Day 21: Faith As a Mustard Seed

Welcome to Day 21 of 21 Days to Strengthen Your Faith! On this final day of the series, we are looking at Jesus’ teachings about having faith as a mustard seed. What can you really accomplish if you have faith the size of a mustard seed? Read on for encouragement and inspiration!

As a reminder:

In this series, we examine one short Scripture passage each day.

Then, we will pray through it with a brief series of bullet-point prayers. Each day, our goal is to strengthen our faith by gaining greater revelation about the importance of faith in our lives, and how faith WORKS.

As you strengthen your faith each day, your confidence in God will grow–and you will also begin feeling more brave and willing to go on the great adventures God has for you!

Click here for the series table of contents, in which you can find all the articles in 21 Days to Strengthen Your Faith.

We have also recorded a short video devotional to go with each day’s Scripture verse. Please be sure to watch these videos for extra encouragement and inspiration in your faith journey!

Here is today’s short video word of encouragement:

Today’s key Scripture is Luke 17:5, which says:

“And the apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith’” (Luke 17:5 NKJV).

And how did the Lord respond to the apostles’ request?

He said this:

“So the Lord said, ‘If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you’” (Luke 17:6 NKJV).

Now, you might be tempted to think that this verse means we can accomplish great things with a tiny bit of faith. But look what else Jesus said about mustard seeds in the Gospels:

“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches’” (Matthew 13:31-32 NKJV).

And then read Mark 4:30-32:

Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade” (Mark 4:30 NKJV).

In the passage above, Jesus didn’t talk about mustard seeds staying small. Instead, He talked about how they exploded in growth.

And, in order to live by faith the way the Bible prescribes, our faith needs to explode in growth too.

A lot of people use this phrase about the mustard seed being “the least of all the seeds” to justify their small faith. But Jesus didn’t endorse small faith. And He certainly never gave us permission to be content with small faith.

In fact, when the apostles asked why they could not cast out the demon in Matthew 17, He responded in Matthew 17:20 and told them it was because of their LITTLE, or weak, faith. (Look that up in your Strong’s Concordance to see the meaning of the Greek word there in Matthew 17:20.)

People who say that “faith like a mustard seed” is effective are missing the point.

JESUS told us point-blank in Matthew 13:31-32 that the point of the mustard seed is not to start small and stay small, but rather to start as “the least of all the seeds” and GROW until it becomes a tree. And when it becomes a tree, the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.

In other words, your faith may start small, but it is supposed to GROW and become so big that other people take shelter and shade under the strength of your faith.

Um.

#Word

That is a whole lot different than being content with faith the size of a mustard seed, isn’t it?

So friend, I encourage you to actively work on strengthening your faith for the rest of your life.

How do you strengthen your faith? Look at the tip we find in Romans 10:17:

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17 NKJV).

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. In that phrase, the Greek word for “word” is not logos (the written Word of God); it is rhema, the on-time, right-now, prophetic, ministered-to-you-by-Holy Spirit Himself word of God.

And yes, that does include God’s written Word, but specifically in the capacity of when Holy Spirit makes those words jump off the page into your heart, bearing witness that this word is for you.

You can do so many different things to work with Holy Spirit and sharpen your ability to hear His rhema word to you.

For example:

• Spending massive time studying His written Word, asking Holy Spirit to minister to you and speak to you out of it;
• Memorizing God’s Word;
• Speaking God’s Word out of your mouth;
• Singing it back to Him;
• Listening to His prophetic word for you that He whispers in your ears;
• Listening to the prophetic words of reliable, Scriptural prophetic voices;
• and so much more!

Friend, I encourage you to do the work it takes to strengthen your faith and make it GROW.

Don’t be content with faith the size of a mustard seed. It’s fine to start there, but Jesus wants your faith to explode in growth and provide shelter to others. Your faith can go from a tiny seed to the largest tree.

Simply ask the Lord to increase your faith, and then do all the things His Word tells us to do over time.

Pray these simple prayer points today:

• Tell the Father that you come before Him in Jesus’ name.
• Thank Him and praise Him for His grace, and for His mercy toward you.
• Ask the Lord to increase your faith.
• Ask Him to help you do all the things it takes for YOU to increase your faith, too.
• Pray that He would help you cultivate your faith until it grows and becomes the largest plant in the garden.
• Pray that your faith would explode and become a tree.
• Ask the Lord to help you grow your faith so big that other people come to take refuge, shelter, and shade in the “branches” of your faith.
• Thank Holy Spirit for challenging you with His Word in the matter of faith.
• Ask Him to help you persevere, and not to lose heart or give up on building your faith.
• Ask Him to continually show you the answers to your prayers, and to strengthen you when the going is hard.
• Thank Him for hearing and answering your prayer, and give Him all the praise!

Friend, in this series you have prayed through 21 different Scriptures to strengthen your faith.

But don’t stop there, okay? Read your Bible daily and ask the Lord to help you believe everything you read. Claim His promises in prayer. Speak His Word out loud. Cultivate your faith on purpose, and it will become mountain-moving faith!

Did this word speak to and challenge your heart today? If so, leave a comment below!