What does it mean to have great faith?
Great faith means taking the next logical step beyond what you were explicitly told. So often we limit our faith by refraining from the logical extensions of our belief. The centurion who sent his friends to Jesus to request him to heal his servant had great faith:
6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:
7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.
8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. (Luke 7)
The centurion not only recognized that, if Jesus could heal others, he could heal the centurion’s servant, but also realized that anyone who had power from God to heal would also be able to do it without being present. Great faith means acting as extremely as your reasons suggest. In order to reach Jesus, a group of four lowered their handicapped friend through the roof of the house where Jesus was. Some might consider their actions excessive:
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. (Mark 2)
Yet, was there anything excessive about it? If you cared about your friend, you believed there was a way he could have a normal life, and you found a man who was healing the sick, would you not do this and more to get in front of him? Most people today will go through more trouble than this just to see their favorite band play or to go on vacation.
Great faith means pushing forward with the reasons you have in spite of strong opposition and abundant reason for hurt feelings. One woman was commended for her faith when she pressed forward in spite of several rounds of poor treatment from the apostles and even Jesus:
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. (Matthew 15)
The woman pushed forward in spite of the apostles telling her to leave, Jesus telling her to leave, and Jesus calling her a dog. The fact that she didn’t turn away from her still-valid reasons for believing Jesus was capable of healing her daughter evidenced her great faith.
Great faith means you will have a willingness to act on information received, even if it is new or strange. So often we won’t take the necessary actions to further investigate new possibilities just because they are different from what we already believe. A willingness to believe must precede new knowledge. An ancient queen exemplified a willingness to act on information received when she set aside her status and her previous beliefs after her servants suggested that a man named Ammon was a prophet and could perform miracles:
2 Now the queen having heard of the fame of Ammon, therefore she sent and desired that he should come in unto her.
3 And it came to pass that Ammon did as he was commanded, and went in unto the queen, and desired to know what she would that he should do.
4 And she said unto him: The servants of my husband have made it known unto me that thou art a prophet of a holy God, and that thou hast power to do many mighty works in his name;
5 Therefore, if this is the case, I would that ye should go in and see my husband, for he has been laid upon his bed for the space of two days and two nights; and some say that he is not dead, but others say that he is dead and that he stinketh, and that he ought to be placed in the sepulchre; but as for myself, to me he doth not stink.
6 Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God—
7 Therefore, what the queen desired of him was his only desire. Therefore, he went in to see the king according as the queen had desired him; and he saw the king, and he knew that he was not dead.
8 And he said unto the queen: He is not dead, but he sleepeth in God, and on the morrow he shall rise again; therefore bury him not.
9 And Ammon said unto her: Believest thou this? And she said unto him: I have had no witness save thy word, and the word of our servants; nevertheless I believe that it shall be according as thou hast said.
10 And Ammon said unto her: Blessed art thou because of thy exceeding faith; I say unto thee, woman, there has not been such great faith among all the people of the Nephites.
11 And it came to pass that she watched over the bed of her husband, from that time even until that time on the morrow which Ammon had appointed that he should rise. (Alma 19)
She believed that he could raise her husband from his coma in spite of the fact that the only reason she had to believe stemmed from the words of her servants and this foreign missionary.
Great faith means you conduct multiple traversals through the faith cycle without resisting or rejecting. It means you seek and obtain all value from all people and situations you have access to. In the case of messengers from God, this means learning and living everything they know about God that you don’t. Jesus commended the Nephites for their faith because, in one sitting, they had listened to and believed everything he had taught the Jews over several years:
35 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying he came again to the disciples, and said unto them: So great faith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles, because of their unbelief.
36 Verily I say unto you, there are none of them that have seen so great things as ye have seen; neither have they heard so great things as ye have heard. (3 Nephi 19)
The more consistently and speedily you make it through the faith cycle without resisting or rejecting, the more abundant your outcomes will be in frequency and quality.