Episode #49: How Faith Grows By Hearing the Word of God

Faith doesn’t ask for proof before it starts; it listens, trusts, and moves. We dig into how Scripture defines faith as substance and evidence, why hearing God’s Word is the engine of growth, and how action turns belief into a life that actually pleases God. Drawing from Hebrews 11, Romans 10:17, James 2, and Hebrews 5, we explore the path from spiritual infancy to maturity—what the Bible calls moving from milk to solid food.

I walk through the stories of Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham to show a pattern that still holds: God speaks, we respond, and transformation follows. You’ll hear practical guidance for building a daily rhythm with Scripture so faith can rise from repetition, meditation, and obedience. We talk about the tension between waiting and acting, the courage to obey before outcomes appear, and the quiet strength that forms when the Holy Spirit and the Word train our senses to discern good and evil in a noisy world.

If you’ve ever felt stuck at the “I believe” stage, this conversation offers a clear next step: match your convictions with concrete action. Learn how to cultivate resilient faith, sharpen spiritual discernment, and carry your calling at home, at work, and in your community. By the end, you’ll have a simple plan to hear God’s Word every day, respond with trust, and grow into the kind of person who can shoulder greater responsibility with grace. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can grow stronger in faith with us.

Transcript

What Pleases God: Faith

Defining Faith In Hebrews 11

How Faith Grows By Hearing

Faith Requires Works In James 2

Heroes Of Faith In Hebrews 11

From Milk To Solid Food

Discernment And Spiritual Maturity

Purpose, Obedience, And Daily Witness

Word, Spirit, And Active Mission

Commit To Hearing God’s Word

Salvation Prayer And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello, my name is Stephanie. Welcome to the All Is Well Podcast. My mission is to teach people the Word of God and emphasize its importance in their daily lives. I'm glad you decided to join me today. Let's get started. Welcome to episode 49. In this episode, we are going to talk about the thing that pleases God, and that is faith. As it says in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. So let's dive in. So faith pleases God. What is faith? It's believing in him. It's believing in something that we cannot see with our eyes yet. And that is what God requires from us and that trust. So let's start by reading this in Hebrews chapter eleven. So in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1, it reads, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So faith, that is the definition of faith, if you think about it. It's the substance of things hoped for, which means there's things that we're desiring, it's things that God has promised us, what He has spoken into our lives. And so it's that faith that we're believing. And then it says the evidence of things not seen, the evidence of things not seen, which means we haven't seen it with our eyes, but we know that it's coming. Then it reads, For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. And that goes back to the beginning of the Bible in Genesis, when God spoke things into existence, he didn't see it with his eyes. He had faith, he spoke, and then it came to existence. Let's go learn more about faith. Now let's turn to our Bibles to Romans chapter ten verse 17. In Romans 10 verse 17 it reads So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. How do you build your faith? It doesn't just come. You don't just say I believe and then leave it at that. No, there's a way that faith comes. There's a way to cultivate your faith, and it's by hearing the word of God, not hearing it just one time, not hearing it whenever you feel like it. But it says hearing and hearing by the word of God. The way that you produce your faith, you grow your faith, you increase your faith is hearing the word of God, reading it, listening to it, meditating on it. And just as it says in the Bible also, meditate on the word of God day and night. When you do that, that's how your faith comes, that's how your faith grows. And then when God tells you to do something, and then when he has something planned for you and he's speaking to you, you have that faith built up inside of you because of the word of God that's been planted within you. Everyone's given the same measure of faith. It's up to us to water it, to grow it, to feed it. And that is what is required of God. And remember, faith pleases God. Let's keep going. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 7. And so with our faith, it requires works. Our faith requires works. So in James chapter 2, verse 17, it reads thus, also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. So not only do you have faith and you're getting that by reading the Word of God, because you can't just read the Word of God and not do anything. It doesn't work that way. It's going to stir something up inside of you. It says if it does not have works is dead. But someone will say, You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God, you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? So what does that even mean when it says even the demons believe and tremble? That means that you just can't have faith alone, that God is real, that you believe the Bible. You have to have those works, your actions, in line with it. Because it says that the demons believe that there is a God, they know that He's real, that's why they're trying to get people away from Him. But are they reading the Bible? Do they want to change their lives to become like Christ? No. So they're not doing anything like that because, first of all, they're demons. But then it says, But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you not see that faith was working together with his works? And by works faith was made perfect, and the scripture was fulfilled which says Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. Abraham just didn't believe God, but he acted on it. Faith without works is dead. You need both of them. So let's turn back to Hebrews chapter eleven. So in Hebrews chapter eleven, there are more stories about people in the Bible who practiced their faith and we see the results of it. And verse four, by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and was not found because God had taken him, for before he was taken he had this testimony that he pleased God. What pleases God? Faith. But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. It doesn't say sometimes or whenever they feel like seeking him, it says diligently, which means all of the time, consistently. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. So Noah just didn't believe what God said, he acted on it, and his family was saved. So as you keep reading in chapter eleven in Hebrews, you'll read about the men and women of God, who not only believed God and had faith, but acted on it, and that is what pleases God. Let's go to Hebrews chapter five verse twelve. In Hebrews chapter five, verse twelve. For through by this time you ought to be teachers. You need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. So when you're first starting out with your walk with Christ, or you may have been for a while, but as it says here, it says, and you come to need milk and not solid food. Think of this. Who needs milk? Babies need milk. Why? Because they're babies, they're not grown yet, they're not developed yet. You can't feed a baby a hamburger or a pizza, they're not ready for that. If you give that to them, they don't know how to chew on it or swallow it. It can hurt their bodies. They don't know anything about it. They're not ready. And so they need to be fed milk so they can grow. They need that foundation. And so it's the same thing with us. We need that foundation of the word of God. We need that faith. We need to be fed with the word of God day and night and meditate on it and get that milk and get that foundation so we can grow and be ready for the solid food of God. And so this is how we develop our faith. So if we don't develop our faith, we stay in that lower level. We stay in that how the Bible describes it, for he is a babe. We stay in that elementary level, and it's hard for us to grow. They just have milk. They can't have anything higher, they can't get anything higher. They may want the cake or the french fries because it smells so good, but can they eat it? They can't eat it. So we are the same way too. There may be some things, oh, I would want that. I wish I could believe for something like that. You have to build your faith and listen to the word of God and be obedient to what he tells you to do. And then it says in verse 14, but solid food belongs to those who are a full age. What does that mean? Those to who are fully grown, adults. What do they eat? What do we eat? Food, anything that we wish. We don't just drink liquids unless it's our choice, but we can eat solid food, a hamburger, a pizza, and we know how to chew on it, bite it. It won't hurt us. We know what to do. And so the same way with the word of God, there's different levels to it. The word of God can feed you at the level that you're at. But the thing is, where do you want to be? If you just want to be at the lower level and stay at that babe and just get the milk, you're going to stay there. But then you won't see the results of someone who has at a higher level than you. But when you keep meditating on the word of God and you're exercising your faith and you're hearing by the word of God, then you're going to have that solid food because the word of God is meat. There is a lot of meat to the word of God. And that part makes you strong and you're able to fight battles and you're able to discern good and evil and these things that God is able to speak to you, and you're able to walk out in different things. And it's amazing the things that God teaches us when we're ready for that solid food. And I'm going to read it again and continue on with it. But in 14, again, it says, But solid food belongs to those who are a full age. That is those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. So when you're reading and meditating the word of God, you're not going to read it and nothing happened to you. Your spiritual senses are going to become aware of both good and evil. You're going to know. Before people just look in the outside, oh, it's so bad, because look at all the bad stuff, and they can tell you by what's in the news, what they see on their social media feed, what someone is telling them. But it's just by sight. But there are some things that you can tell spiritually, you can discern what is good and bad by just discerning it, by believing what God is telling you about that situation, discerning what he's telling your spirit. And you can't get there, you can't discern that at a lower level. Think about a baby. If an intruder is coming in the home or a stranger, is a baby going to know and tell us what to do? No, they can't protect us. But someone with a natural eye can look at a situation and think, everything's good, everything's fine. But the person who has been having solid food and meditating on the word of God and their faith is strengthened, God can alert them and their spirit will know the situation is not good, even though it may look good in the natural. And so there is just so much that God wants to show us, and so many areas where God wants to elevate us, but he can only take us so far if we want to tag along, if we want to go with him. Because there's callings and purposes and things that he wants us to do, but we can only do those things if we're ready for them, if we're at that level that he needs us to be. Because once he takes us there, then there's some faith that is required of us. There is some just things to develop us and to grow us and to impact the people that we need to minister to and who we're around. So the word of God is important. It's important for everyday life, not just our afterlife when we're in heaven, but right now in the word of God, right now in the time that we're living in, and then to impact the people around us, your friends, your family, your parents, your siblings, your co-workers, your neighbors, everyone. We have a responsibility as Christians to share the word of God with everyone and to tell them the good news. But if we don't know it ourselves and we're still babes, or we've been there for way too long, then it's hard for us to help someone. It's hard for us to help them and pray for them at the level that they need to be prayed for. So that's why it's good to spend time in the Word of God, know who God is, and strengthen up our spirit, man, to strengthen us and to get us strong and to know when to pray for things and to know when God's speaking to us and what we need to develop and know what we need to seek from the Lord and what we need to learn. Because God has a great plan for us, and God wants so many things for us, and he wants us to grow closer to him, to know him better, and to do the things that he's called us to do. But all of that requires faith, because faith pleases God, and without works, faith is dead. Because I can believe this, but if I don't do anything, then my faith is dead. Faith without works is dead. And you can see too, throughout all the Bible, that Jesus didn't believe the Holy Spirit, they didn't just believe, but they acted on it. They acted on what they said and they kept going. They had a mission, they knew what they needed to do. They didn't just stay, but they moved, they progressed, increased other people, they taught people. Jesus, when he was on the earth, he taught the disciples, he trained them. So that way when he left this earth, they knew what to do. He had trained them, he had taught them what to do because God was their teacher, God was their guide. In the same way, we don't have Jesus standing next to us, but we do have the word of God and we do have the Holy Spirit because whenever Jesus left this earth, he didn't leave us alone. The Holy Spirit came down and he resided over the earth, and he's here helping each and every one of us. And so when we ask Jesus into our lives, that Holy Spirit reigns inside of us, and when he does, he is there. But as a baby, it's hard to discern good and evil. But the more that we are diving into the word of God and knowing who he is, then we're able to discern both good and evil, and that's what the Holy Spirit helps us do, and the Word of God. So I hope this message helped you, and so what I would recommend is for you to share it with a friend or share it with the family member if it helped you in any way, and most of all, what I would like for you to do is to make a commitment and be determined to increase your faith and read the word of God every day, hear the word of God every day, like it says in Romans 10 17, hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Hear the Word of God every day, hear it and hear it and hear it. Remember, because it's not just about listening to the Word of God or to hear a scripture one time and that's it. Oh, I got it. It's not hard, I understand it. It's not about that. This is not a history book. It's the word of God, it's powerful, it's transformative. So, like it says in Romans 10 17, we hear the word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. So keep meditating on these scriptures, read the word of God. If there's something that you don't understand or it seems confusing, ask God for his guidance and keep pressing in and keep pushing forward. Don't give up. And thank you for tuning in. If you have not accepted Jesus into your life, say this salvation prayer with me. Heavenly Father, I admit that I have sinned. I repent. I believe in my heart you raised Jesus from the dead. I confess with my mouth, Jesus is Lord and my Savior. Right now, I receive forgiveness by the blood of Jesus. Come into my life. I am saved. In Jesus' name. Amen. I'm glad you pray that salvation prayer. Make sure that you plug yourself into a spirit filled church and read the word of God. Well, I hope you enjoy the message and thank you for tuning in.