Faith Bible Verses KJV: What Does Hebrews 11:1 Say?

Do you know what it really means to live with biblical faith? What are powerful examples of faith in the Bible? These powerful faith Bible verses will help you cultivate a steadfast faith, no matter what comes your way.

What is faith?

Old Faithful, the geyser in Yellowstone National Park, is so named because its eruptions are frequent and predictable. In short, it’s reliable.

Faith is exactly that: reliable and trustworthy. 

We don’t want to put our faith in things that are neither reliable nor trustworthy. We need to place our faith in something – or Someone – reliable and trustworthy.

I put my faith in most chairs that when I sit down, they won’t collapse. But, I’ve had chairs collapse before. They aren’t always reliable and trustworthy. 

When we fly in airplanes, we put our faith in the pilot and airplane itself. But, we all know stories about pilots and airplanes failing. They are neither reliable nor trustworthy 100% of the time.

However, God is. Ultimately, while we do have to trust in some things in the world for our survival, our great faith should be placed securely in our Father who is always reliable and trustworthy.

What is faith in the Bible?

To understand genuine faith, we need to first take a look at the Word of God and what biblical faith is. One of the best Bible verses about faith states its definition quite directly and comes from the Apostle Paul in Hebrews.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” — Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

The NIV Bible uses the word “confidence” in place of substance. Basically, strong faith means we remain confident God’s promises will come to pass.

In short, faith is having unwavering confidence that something in the future will happen because God promised it and will make it happen.

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Examples of living out faith Bible verses (KJV)

Throughout both the Old Testament and New Testament, we find examples of the kind of faith we want to strive for. God’s Holy Bible is written in such a way that we can use examples from the past of both strong faith and wavering faith in everyday life today.

The faith of Noah

By the sixth chapter of the first book of the Bible, humans were already making a mess of God’s gifts. Genesis 6 starts off with God looking at the wickedness in humans and deciding He needed to wipe them from the earth.

But, then He saw Noah. The faith of Noah stood out. God made a plan to spare Noah in the midst of destruction.

Genesis 6:18 (KJV)

“But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.” ​

So, in the desert, Noah began building an ark. In fact, the Bible says multiple times that Noah did what God commanded him to do.

When Noah completed the ark and God was ready to send rain for 40 days and 40 nights, God again talks to Noah.

Genesis 7:1 (KJV)

“And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.” ​

The righteousness of God displayed in Noah saved the lives of Noah and his family from destruction. While everyone else was turning away from God and living in wicked ways, Noah remained steadfast in his expressions of faith and followed all God asked him to do.

Finally, after 150 days, God’s grace for Noah again prevailed and He began drying out the earth once more. The very first thing Noah did when he was once again on dry land was build an altar to offer burnt offerings to God.

Noah had been through hard times. He was first tasked with building an ark in a dry desert where his neighbors surely thought he was crazy.

Then he endured 720 days on that ark with his wife, sons and daughters-in-law along with every kind of stinky animal. Yet, his faith endured so the very first thing he did on dry land was worship God.

Noah’s faith was so strong God made a promise to him to never flood the earth again — a promise we still see evidence of to this day!

Genesis 9:12-16 (KJV)

“And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”​

Noah’s faith resulted in the promise of God displayed through a beautiful rainbow. Our God of hope gave us not only a sign of this promise, but a beautiful one at that! 

Thousands of years later, Paul highlighted Noah’s faith and used it as an example so we can be encouraged and strengthened by it now:

“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” — Hebrews 11:7 (KJV)

The faith of Abraham

Another great example from the Old Testament is Abraham. So much of his life reflects the good faith Abraham had in God. One story, in particular, shows Abraham’s strong faith.

Abraham and his wife, Sarah, wanted to have children. But Sarah was unable to have babies for years and years. 

Finally, when she thought she was too old to bear a child, God told her she’d have a son. It was so absurd that Sarah actually laughed at God’s promise.

Yet, God doesn’t promise anything He won’t follow through on. When Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah gave birth to a son who they named Isaac as the Lord had told them to. 

Isaac was an answer to prayer for Abraham and Sarah. He was a gift of God they didn’t take lightly.

So, when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his treasured son as an offering, Abraham’s heart had to ache. The entire way up the mountain as Isaac asked about not having an animal to sacrifice, Abraham reassured him God would provide a sacrifice.

Abraham trusted that if God wanted him to sacrifice his son, then God had a reason. Abraham’s faith and trust in God never wavered.

When Abraham passed this test of faith, God spared Isaac and provided an alternative sacrifice. He commended Abraham for his faithfulness.

Genesis 22:16-18 (KJV)

“I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” 

Again, God’s love and faithfulness are proven in making promises for future generations based on the faith of one person. 

The faith of the leper

Hands down, we see how powerful the faith of one can be for future generations in the person of Jesus Christ. Through Christ Jesus, we see God’s love and faithfulness to us and receive His gift of eternal life.

In His time on earth, Jesus encountered both those with strong faith and those without — sometimes at the same time as in the story of the 10 lepers in Luke 17. 

When Jesus was traveling through a village, He encountered 10 lepers begging for healing. The Lord Jesus Christ told them to go and show themselves to the priests.

Leprosy wasn’t a disease they could be healed from. The lepers probably had doubts that seeing the same priests they’d seen time and again could do anything for them. 

But, by faith in Jesus, they took the chance and went to the priests. All 10 of them were healed. However, only one of them had enough faith in the Son of God to return to Jesus with praise.

Luke 17:15-19 (KJV)

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” ​

Not only was the thankful leper healed from his physical sickness, his soul was cleansed as well because of his faith in Jesus.

The disciples’ struggle with faith

The Bible also includes stories of faith struggles as well. Not only did nine of the lepers not come back to Jesus and recognize His healing, even Jesus’ own disciples struggled with their faith.

These were the men who were seeing firsthand what Jesus was doing, and they still struggled. Instead of rebuking them for a lack of faith, Jesus used those struggles to teach about the power of faith.

In Matthew 17, the disciples were disappointed they could not exorcise a demon. Jesus told them their lack of faith was the reason why and then He says these words to them:

“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” — Matthew 17:20 (KJV)

Mountain-moving faith is strong faith! Yet, Jesus’ own disciples struggled to remain faithful. 

No matter where we are in our relationship with Jesus, our faith can falter and struggle. And He will be there to help us.

Best faith Bible verses KJV

We can find lots of verses throughout the Bible to focus on when we are struggling with faith. The following verses from the King James Version of the Bible are great ones to turn to and focus on when we are struggling most.

Bible verses about God’s faithfulness to us

Deuteronomy 32:4

“He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”

Lamentations 3:22-24

“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.”

Psalm 100:5

​”For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” 

Romans 3:3-4

“For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” 

Bible verses about our faith in God

Matthew 9:28-29

“And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.” 

Matthew 17:20

“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” 

Hebrews 11:1

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” 

Luke 17:5-6

“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.” 

Romans 10:17

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” 

James 2:26

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” 

Romans 1:17

“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” 

Matthew 8:26

“And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.” 

1 Timothy 6:12

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” 

Ephesians 2:8-10

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” 

Romans 12:3

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” 

Galatians 3:11

“But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.” 

Hebrews 10:22-25

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” 

Romans 5:1-2

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” 

James 1:3-4

“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” 

Your next steps to living out the faith Bible verses​

No matter what is going on in our lives — whether we’re in a valley or on a mountaintop — we can always use more faith. God knows we have faith struggles. But one of the promises of God is that the power of the Holy Spirit can help us to have more faith.

Faith is one of the nine fruits of the Spirit Paul talks about.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” — Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)​

Living a life of faithfulness has challenges. Keeping our faith steadfast in God when life is falling apart can be hard.

Just before Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit, he talks about the differences between living by the flesh and living by the Spirit. 

“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” — Galatians 5:17 (KJV)

Basically, we cannot grow any spiritual fruits on our own because they go against our human nature. So we have to be intentional about living out these faith Bible verses.

Ask God to increase your faith.

The first and best thing we can do is ask God to increase our faith. We learn this from the disciples. They found themselves again struggling with their faith and turned to Jesus for help.

“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.” — Luke 17:5-6 (KJV)

The faith referred to in these verses is that which comes from us abiding in Jesus and Him abiding in us. It doesn’t mean we get whatever we ask for, but it does mean the closer we are to Jesus, the more we know His will and can ask for it to be done.

Start with simply asking God to increase your faith and draw you closer to Him. 

This morning prayer for strong faith is the perfect place to start asking God to increase your faith and help you rely on God.

Know the Word of God.​

Beyond just reading the Bible, we need to absorb it and truly know it. Paul makes this clear as well.

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” — Romans 10:17 (KJV)

Faith saves us from judgment for our sin when we hear the gospel of Christ and believe in Him. Being familiar with the Bible helps us do that. 

We can better know the Word of God through listening to sermons, memorizing Scripture and studying the Bible.

These things help us grow in our relationship with God, which in turn strengthens our faith.

This free Faith Scripture Guide is a great place to start developing a Bible study habit that helps you know the character of God.

Act in and on faith.​

Many of the Bible verses about faith tell us we can’t earn faith through our works, but the two do go hand-in-hand. Having faith produces good works.

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” — James 2:26 (KJV)​

When our faith is strong and sure, we are led to do good works. By acting in faith about following God’s will and acting on faith in trusting God will provide, we both demonstrate and grow our faith at the same time.

Go Deeper on Living with Godly Character

Don’t miss the other posts in the Virtuous Woman Series. They each have a free Bible reading plan and reflection questions to help you study the Bible with confidence.

Virtuous Woman in the Bible: What Does Proverbs 31:10-31 Say

Insightful Bible Verses About Wisdom and Knowledge

Diligent in the Bible: Best Bible Verses on Diligence

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Visit Stacey at her home on the web, Families with Grace.