Many people have their own opinions on how to get faith to believe the promises of God. Some think that tests and troubles build faith, but if that were true, everyone that I know would be a faith giant!
The scripture in Romans 10:17 says:
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Does that mean that if you hear a scripture it will automatically happen? What if you hear it many times? There are preachers that teach that repeated hearing is all that it takes to get faith. Well, you could hear a scripture a million times in a language that you don't understand, and it won't do a bit of good.
Obviously, it doesn't work that way, so what's wrong with the way we've been taught. What does the scripture mean?
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." A literal translation of that verse would be:
Faith comes when you understand, and that understanding comes by a revelation from God.
The word "hearing" in the scripture verse means to hear with an understanding. Have you ever said, or heard anyone (maybe your parents) say, "Do you hear what I'm saying to you?" If you have the physical ability to hear, then that question sounds a bit foolish, especially when your parent wouldn't normally have been talking softly.
What did they mean then? They meant "Do you understand me (and the results of disobedience)?"
Now, that scripture verse makes more sense. You get faith when God reveals His Word (Promises) to your heart. When it sinks in, you have a trust that comes and you have the faith to believe that God will keep His promise. Until you develop that trust, you won't believe the promise.
You will need to cultivate a trusting relationship with God if you ever expect to be able to believe His promises. This can be especially hard for people with trust issues. Understanding that God loves you can be hard for people with love and self-worth issues. Building a relationship with God must be your primary goal; seek His face and heart, not His hand. Jesus said to seek God's Kingdom and His righteousness first, and everything else He has will be given to you!
God wants to have a loving, personal relationship with you! He is not harsh and cruel like some people make Him out to be! Like many others, I grew up hearing, "God's gonna get you for that!" It took me a very long time to learn that Jesus already took all punishment for sin on the cross! But, the old performance programming still tries to surface, and it brings guilt and condemnation.
Sin is no longer an issue. Jesus became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God! The only sin that will cause you to go to eternal punishment is rejecting Jesus and what He did for you! Once you accept Him, the only "sins" that you can commit are by not walking in love because God IS Love! Jesus said to love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. That doesn't mean to hate yourself!
If you love God, you won't want to do anything that would hurt Him or separate you from His presence. If you love others, you won't want to harm or disrespect them. If you love yourself, you will treat yourself the way that God would want. You're His child (if you have accepted your adoption through Christ), not His whipping post! Being Love, He doesn't mistreat and abuse His children! He pours out His super-abundant love on them!
When you start to believe that God isn't out to get you, that He doesn't hate you (even if He doesn't approve of some of your actions), it will be easier to begin to trust in that Love. Once you can trust, you won't be afraid of receiving everything your loving Father desires to give you (and He wants to give you more than you can ask or even think to ask!).
The only thing that stops you from receiving is YOU!