There are moments in life when we think that God is asking more of us than He really is. Sometimes well meaning believers will tell someone that their prayers haven’t been answered because they are lacking in faith.
Lacking in faith doesn’t mean that there is no faith. There is definitely some faith; it’s just not as much as what it could potentially be. So does that mean God won’t hear your prayers? Does it mean that you are not a strong believer?
Before you get down on yourself or before you even get down on someone else who you feel doesn’t have “enough” faith, consider what the Word of God says. One of the more well known scripture verses that apply to this is “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20, NIV).
This is a great verse to memorize and quote. But back up just one sentence. Before Jesus says this He also says, “Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth…” and then He goes into the whole thing about the mustard seed.
Jesus recognized that there was little faith. Yet He didn’t condemn that person. He didn’t say to that person, “You are not a very strong believer and you will never see your prayers answered.” He took into account the little faith that was present and said that even with that, mighty things could be done.
Another great example is the Greek woman that Jesus encountered in the region of Tyre and Sidon. She had what we might consider to be two problems. The first is that she wasn’t a Jew. The second was that she had a demon-possessed daughter. And you think you have problems?
Despite being a Gentile, she knew that Jesus had the power to cast out that demon. She didn’t have to be a follower or a Jew to know this. On top of this, we know she was persistent because in Mark 7:26 it says that she fell at His feet and kept asking Him to cast out the demon.
Well, remember the whole problem with her being a Greek? Jesus replied, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs” (Mark 7:27). No matter. She didn’t care that she couldn’t get the bread; she was ready for the crumbs. She replied, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” She was willing to take whatever He was willing to give, even if it was just crumbs.
I call this “crumbs of faith.” All she needed was a little crumb and she knew it was enough to meet the need she had. Little faith? Maybe it’s time that you are satisfied with just crumbs. Jesus doesn’t need much to make the impossible possible.
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