Fuel Your Faith by Lydia Houghton

If you aren’t familiar with Christianity, allow me to introduce you. Join me, right now, and learn how to fuel your faith in five steps.

Allow me to let you into a little secret.

Growth begins with God.

The very first step I took on my self-growth journey was by far the greatest; my transformation began the day I gave my life to God.

And you, too, can choose to believe. I urge you to do it today. You’ll never look back.

That’s a fact.

Growth is both an inward and outward transformation.

Your journey will be so much more profound and meaningful if it starts in your heart.

Yes, we can change our appearance as many times as we want, in whatever way we want.

But there’s only one person who can transform our hearts, spirits and souls

Jesus Christ.

Through Him I am saved, and you can be too.

So, use these five steps to fuel your faith and ask God to transform your heart.

Once your inner transformation begins, the possibilities for growth become endless.

Trust me, it’s miraculous.

1. Fuel Your Faith by Evaluating Your Life

I have a challenge for you. Wherever you are, right now, whether you’re eating breakfast at the kitchen table or lying in bed after a long day’s work, get up and find the nearest mirror.

Okay, if you’ve just finished an eight-hour shift, I’ll let you off.

But if you can, I want you to look into the mirror and take three seconds to stand and stare at yourself. 

If you’re thinking I feel ridiculous, then allow me to explain. The meaning behind this exercise is entirely appropriate.

I want you to take this exercise inwards. 

Am I starting to make more sense?

We often take time out of our day to evaluate our outward appearance, familiarising ourselves with every inch of skin, each curve and feature.

But how familiar are you with your inner appearance?

Specifically, how well do you know yourself in terms of Faith? 

As a breakdown of the exercise, you might ask yourself:

• Do I know God?
• Have I ever actively pursued a relationship with God?
• Am I fulfilled? 
• Do I know my purpose in life?
• Would I consider myself ‘lost’ in life?

Take a second to truly think; evaluate your inner feelings. 

Here’s Your Chance. Stop and Think.

Subsequently, once you familiarise yourself with your inner appearance, your thoughts and feelings, and the level of impact Faith has on your life, you’ll be able to move forward and act upon this knowledge. 

This is what growth is all about, evolving to become your ‘best self’ through growth and positive change.

Therefore, begin by evaluating your life in terms of Faith.

How strong is your faith?

Especially if you’re at the beginning of a growth journey I’d strongly encourage you to pursue God in every way possible.

God is the perfect guide.

2. Fuel Your Faith Through Prayer

Prayer is essential to faith, especially if you’re a new Christian.

Imagine you get into a new relationship, you should want to spend every second getting to know the person, asking questions and deepening your connection by establishing trust and dependency.

Prayer is essential when you’ve got a new relationship with God, because it enables you to get to know Him.

Jesus Christ is the only one with the ability to transform you inwardly, but you have to let Him into your heart first.

Likewise, if you’re at the beginning of your journey, transforming your heart is essential to any sort of positive change in your life.

If you’re a new Christian, try a prayer of two parts:

• Tell Him your troubles and worries (speak to Him openly and honestly)
• Ask Him to help you

This will deepen your relationship with God and teach you to trust Him. 

The Lord will never let you down.

Prayer is guaranteed to fuel your faith.

3. Fuel your Faith by Listening

Being a good listener is an amazing quality to have.

However, here I’m specifically talking about listening to The Holy Spirit.

Yet there is something you must do before you begin listening:

Believe in what you’ve prayed for.

God always answers prayers, even if it isn’t in the way we’d expect, therefore it’s essential to remember this.

Once you’ve prayed about it, forget about it.

You see, if we don’t believe our prayers have been answered, then our minds will be full of worry and anxiety towards the outcome of situations.

We give everything to God and clear our minds.

Once we do this, we make room to truly hear His voice.

God will always speak into the silence.

All we have to do, is listen.

Likewise, once you become a Christian, you’re filled with The Holy Spirit. We begin to live with The Holy Spirit inside us, therefore we become familiar with God’s voice; we know when He’s speaking to us.

Let The Holy Spirit in your life. Make an effort to listen. 

And I’m speaking from experience here: be prepared for what God is going to say to you, because it will transform your life. 

God is Good.

4. Inner Transformation

These last two steps are more like the ‘result’ of fuelling your faith. They should act as an encouragement to you; an example of what happens when you turn to Faith.

Like I said, growth starts inwardly. It’s a process that transforms every aspect of your life. 

Self-Growth is life-changing.

But you know what’s more life-changing? God!

Once you evaluate your Faith, pray and then begin listening, the inner transformation will begin.

In the same way, your heart will change. 

My inner transformation was the most incredible experience of my life. I began to be guided by The Holy Spirit. God made it clear to me, what needed to change. He guided me in the right direction, leading me to places that would be good for me and change my life for the better. 

God knows what’s best for us, he will guide us in the right direction and so we begin to grow as people.

The inner transformation that comes when you fuel your faith can show itself in many ways:

• A changed attitude
• Questioning decisions (in terms of what’s good or best to do)
• Your thoughts becoming more positive
• Feeling fulfilled
• Gaining a sense of purpose

So, why not fuel your faith today? The sooner you start, the sooner your liberating inner transformation will begin.

5. Outward Transformation

Finally, I’d like to touch on the outward transformation that comes as part of your faith journey.

You see, once you believe, and allow God to transform your heart, the change that’s been happening inside of you, transfers outwards. 

The happiness that comes with a transformed heart, is far too great to be contained. It begins to spill out into your life, and you’ll start seeing positive change all around you.

• A changed attitude can heal relationships
• Questioning decisions can lead you to better destinations
• Positive thoughts can lead to a better appreciation of the life around you

Growth begins with a faithful heart. The transformation starts small, but the positive changes are so big that they begin to overflow, spilling out and transforming your life into something breathtakingly beautiful. 

Fuel Your Faith to Transform Your Life

I really hope you’ve taken something away from today’s piece.

Honestly, giving my life to God was the best decision I’ve ever made.

Fuelling my faith enabled my period of Self-Growth to begin, and it can do the exact same for you. I invite you to use the steps on this page, evaluate your life, pray and listen to God’s voice.