Mustard Seed Faith

January 6, 2024

What is Faith?

When we break down the meaning of Biblical faith the first place we can reference is found in Hebrews 11:1 which states, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” It is having the ability to take the Lord and His Word at face value with no exception. So, in other words regardless of what your situation looks like you trust the promises of God over anything else.

This can be a challenging thing for anyone especially if you are a new born again believer of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you haven’t gone through difficult times that required you to trust the Lord and see Him come through for you it might be challenging for you to understand the fact that ALL things are possible through Him, Philippians 4:13.

So, what people do is say that they have great faith but their actions say a completely different thing. Their lack of trust is revealed during their trials and tribulations. You will know your faith is firmly planted when the storms of life hit and you remain unmovable. You know that no matter what happens, God has your back and the power of God will show up and show out!

One of the main ways that you can develop your faith is by getting into the Word of God and saturating the Scriptures in your heart and mind. What this does is build up your Scriptural memory bank that the Holy Spirit can pull from when He needs to. So, when you are faced with adversity the Spirit of God will bring God’s Word to your remembrance, John 14:26.

These are the promises of God that believers of Jesus Christ can stand on. The Lord puts His Word even before His own Name, Psalm 138:2. That is a serious statement meaning that if the Lord said it, He will do it and no demon in hell can stop God’s plan for your life.

Now let’s take a look at the passages of Scripture pertaining to mustard seed faith:

Matthew 17:20

“So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Here we can see that Jesus Christ is explaining to his disciples the importance of having faith. He is using the parable of the mustard seed as an example to give them the illustration of the size of faith that was needed in that moment. They were unable to cast a demon out of a child that was being tormented by it. Jesus then begins to point out the reason why and it was because they were lacking faith.

Matthew 17:17 reveals, “Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” The Lord is making it clear to His disciples that they were faithless which in turn prevented them from having the ability to cast the demon out of the young boy.

Then He goes into the detailed description of having faith the size of a mustard seed. Let’s take a closer look at the passage of Scripture that the Lord is referencing found in the book of Matthew. The word “unbelief” being used is the Greek word “apistia” which means: weakness of faith and littleness of faith, little faith.

The word “faith” being used is the Greek word “pistis” which means: belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same. It is the kind of faith that does not lean on your own faith but trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The words “as a mustard seed” being used is the Greek word “sinapi” which means: mustard, the name of a plant which in oriental countries grows from a very small seed and attains to the height of a tree 10 feet and more. So when we take a look at these important parts of the passage of Scripture we can determine that Jesus is telling us that our lack of faith is preventing us from moving mountains.

Then He describes the type of faith that He is talking about and that is the size of a mustard seed. The thing about a mustard seed is the fact that it is smallest seed that you could possibly imagine yet it has the ability to produce an enormous tree. Jesus is making the point that the amount of belief that you have can begin as one of the smallest seeds but you eventually want it to grow into a large tree.

As Jesus Christ’s disciples it is imperative that we develop true, authentic, and unmovable faith in the Lord. God does not want our level of belief to remain stagnant; our faith should develop as we mature in our walk with Christ. We can never forget that we serve a mighty and great God that is not limited in any way.

Every promise is given by the Lord for believers of Jesus Christ and we need to learn how to take every word found in the Bible at face value. Most of the time what happens to a lot of Christians is they read the Lord’s Word but when difficult times hit they don’t apply it to their situation. What that does is show your lack of faith in the fact that God is Who He says He is and will do what His Word says He will do.

Let’s take a look at another passage of Scripture that discloses what the Lord expects us to do with the tiny mustard seed of faith that we have.

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.”

There is a lot to unpack in this parable of the mustard seed given by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is delivering this particular allegory to His disciples and others around Him regarding a tiny mustard seed. One thing that we can determine is that the Lord is making it clear to us that you are not supposed to keep small faith in fact it is supposed to grow into a mustard tree.

You should have enough faith sown that it produces a tree so big that birds will have the ability to build their nests in it. God wants us to understand just how important having trust and belief in Him actually is. Never forget that we are in an everyday battle fighting a strong adversary that wants to kill, steal, and destroy us, John 10:10. We will need the power of faith in Jesus Christ to be able to overcome his attacks.

In your Christian life you are going to have tribulation and you are going to need to have the kind of faith that is not easily moved when those storms hit. Make it a point to have your own Bible Study where you take time to consume and digest the Lord’s Word. It needs to be embedded in your heart and mind because that is one of the main ways that your faith will develop.

Think of it this way: a person that has a lot of God’s Word in them will have much faith and a person that has a small amount of God’s Word in them will have little faith. Why is that? In order for your “Helper” the Holy Spirit to help you in your time of need He needs to have Scripture to bring to your remembrance, John 14:26. That is an impossibility if your spiritual memory bank is empty.

Now let’s take deeper look at the passages of Scripture found in the book of Mark specifically chapter 4 verse 32. The words “it is sown” is the Greek word “speirō” which means: to sow, scatter seed. The words “it grows up” is the Greek word “anabainō” which means: to rise, mount, be borne up, and spring up. The words “greater than” is the Greek word “meizōn” which means: greater, larger, elder, and stronger.

This part of the parable Jesus is explaining to us is very revealing. He is saying that our faith should never remain small regardless of the size of the seed that we are sowing. Our faith should have roots sown so deep that a huge tree with large branches big enough to nest birds is grown. In order for a tree to develop properly it needs to be planted in good soil.

Jesus gives an analogy of the importance of having “good soil” in Mark 4:13-20. It is key to understand how the Word of God is sown into the heart of a believer of Jesus Christ; I would definitely recommend studying this parable. When the Word of God is saturated in your heart and mind it helps you develop your faith. That is why it is so crucial that we read the Word of God, digest it, and apply it to our daily lives. It is literally the bread of life!

Conclusion

Having true faith in the Lord is what is going to help us in our daily lives as Christians. Make no mistake about it, you will face trials and tribulations and often times they can be so severe that it requires a certain level of faith to get through it. If you don’t have the Word of God firmly planted in your heart and mind, it is going to be very difficult to overcome the storms of life.

When thinking of having mustard seed faith, a lot of people think of a small seed that stays small. That is not the case as we can see in these passages of Scripture that I am referencing. God meant for our mustard seed faith to grow into a large tree firmly planted, unmovable, and unwavering!

Also, don’t forget to check out my other blogs:

Having Faith in God

Bible Verses on Faith

How to activate your Faith

Hebrews examples of Faith

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Fight Back

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Feed Your Spirit

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Renouncing

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Confess and Repent

Recognizing Spiritual Strongholds

What are Spiritual Strongholds?

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 1