The Essential Guide to Navigating Uncharted Territories: Understanding the Levels of Faith

Winter 2024 Table Talk

There are times we pray, and the answers come rushing in!

Many times, we pray, and the answers come after some waiting and patience!

Sometimes we pray it, faith it, confess it, sow towards it, fast about it, and the request remain unanswered!

Painful you would say. But that is the reality in this kingdom. Just the way you don't give your child every request. Our relationship with God is very similar. James 4:1-4 noted that many times we do not ask and sometimes we pray and do not receive because of our selfish desires. But how about times, you selflessly request for a change in a bad situation, in a selfless manner, or a breakthrough for a struggling friend, or a healing for a dear family member and the change never come, or the job was not offered, or the healing never appears. Can we say Faith is not enough? How much Faith can we classify as a mustard seed? How much faith do you need to move a mountain? Was the bible specific on how to quantify the faith you need to transact in this kingdom?

Welcome back!

As you can see, I have been involved in deep thoughts around the levels of Faith. In this blog, I will teach on the Levels of Faith and how Faith works. By the time you are done reading this article, you will be able to understand what the levels of faith are and the place of the will and purpose of God in Faith.

In Luke 9, a father appealed to Jesus to help cast out the devil from his only son, who had been tormented by demon. The man noted that he had brought the son to the disciples for deliverance but there was no change in the situation. Jesus scolded His friends- why are you so perverse? you of little faith. Specifically, Luke 9:41 stated “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here". Then Jesus went ahead to cast the devil out of the son and the young lad became free afterwards.

Can we say the levels of Faith in the disciple was different from Jesus?

Jesus by Himself is the author and the finisher of our faith.

By believing in His death and resurrection, we become People of Faith. By looking unto Him, we grow in Faith.

By depending on Him, we demonstrate His sovereignty and power.

Through close communion with God, we build an intimate Relationship. 

Through clear and consistent communion, we have access to a deeper conversation with God. 

From the continual conversation with God, instructions are released and received. 

By following Him closely, we become recipient of His Promises.

By believing in His promises, we receive divine Commands for our desirable glorious outcome.

Faith is a process. Faith is a journey. Faith is dynamic and therefore Faith is in Levels.

There are little faiths and there is big faith.

The levels of Faith of the disciples are quite different from Jesus'. The Faith that believed for an animal on Mount Moriah when Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac (see Genesis 22) was quite different from the Faith that put money in the mouth of a fish. The faith that made Peter stepped out of the boat to be the only man to have walked on water was quite different from the Faith of the woman with the issue of blood in Luke 8, who believed that by touching Jesus she would get her healing. Her faith was quite different from the centurion who noted that Jesus didn't have to touch or interact with His servant. The centurion believed that by just a spoken word, his servant can be made perfect. The Faith of the centurion was classified as a great faith (see Mathew 8:5-10). Moreover, to every one of these people of Faith, although believed in a different way, in a different situation, there was a performance. This is because what you believe is what you get. And the level of your faith determines what you get when your desire in the specific situation align with the Will of God.

Okay, that is a whole lot!

Before I jump into some concepts to note around Faith as a currency. Let's talk briefly about the different levels of Faith. Of Course, there are levels in Faith and the Levels of your engagement with Faith depend on your calling, your assignment, your purpose, your position and your exposure. As bitter as it sounds, there are some desires that remain unreceived because, it is not in God's Big Plan- His Purpose.

A will is a desire or acting of your own volition. The will of God is rooted in His purpose. And His purpose fits in the entire humanity. Not just a single individual. Not just you and I. His will captures the end from the beginning and determines His unchanging act and Faithfulness towards His children at a point in time. God is Our Father. God is our Father in Heaven. Hallow is His name. His kingdom comes. His Will is done on earth as it is done in Heaven.

God's will decided that for Paul, as anointed as He was, He would still have to live with the undisclosed pain of a thorn in the flesh (see 2 Cointhians 2:7-10). His Will decided that for Esther's request, the Jews had to be saved or how I else will the Messiah come? His Will decided that Moses shall not perish when the baby boys are being killed at birth by Pharaoh. And again, for Moses, His will decide that His chosen one- Moses shall not see the Promised Land because His sovereignty and His character did not allow Him to tolerate iniquity. Yet, His will and purpose made sure the man named the meekest on earth was buried by God Himself. His will, His Purpose and His character are worth studying!

God has a character- unchanging, unflinching, unrelenting. God has a will. And God has a Desire. Therefore, when we pray, and we level up our faith, and we receive the answers that we desired, that does not mean God changed His mind. God is always ready to do Good for His children. God is a good God. God is loving. God has integrity. Prayer simply aligns our desires to His purpose. For Esther, it was God's will and plan that the Messiah would come from the Israelites. Specifically, the tribe of Judah. Think for a minute how Hannah was able to level up her faith? You are free to unpack your answer in the comment below. God needed a mouthpiece; Hannah desired a child. A miracle happens when Divine will align with a human desire. During one of the Table talk, a friend said, God will allow you to have your will, so that He can get His WILL- (Pastor Gbolahan Adedoyin).

Let me just allow this to sit for a while.

Now, what are the Levels of Faith?

Here is how I think about the Levels of Faith based on Ezekiel's vision and analogy in Chapter 47. He was taken into the temple and water was sipping through into the temple from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. As he was walking into the temple, the angel was measuring the amount of water. Ezekiel was gauging it with his own body, the angel was measuring. At first the water was at his ankle. After a while, the water reached his knee, a while passed and the water was around his waist and then the last measurement, he could not hold himself because his body had lost balance because of the mass of the water. Water in the bible represent the word of God and sometimes the Spirit of God. While this vision can easily be likened to the move of the spirit of God, I would like to use this vision to draw the analogy of the four levels of Faith. Our relationship with God determines our level of Faith.

Ankle faith- little faith

A type of faith, where you are most of the times, the one in control of your decision and choices in your life.  Little faith is restless. It is struggling. It is a laboring faith. It is a wresting faith. At this level, the focus is on you. At this level, the focus of your faith is unstable. Your focus is on the circumstances.  At this level, the balance is on you. At this level, you rely on facts or what the motion decides on the topic. Your choices are shallow and mostly driven by emotion. Everything is built around you. Ankle faith is self-driven. Ankle faith is self-focused. At the ankle level, your decisions and choices and action are based on what you can see with your physical eyes. At the ankle level, you are led by others, by the crowd, and by what is popular. At the ankle faith, you can easily opt out, you are not deep in the pool of His love. At the ankle faith, your relationship is superficial. at the ankle faith, we seem to have the look of Godliness but the power and the authority that relationship with God carries is missing. Every one of us have been at this level. The truth is God's mercy reaches out to little faith and we get answers to prayers, even when those prayers are selfish.

Knee Faith- Potential Faith

Think of the Levels of faith like you are in a pool of water. Imagine a water at your knee, how likely are you going to lose control and get drown? For me, I would say not too likely. A water that reaches your knee can't drown you. A faith that is at this low level is a potential for growth, for change and for increase. At the knee faith, your faith is beginning to mature. At the knee faith, you know of God's power, although you still struggle on how to make that power avail for you. A knee faith can still be distracted. A knee faith can also look on the circumstances. A knee faith is sometimes afraid. A knee faith would ask God for signs. A knee faith would say how can it be? A knee faith many times believe in God for the possible but find it hard to believe God for the impossible. At this level, you are in between. At this level, your faith is compartmentalized.

Every Levels of Faith has a potential for Growth!

We WALK by Faith, We Grow by Faith

Here are some Application Questions from Lesson 2: Hebrews 11, Genesis 12

1. By Faith Abraham was told, why did Abraham get this message?

2. Why was Abraham selected to receive this promise?

3. How was Abraham able to know that God was talking?

4. How do you recognize the difference between conversation, instructions, directions and a command? 

5. What are promises?  

6. How do people get to a point that they get a promise?

7. What makes Abram privy to God’s promises?