The Power of Belief

Belief is vital if we want to experience the abundant life that Jesus has paid the price for us to have. Without believing in Jesus, we cannot enter into the blessings He has for us: nor can we fully receive Christ’s love and become all He has made us to be. Why is belief in God so important? How can we increase our faith in Him? And what is the balance between having faith in God and at the same time obeying the things He has told us to do? These are the questions I will begin answering in this blog post.

 

First of all, why is believing in God so important? Because belief opens the door to God being able to move in our lives. When God created us, He created us in His Own image. This means we were made to be like Him. In so doing, the Lord gave us authority over the earth and the responsibility to cultivate it (See Genesis 1:26, 28; 2:15). The Father’s decision to make us like Himself means that God invited us into partnership with Him. He gave us free will so that we could choose to participate in His plans for the world or not. However, without belief, we cannot partner with God. In His sovereign grace, the Lord decided that He would not exercise a good amount of His omnipotence without our willing participation. He wants to work on our behalf, but Jesus will not force Himself into our lives. The primary way we can choose to participate in God’s work on earth, then, is to believe in Him.

 

It’s not that God can’t do things independently from us—of course not! But often, He chooses not to move unless we partner with Him, because He made us in His image and thus gave us the responsibility of cultivating and having dominion over the whole earth. This includes our free-will choice to either agree with Him or not. Thus, belief is really powerful! We must believe in God if we want to see His work in our lives.

 

In fact, when people listening to Jesus’ teaching asked Him what work He wanted them to do, Jesus’ reply was, “‘This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent’” (See John 6:28-29 NLT). This is so important. When we believe in God, we are declaring that He is all-powerful, and we are not. We are declaring that He is good and that He knows what is best for us. We are surrendering to Jesus’ lordship because we know that He can do things better than we can! In acknowledging the Lord, we are believing in Him. This faith opens the door for God to move on our behalf. It is the only way God’s provision can flow unabated into our lives.

 

How do we increase our faith in God? Romans 10:17 provides the answer: “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (KJV). Thus, if we want to believe in God more, we must take the time to listen to His Word! Jesus states in Revelation 3:20, “‘Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends’” (NLT). When we read the Bible, we are listening to the very words of God Himself. These words are His knocking on our heart’s door. And whatever we hear, we eventually come to believe. So when we consistently listen to the Word of God, we are supernaturally given the faith to believe in the Lord—Who He is and what He says—and to open our heart’s door to Him.

 

Now, once we choose to open our heart’s door to God, God can work in us to help us grow! You may be wondering, though, How can I continually believe and grow in God? How can I tell the difference between how much I am supposed to just trust in God versus take the responsibility to obey the things He has told me to do? The answer is found in Jesus’ words in John 15: “‘Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me’” (v. 4 NLT). The word “remain” in this verse is often translated as the word “abide.” To abide means to dwell, continue, stay (“Abide”), or “be … vitally united to” (John 15:4 AMPC). In order for us to truly trust in God and discern whether we are supposed to only trust in Him or also act, then, we need to continually abide in Him. We can do this by spending time with the Lord, listening to His words, and meditating on what He has to say. Just as in any relationship, our trust in Jesus grows as we spend time with Him. And as we spend time with God, we experience His trustworthiness.

 

However, it is important to note that learning how to trust in God is not something that we can strive to do. Instead, it is a shift that happens in our hearts. This shift naturally transforms our behavior because it works from the inside-out.

 

For example, if I decided to plant a tree in my backyard, I wouldn’t expect the tree to start growing within a few minutes or even overnight. I would understand that the tree must receive nutrients from the soil, sun, and rain, and that the tree’s growth will take time. Nevertheless, the tree won’t have to search for its nutrients or work hard to obtain them. It will simply need to receive them as they come. Abiding in Christ works the same way. We simply remain with Jesus by letting His words transform us from the inside-out. The primary way our belief in God grows, then, is “through true and personal knowledge of Him” (2 Pet. 1:3 AMP).

 

Yet, many of us treat our own belief in God as unreasonably as if we had expected a tree to start flourishing the moment we’d planted it. We often think that there’s something wrong with us if we aren’t able to trust in God on command. Or we fall prey to guilt and think that we are sinning because we’re having a hard time believing in Him. But can I tell you something? God knows that trusting in Him is a process that will take time. He is not upset by our inability to trust in Him without letting His words enter the soil of our hearts first. It truly is impossible for us to believe in Jesus—or even obey Him—without deciding to remain in close communion with Him. And that is why in order for our belief in Christ to grow, it is vital to abide in Him. As we listen to Jesus’ words, “Christ make[s] his home in [our] hearts,” and our “roots … grow down into God’s love and keep [us] strong” (Eph. 3:17 AMPC). This makes our trust in God grow because we understand that He LOVES us—He wants what’s best for us! This trust then opens the door for the Word of Christ to cleanse us and remove anything in us that hinders our intimacy with Christ or our development in Him. The Passion Translation’s note on John 15:2 specifies that Jesus’ cleansing, or pruning, of us does not mean that He will cut us, His sons and daughters, off as branches that don’t produce fruit, as this verse has been often misunderstood. Instead, it means that Christ will lift the branches—His followers—that aren’t producing fruit off the ground and to Himself so that their growth will be “enhance[d]” (TPT 286). Thus, we don’t need to be afraid that we are going to be cut off from the Lord if we do not obey Him perfectly! Instead, we need to trust that the Word of God is working in our hearts to make us new.

 

In fact, as long as we are listening to God’s Word, this renewal is guaranteed, because Jesus states in John 15:3, “‘You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you’” (NLT). Since we have been pruned and purified by Jesus’ words, then, we shall grow in Him as long as we choose to stay near Him! As John 15:5 says, “‘Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing’” (NLT). Thus, the way to find balance between having faith in God and at the same time obeying the things He has told us to do is simple. We need to listen to the Lord, and then, by abiding in the life-giving power of His Sprit, trust in Him and obey whatever He may tell us to do.

 

In my next blog post, I am going to talk more about why we can trust in God. I hope the information above has blessed you and helped you to grow closer to our Heavenly Father!

 

 

Works Cited

 

“Abide.” Bible Hub, Bible Hub, 2025. main%2C%20or%20continue. Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.

 

The Bible. Amplified Bible. BibleGateway, Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.

 

The Bible. Amplified Bible, Classical Edition. BibleGateway, Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.

 

The Bible. King James Version. BibleGateway, Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.

 

The Bible. BibleGateway, Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.

 

The Bible. The Passion Translation, 2^nd ed., Passion and Fire Ministries, 2018. Note “d,” 286.