Strengthening One’s Faith in this time of Pandemic

How Can We Be
Strengthened in Our
Faith?
“I BELIEVED THEREFORE I SPOKE”

Our Christian life is a life of faith, and the Bible says that as believers,
we walk by faith, not by sight. But in our experience, especially
when we encounter difficult circumstances, we often become
discouraged and find it hard to put our trust in God. We try to believe,
but sometimes it feels like we simply don’t have enough faith.
Question:
We all certainly want to experience this in our daily Christian walk, but
how do we have this faith? How can we be strengthened in our faith,
especially in the face of difficulty? 

We have a spirit of faith

Faith is located in our human spirit. When we believed in Christ, we
were regenerated; our spirit was enlivened and became a spirit of
faith. Now, whenever our difficult situations cause us to experience
doubts in our mind, we can and must exercise our spirit of faith to
contact the Lord who is in our spirit. As a result, we will find faith in our
spirit. 
Day by day, we need to exercise our spirit of faith, but how do we do
this?

Exercising our spirit of faith

One of the best ways we can exercise our spirit of faith is to
speak. But what should we say and to whom should we speak?

First, we can speak the Word of God to ourselves and to the Lord. The
more we speak His Word, the more faith we have.

Second, we can also speak to others, telling them about Christ or

sharing something we’ve enjoyed from His Word. 
According to BooksforChrist.com there are:

5 Ways to Strengthen Your Faith

Whether you are a new Christian or have been a Christian for years, we all should be
continuing to strengthen our faith and relationship with God each and every day. No
matter what you are going through or where you are on your journey, God calls us to
stand firm in faith and continue to rely on Him (1 Corinthians 16:13). Faith is what helps
us continue to live out our lives for God and truly seek His Kingdom first in every
situation and aspect of our lives.

So, here are five simple ways that can help us continue to strengthen our faith in God:

Read God's Word

The Bible tells us that, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the
word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). This verse distinctly tells us that faith
comes from hearing God’s Word. God has given us the Bible to help us
learn more about Him and His character so that we can continue to grow
our faith in Him. By reading the Bible on a daily basis, we can be fed and
strengthened in our faith and relationship with God. The Bible helps point
us back to Christ; the foundation of our faith. 
Pray

Prayer is such an important part of our faith. Prayer is our time to truly talk
to God and reveal our hearts to Him. It is a time where we can repent and
ask God for His forgiveness, a time where we can rejoice in His goodness,
a time where we can submit our doubts and worries to Him, and a time
where we can ask Him for help. Prayer helps to build and strengthen our
faith because it allows us to come before God and rely on Him and His
power. By turning to God in prayer each and every day, we can develop a
deeper relationship with Him and create a stronger sense of trust in Him.
God loves us and cares about us so much, and we can be confident in our
prayers knowing that He is listening.   

Be in Fellowship with Others

Strengthening your faith can sometimes be difficult, which is why it is a

good idea to have other believers who you can journey with and who can
help support you. Being in fellowship with others is a great way to not only
have others support you and your walk with God, but you can do the same
for them. Seeing others and their faith in Jesus can be so encouraging for
you and your own faith. By attending a church and becoming a part of its
community, you can fellowship with other believers and start to live out your
faith with their help too.

Serve God and Others

As Christians, we are called to be more like Jesus, and to do that we

should start walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). Whether that be serving
in our local church, hosting a Bible study, sharing the Gospel with others,
helping out someone in need, etc., it is important that we take steps to live
by faith and strive to be more like Jesus.

Trust

Faith is nothing without trust. We need to trust God with every aspect of our
lives and rely on Him rather than ourselves. It can be difficult at times to
trust God, but God is the One who helps us overcome the darkest valleys
in our lives. Ultimately, it is our trust in God that builds our faith and we
should be striving to trust Him in every situation.

Are Filipinos more religious because of

COVID-19?

According to JAYEEL CORNELIO

There’s something about crisis, whether individual or collective, that
fundamentally challenges religion.
David Hume, the Enlightenment philosopher, is known for “the Problem of Evil.”
In his view, an all-powerful, all-knowing, and benevolent God — the very premise
of Christian faith — cannot coexist with the reality of suffering in the world. 
Thus, if ever a divine being existed, most likely it is indifferent to life as we know
it. 
It is in the same spirit that questions about God and religion have been raised again
as humanity is confronted with the “evil” that is COVID-19. Articles abound
online that ponder on the “crisis of faith” it purportedly engenders. Sociologists
have also wondered whether the closure of religious places around the world
has made a dent on religious practices.
In the Philippines, we now have empirical evidence to assess the state of Filipino
religiosity in the midst of COVID-19. In this short piece, I will spell out some
salient findings from Pulse Asia’s Ulat ng Bayan in September 2020. In the survey
that was administered to 1,200 respondents around the country, questions on
different aspects of faith including prayer and the role of religious organizations
were included. 
Worth noting is the timing of the survey. Administered in the middle of September,
the survey in effect documented the attitudes of Filipinos 6 months since the first
lockdown was implemented.
This is the first time these findings are being reported to the public.
Religious change

Respondents were asked to describe their state of religiosity during this pandemic.
Majority (51.8%) declared that they became more religious. By contrast, only 1.5%
stated that they became less religious.
In a way, this finding is not surprising. There are two important considerations
here. 
The first is that the Philippines has long been among the most religious societies in
the world. This is a consistent observation made by Pew Research Center every
time they conduct global surveys on belief in God, religious practices, and
morality. In fact, their latest report reveals that for 96% of Filipinos, it is
“necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values.” 
To overturn this religious reality is going to take generations.
The second is that faith is the immediate resource for Filipinos in times of crisis. In
June, the Veritas Truth Survey, initiated by Radyo Veritas, revealed that for 89%
of respondents, faith is “very important” in the fight against COVID-19.
This finding only validates much that has been claimed by social scientists about
the role of religion in vulnerable social and economic contexts around the world.
Specifically, low-income countries tend to have higher levels of religiosity as
opposed to their developed counterparts, which are mostly in the Global North. 
Given their social conditions — inadequate health care, high incidence of conflict,
and unreliable state agencies — people in these countries feel that they can turn to
nothing else but their faith in God. What this means is that poor countries are not
religious just because they have lower levels of education.
Therefore, in a sociological sense, crisis does not make people deny God’s
existence or benevolence. On the contrary, it fosters higher religiosity.

How to rely on your faith during hard times

According to OSFHealth care

1. Maintain your faith at all times

Practice Daily Examination of conscience so that you will be guided

2. Find practices that bring you peace

Reflect, Meditate and Contemplation

3. Lay your struggles before God

During hard times, I bring my true emotions, the conversations I have with others,
including their concerns, into my prayer. I lay them at the feet of Jesus, to whom I
have grown in trust and confidence. It is His wisdom and love that gives me
confidence and hope, even when my emotions struggle.

Struggling is normal and I would say in many ways essential to growing in faith. If we
can’t go before God in truth than we are not in a right relationship with Him. I think we
should bring every emotion, fear, doubt and concern to Him.
If you are in a relationship with someone and a lack of trust has come into that
relationship, it is important for that relationship that the doubts are openly talked
about. It is the same with my relationship with God.

4. Rely on your support systems

If you are not internally able to share your struggles with God, find a close friend to
share your heart with, someone who cares enough to listen – not necessarily to do
something.

I think it is important that we accept and understand that we are created for
community, for relationship. We need love, support, kindness, hope and confidence to
gain strength to deal with the challenges of life, and we find that in and through our
relationships.

5. Find the good

Also remember to have a heart of gratitude and find some good in your day, to claim it
as good and to tell someone of that good.
We need laughter. Read a funny book, watch a truly funny movie.

Remember that God is bigger than COVID-19, He is bigger than a bad week and this
time on earth will be very short compared to the gift of Heaven.