Faith can be a virtue or a spiritual gift. As a virtue we express our believe in God. When we proclaim the Creed we are exercising the virtue of faith. On the other hand, the spiritual gift of faith enables us to step out of our comfort zone and act in the name and the power of the Holy Spirit, as for instance when we pray for healing for another. This was the gift of faith that Peter and John exercised in the healing of the crippled beggar. They believed in Jesus as Lord (virtue of faith); they acted on his word (gift of faith).

The Acts of the Apostles give us a number of examples, where the disciples acted in faith on God's Word and in response to the direct leading of the Holy Spirit Thus, the gift of faith is the ability to see something that God wants done and to have a sustained, unwavering conviction that God will do it regardless of any human obstacles. The lack is not on God’s part, but on ours for failing to do what God has empowered us to do. Come, Holy Spirit, come. Stir up this gift of faith so that I may do the work you call me to do for the glory of God.