God has already given you everything you need to make your faith stronger. Instead of praying for Jesus to appear to you somehow (which He never promised to do), you should be praying instead for the discipline to use the means He has given you to strengthen your faith. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

I often think of the similarity between physical strength and spiritual strength. What do we need to stay physically strong and healthy? We need two things: food and exercise. If we don’t eat, we’ll grow weaker, waste away and eventually die. And if we don’t exercise, we’ll also grow weak and won’t be useful or helpful to others.

The same is true spiritually. God has given us the spiritual “food” we need to become strong—the “food” of God’s Word (the Bible), of prayer and of fellowship with other believers. God also wants us to exercise our faith by putting it into action. The Bible says, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).

Make the Bible and prayer part of your life every day. In addition, ask God to lead you to a church where you’ll hear God’s Word and learn from other believers, and also have opportunities for service. God doesn’t want your faith to remain weak, and He’s given you everything you need to make it stronger.