Five times Jesus said “little faith” — and what they are teaching us in the battle against pancreatic cancer

Am I subtly preparing myself for disappointment and loss, or am I building faith to move the mountain of stage 4 pancreatic cancer that is stealing life from my precious wife?

That is the question the Holy Spirit recently confronted me with while I was meditating on Matthew 17:14–20.

A sobering truth of the Scriptures is that Jesus never teaches that when we pray for healing and deliverance, we sometimes lose battles because of the mysterious sovereignty and will of the Father. Instead, He says wild things that confront the rational minds of scribes, religious people, and earth dwellers:

“Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

And:

“This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mark 9:29)

I have lost too many battles for healing and deliverance. Yes, that is what they were — lost battles. But I have also seen miracles and answered prayer.

To be honest, sometimes deep within my soul I find myself contemplating disappointment and loss. I am subtly preparing myself for another lost battle in prayer, rather than holding on to the hope that “nothing will be impossible for you.”

Thankfully, we have a loving Father and a merciful and gracious Savior. The Lord is gracious and patient, but He does expect us to build our faith and keep pressing in. He does not want us to water down the Scriptures to fit our lack of experience, or to hide loss under the sovereignty and will of God.

We are not called simply to pray, “God’s will be done!” We are called to pray:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9–10)

We are to exercise and build our faith in ministry partnership with God, bringing His kingdom to the earth. Jesus taught that healing and deliverance were signs that the kingdom was at hand and breaking in.

Yes, we are to rest in the sovereignty of God and in His goodness to work all things together for good (Romans 8:28). But these truths should never quench our boldness in faith to move mountains.

“O You of Little Faith”

There is a powerful word in the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus uses at critical moments in the discipleship of the twelve apostles. It is the word for “little faith” (Greek oligopistos).

Jesus expected His disciples to grow their faith, not to remain people of little faith. And that expectation is for all who truly desire to follow Him.

We are all tempted to shy away from this challenging truth. We look for escape clauses that take the responsibility of living by faith out of our hands. We are often afraid to think deeply about the responsibility that comes with the gift of faith we received freely.

But it is hard to advance in faith if we are not willing to honestly evaluate Jesus’ expectation for our faith in light of what God’s Word teaches.

1. Faith for Provision (Matthew 6)

The first passage where “little faith” appears is Matthew 6:27, 30–33:

“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? … But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? … But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

This comes near the beginning of the disciples’ faith journey with Jesus. The main thing Jesus teaches them here is that faith means trusting God to provide what we need for life.

He also gives great insight into the problem of anxiety. Where faith is missing, we worry about life’s needs, and anxiety fills the void.

These verses also hold one of the greatest promises of God. If we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, He will provide for our needs. So don’t worry or let anxiety grip you — have faith!

At the beginning of our cancer battle, we were overwhelmed by all the expenses. But the Lord has more than provided, and is still providing, through so many friends and loving people.

Matthew 6:27 hits especially close to home in our current battle against pancreatic cancer: “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”

Anxiety robs hope; faith builds hope!

2. Jesus in the Boat (Matthew 8)

The second passage is Matthew 8:23–27. Jesus was fast asleep in the boat when the disciples, fearing for their lives, woke Him up. He responded, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26)

Of course they were afraid. They were seasoned fishermen, used to rough seas, so this must have been a dire situation. But they missed the presence of Jesus and His example of calm in the storm.

This raises the question: what should the disciples’ faith response have been? I see only two options. Either they rest and sleep like Jesus while the waves crash into the boat, or, by faith in the One in the boat with them, they rebuke the storm.

In the storm of pancreatic cancer, are we living as though Jesus is in the boat with us? He is at perfect peace, and He wants us to trust Him and be at perfect peace too. A key verse for us through this trial has been Isaiah 26:3:

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

What is unique about this story is that Jesus was asleep, so the disciples did not feel that He was really with them. So they woke Him up.

In the storm we often don’t feel that He is with us — but He is. He is fully awake and aware of our situation. It is we who have to wake up spiritually to His presence, resting and trusting in Him.

Yes, we have times of fear and even desperation, just like the disciples. But we are learning to rest in Jesus through the storm, and to step out and rebuke the storm like Jesus. As James 5:16–17 says:

“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.”

Jesus was teaching His disciples a lesson about trusting Him, but He was also teaching them that they too can calm storms.

3. Eyes on Jesus (Matthew 14)

The third passage is Matthew 14:22–33. It is a radical thing to think that Jesus bid Peter to step out of the boat and actually walk on water. What an invitation!

We can only imagine what would have happened if Peter had kept his eyes on Jesus and made it all the way to Him. Have we really taken this in and let it form our faith?

Jesus’ reply when Peter panics and starts to sink is even more instructive about building faith: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)

What a lesson for us in the midst of a storm like cancer: keep your eyes on Jesus and build your faith. It doesn’t take much for our faith to sink under the climate of the world around us.

This is especially true in the medical world, with all its diagnoses, lab results, and predictions. These things are helpful for showing the status of the storm, but they can easily deflate our faith. If we are going to walk by faith, all things need to be submitted to our Great Physician.

Doubt is dangerous! It is the enemy of faith. Scripture never presents doubt as a good thing, but as something that needs to submit to faith.

The battle for faith in the midst of doubt is deep water. The Scriptures give some very challenging truths about the danger of doubt. We need to wrestle with them deeply and overcome doubt if we are going to grow in faith.

4. Beware the Leaven (Matthew 16)

The fourth passage is Matthew 16:5–12. Jesus is teaching something deeper here than simply remembering His supernatural provision of bread. He is teaching them to live more by faith and revelation from God than by focusing on material things.

He rebukes the disciples: “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?” (Matthew 16:8)

They should already have learned from the miraculous feedings of the five thousand and the four thousand that there is a greater source of food. The same lesson goes back to Deuteronomy 8:3:

“And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

Jesus was also warning them about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which was like leaven. He wanted them to beware of generational teaching that corrupted the Word of God and had the effect of killing faith rather than building it.

The leaven of false teaching is still at work today. It waters down the Scriptures and minimizes the possibilities that go along with the glorious gift of faith.

In the midst of this battle with cancer, it can get really confusing to take in all the different suggestions, medical advice, and biblical teachings. We are very thankful for all of them, and we receive them all as encouragement.

But to live by faith is to live by the Word of God above all other advice — yes, even medical advice if necessary. We are to build ourselves up in faith, which happens primarily by saturating our lives with the Word of God and prayer through the Holy Spirit.

That means being willing to read the Scriptures with an open heart, to evaluate our ideas of faith, and to weigh all biblical teaching by what the Scriptures actually say.

5. Faith to Move Mountains (Matthew 17)

The fifth and final passage is Matthew 17:14–20. Up to this point, it would be easy to believe that Jesus is simply teaching the disciples to have faith in Him as God, since He can do mighty miracles — “for all things are possible with God.”

But in this last use of “little faith,” Jesus makes a really radical statement in response to the disciples’ inability to heal the boy:

“He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.'” (Matthew 17:20)

Did you catch that? Jesus is clearly teaching that we are responsible for the gift of faith that has been freely given to us. And what is really radical is that He puts no limits on what that faith can accomplish.

Both Matthew 7:22 and 1 Corinthians 13:2 give strong warnings about what can happen when faith is removed from the love of God within the fellowship of the Trinity.

Jesus expected His disciples to grow their faith and to be set apart from the faithless generation around them. And faith is tested so that it can be proven and grow.

Faith cannot grow like a mustard seed unless it has a mountain to move.

Will You Join Us?

With the help of the Word, the Spirit, and the Body of Christ, we are making a big transition. We are moving from mostly wrestling with disappointment and loss to focusing on building faith to move this mountain of cancer.

Would you please join us?