Why Your Faith Is Not Working

A friend recently asked me if faith is a necessary aspect of life. “Yes of course!” was my response. She then asked how it is that so many people have faith yet continue to life fruitless lives filled with unending nothingness. Why is their faith not working?

It got me thinking about the many times I had faith and hoped for something to work in my favour and it didn’t. Did God not hear me, or did he decide to simply ignore my plea. Didn’t the bible say all I need is faith as small as a mustard seed? In other words, if I believe just a teeny tiny bit that what I have asked for will be granted, it will be, right? Why then isn’t it working?! Based on my personal experience, I came up with the following reasons why your faith is just not working.

#1 You dwell in negativity: Do you know it is possible to have faith that things will change for the better, but still have a remote corner of your heart where negativity rules? True, many people profess faith, but they also profess negative events into their lives at the same time. Your faith cannot bring anything to fruition if you are still entertaining negativity. Your faith cannot work if after you profess it, you start to dwell on the possibility of negative outcomes. Faith is believing without ANY DOUBT that everything that concerns you will yield positive outcomes.

#2 You test the waters with faith: So many of us claim to have faith when really, all we are doing is testing the waters to see if faith will actually work for us. In other words, we see faith as an experiment to try out. If it does not work, we shrug and move on with plan B. That is not faith; well, at least, it is not faith in God. Faith is not meant to be an experiment that you try out today, and if things work, you keep coming back for more till the magic runs out. Trusting God for something in your life is not the same as finding a magic lamp and hoping to find a genie in it by rubbing it. No. Faith is bigger than that. Faith is bigger than your expectations. Your faith cannot work if all you are doing is testing to see if God will run helter-skelter to satisfy your demands, just because you say so. 

#3 You refuse to take action; Some people believe having faith means laying back and watch events unfold. No! You must take action if you want your faith to manifest itself in works. Faith does not mean you stop working; rather it means you work even harder because you believe your work will yield results. If you have faith, but you're not on the move with your works, you have nothing. Your faith is not a magic wish. Its results are expressed through the works of your hands.


#4 Faith is not your lifestyle: How many of us can raise our hands and say with boldness that we live every single day by faith? So many of us only exercise faith when we need something. We pray endlessly, fast till we are stick-thin, and read our bibles like our lives depend on them. However, once we get what we need, we revert back to our old ways and ignore the word of God. When faith is your lifestyle, everything you desire will be given to you. When faith is your lifestyle, you will be filled with love for yourself and for others. When you live a life driven by faith, you will constantly be at peace because you are assured that God has your back. What better way to get your faith to work for you than to believe God is with you even on frivolous issues? Make faith a lifestyle and your life will never be the same again. XOXO