They strengthened their faith in themselves. What is faith in God in Orthodoxy? Faith is like a plant

How can you strengthen your faith? By strengthening faith in the divinity of Christ.

The only mediator between God and people is the man Jesus Christ; He is the link in your connection with God too. So how can you strengthen your faith? Here's how.

Steps

Maintain your faith. Fuel your faith in God by studying the Bible, accepting the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

• Faith will not come if all you do is pray, ask, and fast, as stated in Romans 10:17.
• The Bible says, “pray always”; thus, prayer is necessary, but faith will come from hearing and then applying the Word of God.
• You must continue to read and study the Word of God (the Bible), then your faith will strengthen. II Thessalonians 1:3, “your faith increases exceedingly” by living in God's promises in the Bible.

1. Mark the place in the Bible where it says that Jesus Christ believed in God completely and unquestioningly. He is the living Word of God. Faith is the “fruit of the Holy Spirit” that Jesus promised to send to us after he went to be with the Father. This can be seen in a person's revived spirit, not only in good days, but also in difficult times:

   ~ "...the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,..." .

   Be born again as a believer by repenting (turning around) and finding your continuation in Christ, so you will receive the power of faith and the spirit of God. This means that when you are born again, you will have some portion of the nature of God, as the Scripture says. Therefore, nothing can serve as an excuse: do not think about yourself more than you should think; but think modestly, according to the measure of faith that God has allocated to each. (Romans 12:3)

   • Let faith arise in you, it may be in the realm of things that are inaccessible to you, but if you believe in God, these things can be realized and applied by you. You will see the results of your faith. This is not just hope, it is God's way to access the things of God.

2. Love your brother. How can you love God whom you have not seen if you do not love your brother whom you have seen? God revealed himself to you through his people, his love, through his son - with his word, the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Christ.

   • Galatians 5:6 says that faith works through love.

3. Having faith, you can solve any problem, even move mountains. You just have to trust that God will keep his word. Believe that God cannot lie. One cannot believe in God without knowing him through fellowship with God's presence. This fellowship is the best time alone spent in studying, praising and praying to God, gaining knowledge about God and his life, the way and the truth (presented in the Bible).

   • Abraham (Romans 4:19-21) had very strong faith by 1) not focusing on his circumstances, 2) trusting that God would do what he promised, and 3) praising God.

4. Communication with God engenders agreement with those who believe in God.

   ~ “Where two or three agree with each other in My name to ask for anything, whatever they ask will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in the midst of them.”( Matthew 18:20)

   Develop your faith by allowing God to reveal himself to you. You must know Him as He lives in your life. Communion with the invisible God creates a spiritual state of unshakable faith that can make changes in your visible physical reality.

   The action of your faith. The action of faith is expressed not only in thoughts and words about what you expect and what results you want to achieve, asking for blessings from God. Faith will help you achieve the desired result. God told Joshua that we must be faithful to the Scripture:

   ~ “Never stop meditating on these teachings. You must think about them day and night in order to faithfully do what is written in them.

   Only then will prosperity and success come to you." (Joshua 1:8)

   • Notice in Mark 9:23, Jesus said that all things are possible to him who believes. "Believe" is a verb, and it requires action. If action were not necessary, Jesus would have said, “All things are possible to him who has faith.” Faith is a noun. Faith is a gift to us from God.

5. Think about the Word of God. Meditate on the Word and it will tell you how you should act on the Word. Your confession, witnessing the Word and work of God, is part of prayer and meditation. When you read, digest, and speak the Word to yourself, you meditate on the Word.

   Build your faith by thinking and saying the same things, acting with integrity and not just pretending. God's word is already happening, but not necessarily for you, even if you really believe it. What you think about consists of (forms) and constitutes (forms) what you believe:

   "Be careful what you think about.
   What you think determines what you do.
   Be careful what you do with your capabilities.
   Actions define your faith, personality and character.
   Be careful with your character traits, they define who you are.
   The content of your being determines who you are.
   It is true that: “We become what we think about.” (Proverbs.)

   Improve yourself through faith, which develops through prayer on the tongue.

   1. Let God live in your thoughts and praises and develop in your being. Meditating on God's word and agreeing will lead you to understand God and act in accordance with your faith.

6. Reject all doubts. Start turning to God, when negative thoughts come to you, change them to turning to the Lord. If you believe Him, then pray often. He lives in you and in the people who believe in Him:

   ~ “God dwells among the praises of Israel (his people, the believers who do his will).”

7. Find out why God dwells in the prayers of His people: It is a great honor to God that the prayer house was in a stone temple, but now it is inside you.
   • So, the temple pave the way to the Holy Spirit, as if in this place God dwells:
     • But the Universe is God's temple; So what difference does it make if the temple is in the soul of every person?
     • Heaven is His throne, earth is His footstool; besides, no human service can benefit Him while He watches over those who serve Him faithfully.
8. To follow Jesus is to believe in the living nature of Christ, God's chosen anointed one, a teacher in the truth and the path of life. So the redeemed, repentant, faithful human spirit can represent your auspicious temple, in which God wants to dwell.

• In extremely difficult times, when God seems adamant, when your faith is broken, God actually makes your faith stronger. You will be stronger if you overcome the temptation to doubt Him.
• Promote success in your life and the development of your faith through meditating on the Word and acknowledging (speaking) the Word (Scripture).
• Successful steps towards faith can lead to confidence in one's religion.
• Faith includes loving one another as He has given His love to you. As the Scripture says, “It is necessary that I go and send the Holy Spirit so that it may remain with you forever.” Share your incredible Love and spirit with others.

Warnings

• Don't think that you can strengthen your faith by being angry with non-believers or by hating people.
  • You can be angry about offenses while allowing the Holy Spirit and the Gospels to guide you, studying the Bible, and applying God's word in love. Please. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.- Jesus said.
• Be aware of what Solomon said, “In all your acquisition is wisdom.” Faith in God is usually not listened to to wisdom or any philosophy, which may be in conflict with the Bible, but agrees with the Word of God in the Bible, and that everything is done according to His will and Word.

Faith - iman - is an amazing and most beautiful mercy from Allah Almighty. Outwardly we are all the same, but only faith determines a true Muslim. The stronger the faith, the closer a Muslim is to Allah Almighty.

As we know, faith is subject to change, it is sometimes weakened due to sins committed, and sometimes strengthened through worship.

The level of iman does not always remain the same, it changes from time to time. It increases or decreases depending on the deeds and actions that we perform.

One of the sayings of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says:

جددوا إيمانكم فإن الإيمان يبلى كما يبلى الثوب. فقالوا: ما نقول يا رسول الله؟ قال: قولوا لا إله إلا الله

“Faith ages just as clothing ages, so renew it.” The companions said: “What should we say, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet replied: “Say “La ilaha illallah” - there is no god worthy of worship except Allah.”

Here are some tips to help you strengthen and savor the taste of iman:

- always ask for help from Allah Almighty, so that He strengthens our iman, be pious, and fear His punishment. " Allah is severe in punishment " Know His Majesty by studying His Names and Attributes.

- remembrance of Allah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

قال رسول الله : مثل الذي يذكر الله والذي لا يذكره كمثل الحي والميت

« The example of one who remembers his Lord and one who does not is similar to the example of the living and the dead».

– reading and meditating on the Holy Quran. He talks about how the Creator deals with His close servants, about what He does with His enemies. This is one of the most important sections that helps strengthen faith.

– friendship with good people, because a friend has a significant influence in a person’s life, and distance from bad friends who are immersed in worldly passions. Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) calls for this:

المرء على دين خليله فلينظر أحدكم من يخالل

« A man professes the religion of his friend, and therefore let each of you turn your attention to whom he is friends with».

– listen to good, God-fearing people. Reading biographies of such people, acquiring useful knowledge.

- remember that he is a weak creature who needs the mercy of Allah Almighty in everything.

– timely performance of obligatory prayers, especially morning prayer, as it is difficult for hypocrites and their followers. Also regularly perform the desired prayers, even in small quantities, for the hadith says:

أحب الأعمال الله ادومها وان قل

« The most beloved deeds for Allah are those that are done constantly, even if there are few of them.».

- showing love for the Messenger of Allah by studying his life path and paying attention to him. As stated in one of his sayings:

لا يؤمن أحدكم حتى أكون احب إليه من ماله وولده والناس أجمعين

« Not one of you will believe until I become more beloved than your property, child and all other people.»

- reflect on the creatures of Allah, on His Greatness.

- spend free time doing godly deeds, praising Allah Almighty, asking Him for forgiveness.

– visiting graves, because it reminds us of the Day of Judgment. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

يقول النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم : إنّ هذه القلوب تصدأ كما يصدأ الحديد إذا أصابه الماء، قيل: يا رسول الله وما جلاؤها؟ قال: كثرة ذكر الموت وتلاوة القرآن

« Hearts rust like iron when water touches it.” Then he was asked: “What is the means of purification?” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: “Frequent mention of death and recitation of the Quran».

- contentment with predestination, the decision of Allah, for it is the power of faith in action.

P.S. Only the degree and strength of iman decreases or increases. It cannot be said that the very conviction of a believer in the truth of Islam (belief in the six pillars of iman - faith in Allah, His angels, His Scriptures, His prophets, the Day of Judgment and predestination of fate) can change.

May Allah Almighty accept our prayers and good deeds, may He strengthen our faith. Amen!

Please tell me how to properly strengthen your faith in God (namely faith in God, not faith in God). To believe completely and unconditionally in His love. To believe with your heart, not just with your brain. There’s such a mess inside, I can’t figure out where I’m sincere and where I’m deceitful. If the light that is in you is darkness, then what is the darkness? I'm completely confused. I listen to my own prayer - am I thinking or lying to myself? Maybe it's just a crisis, or maybe something else? People are faced with similar things - how to solve this correctly? Elena.

Priest Philip Parfenov answers:

Hello, Elena!

I think that we need to be simpler before God and before ourselves! In this sense, remember your childhood and at the same time reflect on Jesus' recommendation to be like children. Children are far from sinless, by the way (they can be capricious, harmful and evil in their own way). But they are simple before people and God, and this is an important quality that Scripture reminds us of. Don’t rack your brains over your condition—children don’t do that. Free yourself, relax, give yourself to God, trust His love, and everything else will gradually follow and fall into place, believe me!

Sincerely, priest Philip Parfenov.

Read also

Sermon by Archimandrite Markel (Pavuk) in the academic Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

This Sunday, dear brothers and sisters, is special because it coincided with the great feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. And on this day we listened to two gospel conceptions: the resurrection and the Mother of God, which is read on all feasts of the Mother of God.

The first, Sunday conception, is a continuation of the Gospel that was read on the Feast of the Transfiguration. When the Lord and His disciples descended from the holy Mount Tabor, a man met Him below, fell on his knees before Him and began to ask Him to heal his son, who goes berserk on the new moon, for he is thrown either into the fire or into the water. This man said that he had already approached the disciples with a request for healing, but they could not do anything.

Hearing this story, the Savior said: “Oh, unfaithful and corrupt generation! How long will I be with you? How long will I tolerate you? bring him here to Me.” And then the Lord rebuked the demon, and the boy became healthy.

After this, the disciples began to privately ask Christ why they could not cast out the demon? He answered: “Because of your unbelief; For truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you; this generation is driven out only by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:14-23).

This gospel story teaches us a lot, but on this Sunday I would like us to pay attention to at what time the miracle of the healing of the demon-possessed youth took place. This happened after the Savior and three of His disciples on Mount Tabor experienced the profound effect of God’s grace. After this, they, as if from heaven, descend down to our sinful earth, where they feel a sharp contrast between the world of grace and the world that lies in evil, where sin, illness and death reign.

All of us, dear brothers and sisters, perhaps without fully realizing it, are also experiencing something similar. Now we are in the Holy Lavra in the Temple of God, where we feel deep grace, like the ambassadors of Saint Prince Vladimir in Constantinople, when they could not say where - in heaven or on earth - they were staying. But here we are leaving the temple, the walls of the Holy Lavra, and we are surrounded by the world with its worries and problems, and it seems that they cannot be resolved in any way. How many times do we, like the father of that demon-possessed youth, but in slightly different words say: “Father, I try to fight my sin, but I just can’t cope with it. I went to different priests, confessors, and was in different monasteries, but the problem remains. What to do?"

The Savior explains that this happens because of our lack of faith. If we had faith the size of a mustard seed, we could even move mountains. And then our Lord Jesus Christ gives everyone advice on how to strengthen their faith: “This race can only be driven out by prayer and fasting.” In fact, because of our lack of faith, we are thrown into different extremes: sometimes we fervently pray and fast, sometimes we fall into grave sins, and it seems that it is impossible to stop and settle down. But the Lord firmly tells us that there is a way out - prayer and fasting.

The only problem is that because of the bustle of life, it is difficult for us to tune in to prayer. Often our prayer is absent-minded and inattentive, and sometimes even formal, becoming a simple reading of the prescribed rule, without humility and contrition of heart (as St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) notes, to the joy not of God, but of the demons). Our fast is just as formal, pharisaical, for show. Therefore, faith from such prayer and fasting is not strengthened in any way and we become powerless in the fight against this or that passion.
To achieve at least some success in spiritual life, you need to cultivate constancy in yourself. No matter how much we would like to skip prayers, stay at home and not go to church for Confession and Communion, we must force ourselves, force ourselves, literally drag ourselves by the scruff of the neck. If there is constancy in prayer, then attention will gradually appear, distraction will disappear, faith will strengthen - and we will achieve success in the fight against passions. Without consistency in any endeavor (science, art, sports) it is impossible to achieve success. Moreover, without it it is impossible to improve in spiritual life - where there is constancy, there is success. As one of the sages said, constancy is the highest manifestation of strength.

It is no coincidence that now, on the day of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos, in the kontakion of the holiday we sing: “In prayers, the never-sleeping Theotokos does not restrain the tomb and mortification...” Yes, it was the incessant prayer that made the Mother of God not only the conqueror of Her nature (She became the most honest Cherub and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim), but also the conqueror of death. The death of the Most Holy Theotokos was painless, like sleep, which is why we call it the Dormition.

So, dear brothers and sisters, if we want to cope with our double-mindedness, we do not want to go to extremes, if we strive to conquer ourselves, our passions, if we intend to help others in the fight against them, let us learn constant, undistracted, attentive prayer and unhypocritical this post. And then not only in this life will we experience grace-filled joy, but also our transition into eternal life will be painless, fearless and shameless, like the transition into eternity of the Mother of God. Death for us will be just a dormition, a sleep, after which we will move into the eternal abodes of the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.

Notice in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus said that all things are possible to him who believes. “Believe” is a verb, and it requires action. If action were not necessary, Jesus would have said, “All things are possible to him who has faith.”

Here are a few steps on the path to unshakable faith:

1. Feed your faith.

Support your faith like your best friend, because it will support you in difficult times. Study the Bible, read it again and again until you discover truths that will lift you off your knees.

The book of Romans says, “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” It also says here that you cannot only pray, ask and fast - it is important to listen and hear the Word.

1. Take your example from Christ

Mark the places in the Bible where it is said that Jesus believed in God unquestioningly. Motivate yourself, lead by example. Who is the most striking example of “reinforced concrete” unshakable faith? That's right, Jesus Christ. Review often the marked passages in the Bible where His faith is told, and try as much as possible to achieve the same in your own actions.

1. Be born again.

Yes, yes, that's right, again. Repent, find your new continuation in Christ. This way you will receive the power of faith and the spirit of God.
This means that when you are born again, you will have some portion of the nature of God, as the Scripture says. Get rid of the last vestiges of pride and bow the knee before your King. When you extol Him and realize His greatness, your faith becomes more of a confidence.

1. Love your brother.

How can you love God, whom you have never seen in the flesh, if you do not love and in many ways condemn your acquaintance with whom you regularly meet?!
Don't forget, God sees your heart. He will forgive you for unnecessary weakness, even regular ones, but such things kill your faith. Galatians says that faith works through love. Try to eradicate dislike for any person, help everyone you can. Then your faith will be strengthened and your spirit will rejoice. " By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.", said Jesus.

6. Surround yourself with like-minded people.

Communication with God engenders agreement with those who believe in Him. “Where two or three agree with each other in My name to ask for anything, whatever they ask will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Surround yourself with believers - they will help you not to doubt your beliefs.

7. Ask God for faith.

Who else but He, in the secret room, will give you the answer on how to strengthen your faith? Who else but He will help you believe in Him by showing a miracle in your life? God is a loving father with whom you can talk about any topic. Don't neglect your fellowship with Him. He waits for you every time. Pray, open the Word, ask questions and get answers.

1. Be honest.

Build your faith by thinking and saying the same thing, acting honestly both before yourself, and before God, and before people. God's word is already happening, but not necessarily for you, even if you really believe it. What you think about is what you believe:

“Be careful what you think about.
What you think determines what you do.
Be careful what you do with your capabilities.
Actions define your faith, personality and character.
Be careful about your personality traits. They define who you are.
The content of your being determines who you are.
It's true: "We become what we think about." (Proverbs.)

In extremely difficult times, when God seems adamant and your faith is broken, God actually makes it stronger. Overcome the temptation to doubt Him, and you will learn a new facet of both yourself and God.