There are different levels of faith.

We’re born with the first level: a God-given birthright for all His children, which ensures His promises CAN and will be fulfilled. This Level 1 faith we were all equipped with from birth is a barely perceptible, low-voltage power that gives us an unconscious expectation that something else will happen next. It is the tiniest seed of hope.

Even as a baby, we experience discomfort and hope it will go away. None of us would hope for anything different if we didn’t have a concept of the future. If you believe there exists a future at all, even if all you can believe in is five seconds ahead, then this birthright faith is alive and well in you.

Ironically, if you are worried about the future, then that is all the more evidence that you have this kind of faith.

As babies become adults, their birthright faith becomes more of a conscious concept. It gives them confidence to make plans, whether they do it fearfully or excitedly, because they expect there is a future to live into. Even if they don’t love the looks of their future, they at least believe there is one.

It is that birthright faith that helps us believe, for example, that a meteor probably won’t flatten us today. The more we grow, the more we apply it intentionally to things we’re a little less certain about. We flex that faith-muscle with every new challenge. The less predictable the outcome, the more faith is required, and the more that faith-muscle can grow when we step forward, anyway.

Rarity Determines the Requirement

It takes barely any faith to believe the world is going to keep turning another day, but if you think about it, it does take some. You’ve witnessed a perfect track record throughout your lifetime, so that helps.

Perhaps it takes a little more faith than that to believe your car or airplane will make it safely to its destination. Odds are good, but in the back of your mind you know that some don’t make it. Maybe it takes even more faith to believe you’ll get that raise you want, if raises at your work seldom occur.

Biblical miracles are particularly astounding, because the events described are historically rare, if not entirely one-of-a-kind. If a hoped-for event is common, then only a small amount of faith is needed. If a hoped-for event occasionally happens, then perhaps a moderate amount of faith will be needed. But if a hoped-for event has never happened before, the ultimate level of faith is likely required.

So, the rarity of an event determines the amount of faith required, first to believe it will happen, and then to see it through. What may require a lot of faith for you might take very little for someone else, and vice-versa, depending on your life’s experiences and perception of how rare the desired outcome seems.

Regardless of our various religions, or lack thereof, we all live by faith, every single day. And the more we flex our faith-muscle, the more we can grow and the more fulfilling our life can be.

Imagine growing your faith to a point that your confidence is unshakable. What if you could know without a doubt that anything you ask for, will be given?

What if you could develop your faith to be so strong that any hoped-for event changes from being impossible to inevitable? I can think of no better example than Jesus Christ for having faith so perfectly developed. He prayed with confidence. He knew that anything He asked the Father would be granted, and he taught the same was possible for us.

With this kind of faith, he performed miracles.

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This is an excerpt from my new book in progress, Rare Faith: Moving Mountains.

Download more of the early-release ebook here