TLDR

Tired of feeling stuck in your faith? Maybe it’s not the devil—it’s your neglected garden.
In this raw and empowering post, we dig into what it really takes to grow strong, unshakable faith. No more wishful thinking. No more spiritual shortcuts. Just soil, sweat, and the sacred rhythm of tending your inner ground.

• Your faith isn’t failing—you’re just not feeding it.
  • Neglect your inner garden, and don’t be surprised when weeds take over. This post? A wake-up call with dirt under its nails.
• Faith doesn’t die overnight. It starves.
  • If you’re wondering why belief feels brittle, maybe it’s time to stop blaming God—and start planting.
• We say we trust God. But do we even water what we’ve planted?
  • This isn’t about church attendance. It’s about the wild, daily work of spiritual grit. You in?
• You’re not bad at faith. You’re just spiritually dehydrated.
  • Let’s stop romanticising the desert. It’s time to irrigate your soul.

AUDIO PODCAST

What does your inner garden look like?

Let’s be honest—we’ve all struggled with faith. Not just the doubting kind, but the living, breathing, overcoming, mountain-moving kind that actually does something. Why is it that what used to work no longer does? Why does saying “I trust God” feel empty when everything’s crumbling? Where’s the fight, the cooperation, the warrior in our faith?

It’s not enough to say, “I believe.” Faith isn’t passive. It’s not wishful thinking. It’s not outsourcing your future to the sky while you sit back and do nothing. Faith is not a spectator sport. It demands your involvement, your agreement, your response-ability, your action

THE GOOD NEWS OF FAITH

Faith is always linked to the gospel—the good news. And across history, believers have wrestled with what that good news actually is:

• 1. The Apostolic Proclamation (1st century)—Jesus is Messiah, crucified and risen. (1 Corinthians 15:1–5)
• 2. Augustine—God rescues humanity through Christ’s incarnation and resurrection.
• 3. Anselm—Jesus satisfies divine justice through His death.
• 4. Luther—Justification by faith alone.
• 5. Heidelberg Catechism – Salvation by grace for Christ’s sake.
• 6. Wesley – Forgiveness and inner transformation.
• 7. Spurgeon – Christ died, was buried, rose again. Believe and be saved.
• 8. Karl Barth – The gospel is not advice; it’s an event: God has spoken in Christ.
• 9. Liberation Theology – Good news to the poor, justice for the oppressed.
• 10. NT Wright – Jesus is King, and God is setting the world right through Him.

But here’s the deal: No matter the emphasis—atonement, kingdom, or liberation—faith is the way we participate in that reality. Faith is not just agreeing with a doctrine. It’s the power plug into heaven’s current. It is the coin of heaven, allowing us to transact in the economy of heavenality.

And while I’m not here to criticise theologians or academics, I do want to make a suggestion: we must keep faith practical. We must wrest it from the realm of purely intellectual debate—often shaped by those with little lived experience of the supernatural—and bring it back into the dirt and daily grind of ordinary life.

So what is the gospel? The best answer is the biblical one. Go straight to the Scriptures and see for yourself. According to Romans 1:16:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God saves everyone who believes.“

That means the good news is this: the power of God is available to anyone who believes, and no one has every been ashamed of power. WHen we are ashamed, it is because we feel powerless. How do access the power of God? We access that power by faith.

Jesus affirms this repeatedly:

• “According to your faith, let it be done to you.” (Matthew 9:29)
• “Your faith has saved you.” (Luke 7:50)
• “Daughter, your faith has healed you.” (Mark 5:34)
• “He could not do any miracles there… because of their unbelief.” (Mark 6:5–6)

FAITH IS A FORMULA — AND THE SEED IS THE WORD

Let’s strip the mysticism off this for a moment.

For the longest time I used to think that faith was something others had, those men and women of faith who seemed to operate in faith so effortlessly. But I learnt that faith isn’t just an abstract, elusive force floating in the spiritual ether. According to Jesus, it follows a very specific pattern. A formula. And He gives us the blueprint in Luke 8:11–12:

“The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved.” (Luke 8:11–12)

Faith comes by hearing, and the hearing must be of the Word (Romans 10:17). The Word is the seed. But notice—what determines whether faith grows is not the quality of the seed but the condition of the soil.

The kingdom of God is a supernatural seed, extra-ordinarily potent and divinely engineered—but it only manifests when it is planted in good soil, deeply rooted, and consistently nurtured. Just as no seed flourishes on stone or in thorns, the Word of the kingdom doesn’t produce by default. Its power is not diminished, but its yield depends entirely on where and how it lands. This is the mystery and the mandate: God provides the seed, but we are the soil. Heaven initiates, but earth must cooperate. The supernatural becomes tangible not in theory but in cultivation. What you do with the seed determines what the seed does for you.

And what is the soil? Your heart.

Faith is not a mystery. It’s a cultivated result. We do not have to manufacture faith; we must simply engage in the process that automatically produces mountain-moving belief.

If you plant the seed, guard it, and water it, you will grow the fruit of heaven.

WHAT IS THE FORMULA?

1. Word heard →
2. Word received in the heart →
3. Word guarded from theft or choking →
4. Word produces faith →
5. Faith leads to fruit (salvation, deliverance, transformation)

The problem isn’t that you don’t have enough faith. The problem is either you are not planing the seed, the enemy steals it before it takes root, or you’ve been too distracted to water it consistently. This is not about trying harder. It’s about tending better.

DON’T OUTSOURCE YOUR FAITH—GUARD IT

In Genesis 2:15, God gave Adam a specific mandate:

“The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and protect it.”

The Hebrew words are avad (עָבַד – to cultivate, serve, work) and shamar (שָׁמַר – to guard, keep, protect).

Before Adam was ever told to preach, prophesy, or multiply—he was told to cultivate and protect the ground God gave him. That command hasn’t changed. Your heart is your garden, your Eden, and your responsibility is the same:

Cultivate it. Guard it. Don’t outsource it.

• Stop waiting for a preacher to give you what you’ve refused to water.
• Stop blaming the devil for a plot of soil you were told to protect.
• Stop expecting fruit from a garden you’ve ignored.

Faith is automatic. It’s agricultural. It’s a process.

You must steward the Word. You must refuse the lies. You must uproot the weeds. You must guard what God has spoken like it’s treasure—because it is.

DESPISING THE SEED

Think of the fable of Jack and the Beanstalk and those mysterious little beans. No one saw their potential at first glance. They looked ordinary—maybe even worthless. But once planted, they revealed a hidden power no one could have imagined. You’d never guess you could use them to climb all the way to heaven just by looking at them.

Do you despise the seeds of God because they looks so ordinary, so unassuming?

When the Israelites first saw manna fall from heaven, they didn’t shout in awe—they asked in confusion, “What is this?” (Exodus 16:15). That’s literally what manna means: “What is it?”

In Numbers 21:5, we read:

“And the people railed against God and against Moses: Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no food and no water here, and we loathe this worthless food.”

The Hebrew word translated “loathe” or “detest” is qatzah (קָצָה), which can mean to be disgusted or to feel deep revulsion. The “worthless food” they refer to is the manna—God’s supernatural provision. In doing so, they weren’t just rejecting a meal—they were scorning the miraculous, divine supply, that would sustain them simply because it didn’t match their cravings.

The miraculous was misunderstood because it didn’t match their expectations. It looked too plain, too small, too daily. But concern the humble acorn. While it may seem unassuming, it has the genetic power to generate a whole forest. Imagine what the divine DNA in the Scriptures has the power to do.

Do we make the same mistake as they did?

We want faith to feel electric. We want power that roars, fire from the sky. But instead, heaven has handed us a basket of seeds. Tiny, quiet, humble. The promises of God are just like little seeds—ordinary in appearance, extraordinary in potential waiting for a diligent gardener.

The kingdom of God is supernatural seed—eternally potent, divinely engineered—but it only manifests when it is planted in good soil, deeply rooted, and consistently nurtured. Just as no seed flourishes on stone or in thorns, the Word of the kingdom doesn’t produce by default. Its power is not diminished, but its yield depends entirely on where and how it lands. This is the mystery and the mandate: God provides the seed, but we are the soil, the garden and the gardeners. Heaven initiates, but earth must cooperate. Haaven and earth must marry and consumate if there is to be new life. The supernatural becomes tangible not in theory, but in cultivation.

Stop despising the seed just because it looks like a sentence. Or a whisper. Or a scripture you’ve read a thousand times. That tiny Word carries divine DNA that will transform your life if you love it.

What looks unimpressive is heaven’s strategy for transformation.

What you do with the seed determines what the seed does for you.

FIVE WAYS TO GET (AND GROW) FAITH

SOAK IN THE WORD DAILY

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Saturate your heart with Scripture—not as a duty, but as seed. Even a few verses meditated on deeply carry more power than chapters read passively.

SPEAK WHAT YOU BELIEVE

Faith isn’t just something you think—it’s something you say. The word for “confess” in the New Testament is homologeo—to say the same as. Say what God says. Out loud. Often. Your words are the water that activates the seed.

GUARD YOUR GATES

What you hear and see daily shapes your belief system. Don’t feed fear, doubt, or comparison. Choose inputs that nourish your spirit, not drain it. You can’t grow faith on a diet of anxiety, gossip, or doom-scrolling.

OBEY PROMPTLY

Faith grows through obedience. When God nudges, respond. Each act of obedience tills the soil for more faith. The longer you wait, the harder it gets. Delayed obedience is disobedience—and it hardens the soil.

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH FAITH-FULL VOICES

Faith is contagious. Get around people who carry it, speak it, and live it. Join communities that stir you to believe big and live bold. Isolation kills faith; connection fuels it.

FINALLY

So, if you’re tired of feeling like you’re stumbling through your spiritual life—disconnected, doubtful, dry—it’s time to stop blaming the weather and start tending the soil.

• Plant truth.
• Water it with consistency.
• Protect it with fierce devotion.

Faith doesn’t flourish by accident. It grows where we guard it. And when we take radical ownership of our inner garden, we stop sucking at faith—we start bearing fruit.

Your roots will go deep. Your spirit will thrive. If you choose to cultivate it. Do what you can, no matter how small, and God will meet you where you are.

Imagine how different, extra-ordinary your life could be, if you will do the simple thing God asks us to do. THe things that are easy not to do, are also easy to do!

Now pick up the spade. Grab your seeds. Begin planting. The best way to predict the future is to create it.

Stay tuned for part three!

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FIVE QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. What “soil condition” best describes my heart right now—hardened, shallow, crowded, or ready?
2. What Word has God spoken that I’ve allowed the enemy to steal, choke, or forget?
3. Am I tending my faith daily—or just when I’m in crisis?
4. What does it mean to cultivate and guard my spiritual ground practically this week?
5. How might my view of faith shift if I saw it as something to steward instead of something to strain for?

A DEVOTIONAL PRAYER

Father,

I confess I’ve let the garden of my faith go untended and unprotected. I’ve been distracted, discouraged, and sometimes even indifferent. Forgive me for neglecting what You’ve planted. I choose today to guard the Word You’ve spoken over me, to refuse the lies, and to water my heart with truth. Cultivate in me a faith that grows deep and bears lasting fruit—not just for my sake, but for Your glory. Teach me to cooperate with You, to partner with Your promises, and to live as one who trusts fully in Your faithfulness. Let my life be good soil.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

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