”The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” (Luke 17:5-10)
"Increase our faith" the apostles beseeched Jesus. They like us, would have liked Jesus to give them enormous volumes of faith, thinking that the more they had, the more signs, wonders and miracles they would be able to perform.
Such a request indicates a total misunderstanding of faith and servanthood. Faith stems from time spent with Jesus, developing a relationship with Him in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Only after salvation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit, can we confidently order mountains of problems to be cast into the sea.
Jesus shared a parable about a man who had a servant who was working his fields and looking after his animals. When the servant would return from the fields, it was his duty to prepare supper and serve it to his master, before he himself could eat.
In speaking of the master, Jesus asked, "Would he thank the servant because he did what he was commanded?" No. We increase our faith by doing everything Jesus tells us to do as He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit (John 16:13-15).
In order to be attuned to His voice, we need to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. Then we can do "our duty" in the Spirit of Godly servant hood.
Prayer
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