Tues., 3/3/15 Devotion (Lk. 17:5)

Today's encouragement comes from Luke 17:5, where we read these words:

"And the apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith.' "

When we believers are faced with impossible tasks, typically a good prayer to God is: "Increase our faith." And though this is a desirable end; the Lord does not always answer this request in the way we would expect. Instead, some-times He teaches us that we do not need *a lot* faith; but that rather we need real and applied *sincere* faith—which is always centered in and on Jesus.

Let us be sure that we do not look for more of anything in our Christian lives, without first availing ourselves of what we already possess. The exercise of faith does not require a lot of religious fanfare; but it does call on our hearts to truly cling to the Christ of the Gospel.

[Puritan quote of the day: "The true God perfectly knows the circumstances of everyone who prays to Him throughout the world.” —Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon, "The Most High a Prayer-Hearing God"]