. Your Word tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Draw her back to Your truth, not as a burden, but as a lifeline. Let Your Word settle her anxious thoughts, steady her emotions, and anchor her heart in what does not change.

Lord, replace her self-doubt with confidence in Your promises. Help her understand that even mustard-seed faith is precious in Your sight. Teach her to bring her weakness to You instead of hiding it from You, because Your strength is made perfect in weakness.

Breathe new life into her spiritual walk. Give her hunger for Your Word, a quiet courage to trust You again, and peace that doesn’t depend on how she feels today. Let her know she is not behind, not broken, and not forgotten—but loved, held, and still being shaped by Your hands.

We place her faith, her fears, and her future in Your care.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

In His love

ray