Impossible Faith

Matthew 17:20-21

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

There are four levels of faith we find in these verses. One of these levels is where you are with your faith. The key to understanding these levels of faith is that you are the one who chooses how much faith you act upon. God does not give one person more faith than another because that would say God is an unjust God who wants one person to please Him more than another. God gives everyone the same amount of faith; however, those who live by more faith are those who see the greatest miracles. Let’s look at these levels of faith.

First, there is unbelieving faith. I know this seems contradictory but some have faith, but they won't believe it. Jesus said, Because of your unbelief. Unbelief has kept God from doing more works and damaged Christianity more than anyone falling in sin has ever done. If you want to expose a coverup of sin, expose the coverup of believers not living by faith. Unbelief kept Jesus from doing mighty works in his hometown, and unbelief keeps God from doing mighty works in your life. Never let unbelief cause you to not act upon the faith God promises to honor.

Second, there is some faith. Faith the size of a mustard seed is not really big faith. We often use the mustard seed as a measurement of God doing great works, but mustard seed faith is a small amount of faith. Mustard seed faith gets you to do what God has already promised to do, but you are missing out on greater works. Those with some faith will tithe, go soul winning, and do the average work for God and see Him bless that faith, but there are greater levels of faith that every believer should act upon.

Third, there is not enough faith. I think of the disciples in the middle of the storm when they saw Jesus walking on the water. When Peter responded to Jesus’ command to come to him, Peter stepped out and walked on the water. However, he began to sink when he took his eyes off the Saviour. Jesus responded to Peter and said, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? (Matthew 14:31) Peter had enough faith to walk on water, but he did not have enough faith not to worry about the peripheral. Many have acted on faith and seen God do mighty things, but they began to sink after they looked around to see where faith had brought them. You cannot let the storms around your faith cause you to look at the “reality” of life, which causes you to stop walking by faith. The moment you stop walking by faith is the moment you will sink in the storms of despondency that faith has kept you from.

Fourth, there is impossible faith. This is the faith that sees God do the greatest works. Impossible faith never stops attempting the impossible, but the key to impossible faith becoming a reality, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting is what makes the impossible become a reality. The faith that the impossible is possible knows that the impossible stays impossible without prayer and fasting. Never give up on attempting the impossible. Always move forward when you are living in the impossible. But, you will sink in the storms around you if prayer and fasting are not a regular part of your life.