Bible verses about faith: 17 passages for when believing is hard

Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.

The King James says substance, and the Greek word pictures something solid underneath, like a foundation. Faith is not wishful thinking; it is standing on what God has said.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Faith here has two parts: believing God is there, and believing he is good to those who look for him. The second part is often the harder one.

Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Most early Christians heard Scripture read aloud rather than reading it alone. Faith grows the same way today: by keeping God’s word in your ears.

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.

Faith is the empty hand that receives the gift, not a payment toward it. That is why no one can boast.

“Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

The mustard seed was a byword for something tiny. Jesus’ point is that the size of your faith matters far less than the size of the God it rests on.

“If You can?” echoed Jesus. “All things are possible to him who believes!” Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

A desperate father admits belief and doubt in the same breath, and Jesus heals his son. Honest faith is still faith.

Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.

Genesis records Abraham laughing at God’s promise, yet Paul says he did not waver. Looking back, what counted was the direction of his life, not every hesitant moment.

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Paul writes this while talking about death and the hope of resurrection. Faith is how you move forward when the path ahead is not yet visible.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.

Abraham knew who was calling him but not where he was going. Faith often gives you the next step, not the whole map.

Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Spoken to Thomas after he saw the risen Jesus. The blessing at the end is for everyone who came later, including you.

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy, now that you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Peter had walked with Jesus; his readers never had. He writes with something like admiration that they love someone they have not seen.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James does not say trials feel like joy. He says to count them as joy because of what they are building: a faith that lasts.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Gold was refined by heating it until the impurities rose to the surface. Peter says your faith is worth more than that gold.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Paul wrote this from prison near the end of his life. Keeping the faith was not a single decision but a race run all the way to the line.

So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.

James and Paul are not at odds. Paul says we are saved by faith; James says real faith always shows itself in what we do.

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Faith is personal here: the Son of God, who loved me. Paul lives each ordinary day by trusting that love.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The cloud of witnesses is the list of faithful people in Hebrews 11. Jesus is called the author and perfecter of faith: he starts it in you and finishes it.