A man of valor is a man of faith.

Do you remember the story of Peter and the other disciples trying to cross over the Sea of Galilee in Matthew 14?

It was a stormy, windy night, and the disciples had trouble sailing the boat because of the waves and the wind. In the middle of the night, they saw Jesus walking on the water, coming to them in the midst of the storm. 

“Peter said, ‘Lord if it is You, command me to come to you on the water.’ Jesus said, ‘Come!’” and Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water…” (15:28-29).

But Peter took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink. As Peter was sinking, he cried out to Jesus to save him, and Jesus stretched out His hand and rescued him. Jesus reproved him, saying, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (15:31).

In contrast to Peter, I can think of two people Jesus complimented for their great faith: a centurion and a Canaanite woman.

Faith of the Centurion

Matthew 8:5-13 tells us about a centurion, a Roman soldier, who came to ask Jesus to heal his servant. He humbled himself to ask for help, and he knew to go to Jesus and not a Roman doctor because it is Jesus who has authority over sickness and death.

Jesus “marveled” and said “with no one in Israel have I found such faith” (8:10). Jesus said that the centurion had greater faith than anyone He had come across in Israel.

Why did Jesus say that? The centurion recognized Jesus’ authority, and that all Jesus needed to do was say the word and it would be done. The faith of the centurion was not based on how good the centurion was. He didn’t say to Jesus, “I’m a good man, please bless me.” He knew it was all about Jesus and not him.

Man of valor, do you believe that Jesus has authority over everything? Do you believe that nothing is beyond the power of Jesus to carry out? Do you believe that you can approach Jesus with a request?

Jesus loves us, so we can come to Jesus with our prayer requests in humility and in confidence.

John 14:13 and 16:26 tells us that whatever we ask, we must ask in Jesus’ name.

That doesn’t mean if we tack on “in Jesus name” at the end of our prayers that we will receive what we have prayed for. No, it means that we must pray for the things that Jesus prayed for and things according to His teachings and example. When we pray for these things, they will be done for us.

Faith of a Canaanite woman

Matthew 15:21-28 records the story of the Canaanite woman who was from an area outside of the boundaries of Israel in what is modern-day Lebanon. People who lived there were not Jews; that was Gentile territory.

Yet the Canaanite woman called Jesus, “Son of David,” a term for the Messiah. She must have known about the prophecies of the coming Messiah, that when the Messiah came, He would usher in a blessing for Israel and for all nations, including Gentile nations.

The Canaanite woman recognized Jesus as the One fulfilling those prophecies. She called Jesus Lord and asked for mercy.

What happened?

There was no answer from Jesus. Just silence. 

The disciples wanted her to go away.

Yet the woman persevered—in utter humility—saying “Lord, help me.”

“Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire!’” (Matt 15:28).

Why did Jesus say the woman had great faith?

• She persevered when there was silence.
• She persevered when the answer seemed to be no.
• She did not claim a ‘right’ to have Jesus bless her. 
• She did not say “I am a good woman, bless me.”
• She humbled herself and appealed to His mercy.

Faith of a Father

Sometimes, though, our faith is weak. What do we do when we have trouble with unbelief?

In Mark 9, the father of a sick child asked Jesus for help. But not being sure if Jesus could heal the child, the father also asked Jesus for help with his lack of faith. “[He] cried out with tears… ‘help my unbelief.’” (Mark 9:24)

Man of valor, praise God for the things that you believe; pray that God would help you believe the things that you do not.

How can you develop great faith? By increasing your understanding of Jesus.

• Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing. Hearing what? The Word of God. You can’t believe what you haven’t heard, so make sure to have regular time with the word of God.
• Psalm 1:1-3 says we grow in our faith by reading, meditating on, and applying God’s word.
• Hebrews 10:24-25 says that we grow in our faith by meeting together with other good men.
• 2 Timothy 2:2 says that we grow in our faith by being taught the word from good teachers.

A man of valor grows and strengthens his faith by asking Jesus for help when his faith is faltering.

Faith Has an Enemy

One last thing: Great faith can be lost if you don’t keep walking with Jesus. We are opposed by an enemy, the devil, and he wants to destroy our faith. We must not become careless in our walk with Jesus, no matter how long we have been Christians, or the enemy will take advantage of us.

A man of valor achieves great faith by keeping his focus on Jesus, by spending time reading His Word and believing it, by meeting together with other good men, by persevering when there are obstacles, and by pursuing Jesus for a lifetime.