After Jesus spoke to the disciples about the importance of forgiving those who offended them, they responded, “Lord, increase our faith.” Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.” [1] If we’re honest, these are the words we all need to pray for as believers. I believe this verse shows us that our own ability to forgive those who have hurt us is difficult without the Lord’s help.
The Lord is our Good Shepherd who leads us, guides, and cares for us. Much like sheep, we can easily go astray without the Shepherd’s guidance. This results in unforgiveness and bitterness. When we pray for the Lord to strengthen our faith, we are also asking Him to guide us away from unforgiveness and the harm it causes to ourselves and others.
Perhaps you are stuck in a place today that you don’t want to be and aren’t sure how to move forward. As we pray and rely on the Lord, He gives us the guidance and the strength to forgive. It is often our enemy, satan, who speaks into people’s hearts that they don’t have to forgive, and his motive is always to destroy you. John 10:10 “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”[2]
Faith Opens My Eyes
As we pray to the Lord to increase our faith, He makes us aware of things we might not have realized. We might not realize how much not being able to forgive harms us and others. He also makes us aware that we need His strength, and often that is the missing element when we struggle with reconciliation. Paul writes about how our weakness pushes us into God’s hands. 2 Corinthians 12:9“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.[3]
Breakthroughs in our lives often happen when we surrender to God and allow Him to fill us with His strength. At this point, we are open to praying to the Lord to increase our faith. In Luke 15, the parable of the prodigal son illustrates that it is only after facing severe hardship that the prodigal realizes his mistakes and turns to God. Similarly, in life, we often do the same thing.
Show Us Lord
The disciples made a profound request:“Show us how to increase our faith.” [4] Those words tell us that the disciples were teachable and moldable. If we remain in pride and think we can handle the situation on our own, we are not teachable. When we come to a place where we can admit our failings, we can then turn to Jesus for help. We are teachable at that point.
A teachable person is someone who is under spiritual construction and allows God to transform them into a new person. As I become transformed, I can become a person who forgives even when it is difficult. May we daily pray, ‘Lord, increase our faith,’ so that our lives will reflect the forgiving heart of Jesus and point others to the hope found in Him.
To learn more, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/03battle-11-8-26
[1-4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers.