“Faith is not a weapon by which we demand things of God or put him in subjection to us. Faith is an act of self-denial. Faith is a renunciation of one’s ability to do anything and a confession that God can do everything. Faith derives its power not from the spiritual energy of the person who believes but from the supernatural efficacy of the object of belief-God! It is not faith’s act but its object that accounts for the miraculous … The leper in Matthew 8 said to Jesus, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” (v. 2). The leper didn’t question Christ’s ability. He trusted that completely. He did have doubts about the willingness of Jesus to do it. But Jesus didn’t rebuke him for such doubts, as if it were a shortcoming in his faith that might jeopardize his healing. He healed him because of the leper’s confidence that he could do it.”
(Storms, C. Samuel. The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts. Ventura, CA: Regal/Gospel Light, 2004. Print. 56-57)
(HT: Jude St.John)
Already Not Yet 
This is good. I think western thinking tends to try to “quantify” faith, as in, “He has little faith; I have a lot of faith.” Here, Sam Storms equates faith with trust — it either “is” or it “ain’t.” That helps me. Jesus could quantify, as He had sufficient knowledge to do so. Thus, He said to Peter — while saving him from sinking, after he emerged from the boat and walked on water (!), “Oh, you of little faith.” That jars me, as Peter did get out of the boat and walked to (near) Jesus — close enough to being caught when sinking. That’s “little faith”? No, the “little faith” was not that he walked on the water at Jesus’ command, “Come,” but that he took his eyes off of Jesus — His goal — and got overwhelmed by the circumstances (waves, storm).
To me – Faith is nothing more than the outworked evidence of what God has worked into our heart.And selfdenial has to come first.