Here are the best inspirational bible stories about faith which help us to build our faith and trust in God, the almighty. These stories are examples of faith that are picked from the old and new testaments. This article also sheds light on many bible characters who wrestled their faith and won.
15 Inspirational Bible Stories about Faith
Faith plays a prominent role in Christianity because it is a way where you can build a connection with God. The bible teaches that faith is the only approach that we have to God because it pleases God more than anything else.
1. Abraham – The man of faith
Abraham, son of Terah, stayed in Haran where people follow polytheism. God chose Abram and told him to leave the place and travel to the place he showed. So, he traveled along with his wife, Sarai, and nephew, Lot to the south towards the land of Canaan. He settled and praised God but one day, he had to leave the place because of a famine. He then went to Egypt where Pharaoh ruled, fearful that the king would kill him for Sarai’s beauty. So, he told the king that Sarai is his sister and hid her identity. Unfortunately, King took her as his concubine but God struck the king with a plague. Later king came to know the truth and Sarai returned to Abram, he came back to Canaan with huge wealth.
Later, a dispute took place with his nephew Lot, but God blessed Abram abundantly and made him rich. Abram proved his righteousness by helping Lot when he was in trouble. He also was ready to sacrifice his only child whom he had at the age of 100 for God. In every aspect of Abraham’s life, he portrayed his faith with actions. He listened to God and had trust in him, So he left his people and walked in God’s way. He was even ready to sacrifice his only child because he believed in his promise that he would give them a child. God blessed and saved Abraham in every situation of his life because of his trust. Reading biblical stories about faith in God like this is pretty uplifting for our everyday life. A story every day like this gives us hope and courage in life.
2. The blind faith of three young men
This is one of the best bible stories about faith in hard times which inspires us to follow God from a young age. It was that time when King Nebuchadnezzar ruled the Babylonian empire. He ordered his kingsmen to find the smartest and strongest men from the Judah to serve his kingdom. The kingsmen bought three youngsters named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who excelled in every work. One day, the king has set up an idol which was tall and made of Gold. He ordered everyone to bow to the Idol but the three friends denied. The angry king shouted, “If you do not bow to the Idol, you will be thrown into a hot furnace and your family turns into dust.” They said, “Our God would come and rescue us if thrown into the fire and even if he doesn’t save us, we would not bow down to your Idol”.
This made the king even angrier and he ordered soldiers to heat up the oven seven times greater than usual. They threw all three into the fire when the king peeped in, he saw four people standing in the fire and knew that it was an angel. He called them out and saw them unharmed. He then shouted, “Praise the God of these young ones, their God has sent his angel and saved his servants from the fire!” King later passed a law that whoever speaks against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego will be cut into pieces. It was their belief that saved them from such a frightening situation and bought them out alive. There are more amazing bible stories of great faith like this below.
3. Hannah and her ultimate faith in God
In the village of Ramah, there were mountains of Ephraim where Elkanah lived with his two wives. Hannah being his first wife was unable to conceive but Penninah, the second wife had many children. Though Hannah’s husband loved her so much and took care of her, she had incredible pain in her heart. She wanted a child and prayed to God every single day to give her one kid. Days passed and then came the time of offering to the Almighty. About fifteen miles from Elkanah’s home, there was a place called Shiloh. It has a prayer house where people from different parts come to worship God and give offerings. Elkanah and his family go to this place every year.
One day, while they were going to the prayer house, Hannah cried aloud and prayed for a child. She put her trust in her only God Jehovah and after few days she bore a son, Samuel. She promised that she would give him to God after weaning and she did the same. Hannah was going through a painful phase in her life without children. She cried and prayed to God and she put her faith in him completely. Hannah is a woman of faith in the bible. She knew that God will surely bless her with a child and he did because of her trust in him. No matter what situation we are in, having belief in our God and prayers gets us a long way. Below is a short story that is related to trust which helps us to know the importance of trusting the almighty.
4. The Brave Queen and a secret Jew
Xerxes is the king of the Babylon kingdom and had a beautiful wife with the name Vashti. One day, He ordered a grand feast and wanted to flaunt her beauty in front of everyone. But the queen denied to come out which made him angry, he ordered his soldiers to kill her. The king was sad after the demise of his wife, he wanted a companion. So, he ordered his kingsmen to go on a search for the beautiful, smartest, and generous wife for him. They found Esther as the perfect match because of her knowledge and beauty. They got married but the king did not know the truth that Esther is a Jew, raised by her uncle, Mordechai. In that period, Jews were treated as servants and slaves. So, Esther’s uncle told her to hide her identity to be safe.
Haman is the minister of the kingdom who was hated by many including Mordechai because of his cruel actions. Haman grew his anger on Mordechai as king was favorable to him. So, he planned to kill him and other Jews in the kingdom. Esther came to know his plan through her uncle but became afraid to step ahead and tell the king. She fasted and prayed to God to give her strength and courage to talk to the king. She went with faith in the Lord and revealed her identity and the cruel plans of Haman. God was on her side and the king killed Haman for being a cruel person. Esther went to God first before going to the king because she trusted that God would turn things for her and yes he did. Esther’s story turned out to be one of the inspiring bible stories about faith over fear.
5. Noah and his faithfulness
God found Noah as the righteousness man in his generations as he obeyed and followed God every day. He spoke to Noah about the wickedness on earth and said that he would send rain for forty days and nights to wipe out every living thing on earth. So, he told him to make an ark and gather two of all kinds of living things on earth to start fresh. He promised him that he would establish a covenant with him and save his family from the floodwaters. Soon, Noah took the help of his family members and gathered all material to build an Ark as God said. All kings and people around the village came to know that the creator spoke to him and came to him. He requested them to realize their mistakes and ask for forgiveness but they laughed at him.
They neither believed in God nor Noah and continued to sin and spread wickedness. Days passed and the time has arrived, it started raining continuously without rest. Floodwaters killed every living thing on earth but Noah and his family were safe in the ark. After the floods, God made his covenant with him and blessed his family. When the creator told about sending rain, there were no black clouds or hints of rain. Noah could have turned down Lord’s word for that matter but he did not. He believed in him and started doing the work he gave him to do. He had trust in the Almighty and walked in his path. Trusting in him and his words without any doubt is what faith is and Noah made it possible.
6. Jonah and the whale
Sometimes, we might lose faith because of challenges in life, this is one of the good bible stories about losing faith and it will change your mind. Jonah was a wise man who lived in Israel, he stood faithful and obedient to the Almighty. People of Israel respected him and liked him because of his gentle behavior. Nineveh is a neighboring country of Israel where people worshipped Idols and had no idea about the real God. One day, Jehovah told Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell about the one true living God. He said that he would destroy the country if they do not change. But, Jonah became scared that they would kill him as they are enemies of Israel. Even after God insisted, he was afraid and traveled far away from Israel. He got into a ship to escape from God’s work and storm struck heavily that night.
Jonah realized that it was God’s work that night. He understood that God is angry about disobeying him. So, he told the sailors to throw him into the sea to save their lives and they had no option. He was thrown into the sea and a huge whale swallowed him, he stayed in there for three days and nights. Jonah asked God for forgiveness for three days, the whale then came out near the shore and spit him out on the land. He went to Nineveh and told his story, people believed in Jehovah and accepted him as their savior. Jonah did not have faith first but later he trusted in God and followed his path. God forgave him and helped him to complete his task. We might face troubles because of a lack of faith sometimes, but it is never too late to have a belief in him again.
7. Rebekah and her journey of faith
This story will surely strengthen your faith in the living God. Issac was born at a very old age to Abraham and Sarah. He grew up and became a man who is ready for marriage. Abraham desperately searched for a wife for Issac but he found everybody around him worshiping idols. Abraham wanted a kind and faithful woman to become his daughter in law. So, he told his faithful servant to go to his ancestor’s land and bring a wife for Issac. He set him up with camels and sent him to his forefather’s land. The servant reached a village and saw a well. He prayed to Jehovah and said, “Oh Lord, please help me fulfill the work perfectly which my owner has given”. He then said to himself, “whoever comes here and not only gives me a drink but also waters my camels is the chosen woman.”
After a while, Rebekah arrived and she gave the servant jar of water to drink. She also said, “Let me also water your camels, they must be thirsty.” This struck the servant’s heart and he was filled with joy. She took him to her house and he told her parents the entire story. They all agreed that it is God’s will and allowed Rebekah to leave with the servant. They traveled for more than 5000 miles and reached Canaan where Issac married Rebekah. Imagine a woman traveling 5000 miles to reach a new place, leaving her family where she does not know anybody. Rebekah believed in God’s word and his plan towards her life, so, she made this possible purely with her faith.
8. War with trust – A giant and a little boy
This is one of the popular bible stories about faith for youth. In the valley of Elah, there were tents of both Israelites and philistines. The people of philistine always wanted to conquer Israel and defeat their army. That night a giant called Goliath came out of the tent shouting to face him. Saul, the king of Israel was with the army but everyone including the king was scared of him. They did not step forward to fight with Goliath. David was a shepherd who came to visit his brothers in the tent who were soldiers of the Israel army. He heard the giant and decided to fight with the giant and defeat him. His brothers were scared and took him to the king where he offered a sword, armor, and shield to protect himself. But David said that he would fight in his own way.
He prayed to God and went forward to call the giant. He decided that he must fight from far or else he will lose his life. God gave him a plan and he struck the giant’s head from far away with a stone. The giant fell down and became weak, he quickly ran towards Goliath and killed him with his knife. All the Philistines saw the fight and ran away in terror. David became the hero of Israel only because of his faith in God. He was unarmed but still was able to knock down the giant because he trusted that God would help him. David proved that having firm faith helps us to battle any big obstacle.
9. Touching the garment of Jesus
Jesus Christ was traveling to different places to spread the gospel and heal people. One day, he was called by Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue to his house to heal his daughter who is only twelve and dying. A lot of people from different parts came to see Jesus and were falling on him. There was a big crowd around him while he was walking to Jairus’s house. There was also a woman in the crowd who was bleeding for twelve years and nobody was able to heal her. She had faith in Jesus and thought that she will get healed if she touches the hem of the garment of Jesus. She was very weak but still managed to walk forward and touch the garment.
Soon, she was healed from the terrible disease. Jesus turned back and asked, “Who touched me? I felt the power going out of me. Who is it ?” The woman came trembling and accepted that she touched his garment. Jesus told to her “Daughter, your faith has healed you, now go in peace.” This is one of the best examples in the bible on how your faith can do wonders in life. The woman’s belief in the power of the Lord healed her. She had strong hope and trust that a miracle takes place when she touches the garment. There is no magic done here, it was purely her faith in the almighty that bought her peace.
10. A man in Lion’s den
King Darius ruled a place called Babylon and Daniel was his staff member. Daniel is smart, kind, intelligent, and excelled in every work. He performed better than any other official in the Babylonian kingdom, so, few officials hated him for his success. One day, King Darius decided that he would hand over the administrative works of the kingdom to Daniel because of his smartness and trustworthiness. This made the officials angrier, they decided to kill Daniel and get rid of him. So, they made a law stating, whoever prays or makes any petition to anyone except the king will be thrown into Lion’s den. They made this law because they know that Daniel cannot follow this law as he has a habit of praying to god thrice a day. King unknowing of their evil plan, signed the petition.
As usual, Daniel went to his room to pray to God and the evil officials caught him for abandoning the law of Babylon. Though the king wanted to help, he was unable to save him. So, they threw Daniel in Lion’s den. The next day, the king rushed to the lion’s den and shouted, “Daniel, did your God save you ?” He came out without a scratch on his body which amazed the king. Daniel said, “My lord is righteous, last night, he shut the mouths of the Lions to save me for my honesty.” King felt very happy and ordered to throw the officials who made such an evil plan against Daniel into Lion’s den. Daniel bravely went into the den because he had extreme faith in the righteous and powerful Lord who can even shut the mouths of huge lions for his children.
11. Freedom of Israel – Bible Stories about Faith
Moses is an Israelite, adopted by the daughter of Pharoah, a cruel ruler of Egypt. Young Moses eventually came to know the truth that he is an Israelite. Back then, Israelites were treated as slaves by Egyptians and Moses was unable to see the cruelty. He ran away alone to a place called Midian where he spent a peaceful and happy life. One day, God found Moses righteous and assigned a very important work to him. He told him to go to Egypt and tell Pharoah to release Israelites from slavery. Moses was scared but trusted in the almighty and started walking by faith to Egypt. He told everything to Pharoah that God told him to tell but he did not listen until God sent many plagues on Egypt. After he saw his people dying, Pharoah let the Israelites out and they started following Moses.
Back in the palace, the king changed his mind and ordered his soldiers to stop the Israelites. They started chasing Israelites but God was with them and always saved them from dangers. One day, Israelites reached a seashore and were afraid as they saw Egyptians chasing them from behind. They did not know what to do, Jehovah guided Moses and he put his staff in the sea and it split into two parts. Israelites started walking to get to the other side of the sea and once they have reached, the waters fell upon Egyptians. Israelites were hungry and had no food, Lord rained manna known as sweet bread, they were thirsty and he sent freshwater from rocks. All these miracles were possible because Moses had faith in God.
12. God’s chosen prophet
This one here is said to be one of the best bible stories about faith in the old testament. Samuel was born to Hannah after many years when she pleaded to God for a child. She left him with the priest Eli as she promised God when he was five years old. Since then, he grew in the presence of the Lord and learned many good things. Lord always guided Samuel in every little thing because of his obedience. He became a prophet and a ruler of Israel because of God’s grace. He grew old and people of Israel were pleading for a king like many other countries. Though Samuel told it is against Jehovah, they did not listen to him. So, he appointed Saul as king but he ignored the laws and put Israel in great trouble. This is where the concept of having faith in hard times.
Samuel seeked God’s help and Jehovah showed him a way. He told him to go to a place called Bethlehem, where he chose a future king of Israel who is none other than David. When God told to anoint a new king, Samuel had complete faith in God that he would restore the prosperity and peace of Israel. He did not question and started walking on his way with oil to anoint the next king as soon as God commanded him. He believed in the almighty since childhood and followed him, he went to Bethlehem and anointed the new king. Samuel is a man who depended on the almighty for everything in his life with faith and miraculously, God helped him and bought him success every time. It was because of his trust, he was able to save Israel’s nation and restore its peace.
13. Rahab and the walls of Jericho
The city of Jericho has tall and strong walls, it has a strict ruler and soldiers in order to protect the city. One day, God promised Joshua that he would give Jericho to Israelites. Joshua sent spies to Jericho to find out details about its army and the security system. They stayed in Rahab’s house who was a harlot and also provides shelter for guests who enter the city. The soldiers of Jericho came to know about spies and rushed to her house when questioned, she pretended as if she does not know them. But the fact was, she hid him in the bunches of flax and helped them escape. She told them that she knows the God of Israel has given the land of Canaan to Israelites. Rahab also told them that she heard great things about God of Israel like drying up the Red sea for them.
She then requested them to spare her family’s life because of her kindness and belief in the God of Israel. They promised to save her family and advised her to tie a red rope to her house for identification. God told Joshua to march around the walls of Jericho for six days and the city of Jericho fell down. Rahab saved herself and her family because of her faith in the Almighty. Rahab is from a city where people worshipped idols but when she heard stories about God, she gained faith in him. Because of Rahab’s shield of faith, she was able to save her family because of her trust in God even though she does not know much about him.
14. Job and his Impeccable faith
We have heard many true stories of faithfulness from the Bible. But, this one here, is one of the best bible stories about testing faith. Job is a wealthy man who is obedient and faithful to God. One day, In heavens, God was appreciating his faith and good behavior. But Satan argues that Job is only good because the Lord has blessed him abundantly. He told God that Job would curse him if he takes away everything from him. God put Job’s faith to test and allowed Satan to trouble Job on one condition, that is not to take his life. Days passed and one day, Job heard the news that he lost his children, staff, livestock, and everything because of natural disasters. He tore his robe, fell on the ground, cried aloud, and shaved his head.
Job said “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord has given and taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord”. He suffered from a severe skin disease but still praised God. He faced insults and yet has never failed to glorify God. The Lord spoke to Job out of the whirlwind and told that he is pleased by his Impeccable faith. So, he has restored double of everything he lost and made him happy. This story tells us that if there is something that can knock down Satan and make him fail is none other than faith. Make sure you praise him in your worst times and it’s a promise that he will bless you like never before. Inspirational bible stories about faith like this help us to stay strong in our hard times.
15. A mustard seed of Faith – Gideon
After Moses passed away, Israelites sinned by worshiping other Idols which made them slaves to Midianites. They captured the lands of Israelites and stole their bread for almost seven years. Israelites were fed up and prayed for God’s help, an angel appeared to Gideon. The angel tells him that he would lead the Israelite army and defeat the Midianites. He requests an angel to show him a sign and brings an offering, the angel combusts the food and hence Gideon realizes that the message is from God. Later, he asks God to show him that he will save them from the Midianites and places his fleece on the ground. He tells him to wet the fleece once and the ground once, God does both of them. Gideon praises God for being on their side but still is afraid of the Midianite army.
One day, Israelites complain that the strength of the army in numbers is very less when compared to the opponents. Gideon follows God and tells men to leave the army if they are scared. 10,000 men existed in the army after others left, Later, God asks to gather the army near the spring to select who goes with Gideon. He gathers them and tells them to drink from the spring. He separated men who drank like a dog and men who lapped water with their hands. Men who drank like a dog went back to their homes like Gideon said counting the army to 300. One night, Jehovah asks Gideon to sneak into Midianites’ tents to gain courage as he is afraid. He heard captains talking about their dream where they saw themselves being defeated by Israelites.
War with Midianites
Gideon gathers Israelites to the Midianites tents, they broke the pots and blew their horns shouting, “A Sword for the Lord and Gideon!” Midianites ran in terror and killed each other, their armies were defeated. And finally, Gideon delivers his people with his faith of mustard seed. Sometimes, we might face situations like this and judge our capabilities, however, it is true that God delivers you irrespective of your potential if you have faith as little as a mustard seed. Let’s see if this bible story – faith of mustard seed encourages you to increase your faith in the Almighty. These faith stories inspire us and strengthen our relationship with God when we start implementing the good in those stories.
What does Bible say about faith?
According to the bible, faith is considered as having confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Trusting God completely with our heart, mind, and soul does not exactly show our trust in him. But, trusting him in the impossible times, when you think you cannot meet the ends is called faith. There might be situations in our life which are hard to go through. Those are the times where God tests our trust to see how good we are in trusting him. Whatever the situation in your life is when you believe in the almighty, that’s it, you win the game. You get control of things and power over your condition, faith brings you out of your hardships.
Three main components of faith
Knowing Christ: One must first know about the Lord completely, the facts in the scriptures and the miracles he has done.
Believing Christ: Trusting in him and agreeing to the facts that he is born for us, sacrificed his life for our sins, rose again from the death. Accepting him completely and trusting that he is the creator is called believing in him.
Living like him: After you believe, you forget your past life and submit yourself to him. You live for him and prove it in your actions by resembling him. Not giving up on him even in worst times and throwing light into the world through gospel by resembling him is the third component of faith.
Demons too know about him and called him God, they accept him as the King of kings and Lord of Lords but they do not resemble him or rely upon him. To be precise, faith takes place when you keep all the three components in your life.
How do you build faith in God?
Reading the Scripture: The first and important way to build faith is to read scriptures with an open mind carefully. God speaks to us through bible verses about faith to convey his plan towards our life or to help us in tough times or to speak to us when we are low.
Praying every day: Daily prayers are a must because they help us build connection with God, it acts as a bridge of communication between the almighty and humans. It helps us to gain faith when we start seeing changes in our lives spiritually, physically, and mentally.
Listening to Testimonies: Feel free and happy to gather people around your neighborhood to listen to their testimonies and share yours. Because when you hear them saying their faith stories and miracles happened to them, it will surely help you increase your faith in the almighty.
Bible stories: There are many amazing bible stories about faithfulness in the bible which helps us build our faith in the Lord. There are faith-based stories and also stories about love, hope, and encouragement from kids to adults in the Holy Bible. You can gather a group of kids and tell stories about the list of heroes of faith in the bible that inspires them. You can also pick and read a few best bible stories about faith in action that help you double your leap of faith in the living God. Every story has clear meaning and purpose on its own, so, it surely helps you to know more about God and also build your faith.
Hope these bible stories about faith will help you to grow spiritually.
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