The roles of faith in Christian walk cannot be overemphasised because it is the mainstay or mainstream of Christianity. It is not an overstatement to say, "No faith in Christ, no Christianity! "As it was, so it is and it cannot be wanting among professed believers in Christ not to have faith.

The Holy Bible makes it abundantly clear that without faith no one can receive anything from God and cannot pleased Him. (Hebrew 11:6, James 1:7)

It means that faith is the crust of following and benefiting from Jesus Christ.

Do you know that following Christ without faith have not just started? Hear the words of the Lord on His first disciples in Matthew 17:17.
"Ó faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?
How long shall I bear with you?"

Peter and his group following Jesus were tolerated set of disciples who had no faith to work with or for Him. Note that Jesus was physically with them. Are you not in one of this generation of believers who are "faithless and perverse" as you follow Jesus Christ? He is with you and other brethren, is He still tolerating you?

On another occasion, He said to them, "O you of little faith..." in Matthew 16:8. By this time and on the issue on hand, the first generation disciples under the "leadership" of Peter the Apostle were people of "little faith". By this time, they were operating with certain faith that is limited in operation. This is far better than being faithless.

Let me classify this into three here:
1. It is a faith that accepts Jesus Christ as the Lord and Saviour only and it does not go further than that. It restricts Jesus to this realm in their lives and they were satisfied.

2. A little faith sometimes goes further to see Jesus as a "man" who can perform certain miracle but lacks the power to perform others. They restrict Him to, sometimes, only those He has performed once only. Not only this, they limit Him to a geographical zone to perform wonders and not capable in others.

3. A litte faith in a Christian life means that Jesus Christ can perform miracles in other believers lives but not in their own lives. Their little faith has turned them into spectators in the assembly of saints. They can invite people to Jesus Christ for their problems to be solved and they will assure the invitees of Christ's power to perform signs and wonders, this comes to pass. However, they never see themselves as someone who can partake of such.

At a certain point in their journey of faith, Jesus assures His disciples,
"... 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." Matthew 17:20e-j.

A mustard seed is very small in size indeed. However, as small as it is, if a believer can have that size of faith, it will become attainable. This is a form of advancement over little faith. This crushes every weakness observed in a little faith.

Faith is then like a seed that is planted in the heart of a believer. It germinate and begins to grow and it can grow to become a great tree. Great trees are also in different sizes and heights, so it is with faith! What then are the fertilizers to grow it? Let Jesus answer you in Matthew 17:21,
"However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

You can grow your faith yourself if you apply the right type of fertilizers to grow it. There are various types of prayers and different forms of fasting with which you can grow your faith. The aim of this piece is to tell you that your faith need to grow by applying the Christ recommended fertilizers that never fail, prayer and fasting.

A friend of the Scriptures can easily identify many forms of prayer and fasting employed in Bible days by those who feared the Lord and reaped tremendously from it. You too can do the same!

You can grow your faith until you believe that a touch of Jesus' garment can heal you (Mark 5:25-34). This is the story of a woman with an issue of blood. Jesus said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well.
Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."

Go and grow your faith with fertilisers of prayer and fasting and it shall be well with you and all that are yours in Jesus name.
Stay blessed and prepared for the imminent coming of the Lord.
Note: All Scripture quoted are from New King James Version of the Bible

The Author is the set man of CTFM(WORLD OUTREACH)and Presiding Pastor of Christ Restland Gospel Church.He is a Poet and author of many books. Visit his blogsites www.4thlink.wordpress.com and www.peacelink.wordpress.com for more quality contents.