Believe:
Hebrews 11:6 We must first believe that “God is”, for if not then we have cheated ourselves of ALL that is our inheritance (Ps 14:1). Thus we believe there is a god. From there it is imperative to believe He (or It) has any interaction with us. Does this god behave beneficially towards us or against us? Has he left us any sign of his presence? Ps 19:1-6 says that all of creation declares Him, and the scriptures we hold dear declare His interest in us (Ps 8:5). So from there, using scripture and archeological evidence, we can believe that God exists, that He is benevolent, and that He loves us.
Trust:
Having come to the point of believing that God is, and all that implies, then the next problem is, “do we trust all that?” For it is one thing to believe in the laws of aerodynamics, but do you trust a plane to fly? Do you trust the word of God to do what He says? Do you trust that Jesus resurrected You-manity to once again be in the image and likeness of God?
Faith:
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (NASB).
(Strong’s concordance: 4102 pístis (from 3982/peithô, “persuade, be persuaded”) – properly, persuasion (be persuaded, come to trust); faith.
Faith (4102/pistis) is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. In short, 4102/pistis (“faith”) for the believer is “God’s divine persuasion” – and therefore distinct from human belief (confidence), yet involving it. The Lord continuously births faith in the yielded believer so they can know what He prefers, i.e. the persuasion of His will (1 Jn 5:4).
[4102 (pistis) in secular antiquity referred to a guarantee (warranty). In Scripture, faith is God’s warranty, certifying that the revelation He inbirthed will come to pass (His way).)
We are not required to produce our faith in Christ, but merely need to believe in and trust in the faith of Christ. According to Francois du Toit, “we do not ‘invent’ faith through positive thinking, or desperately trying out some alternative philosophy. We are faith-compatible by design; we are wired to believe naturally and effortlessly!”
If we believe and trust, then we can be persuaded to act. For example: Luke 8:43-48 the woman with an issue of blood touched the hem or fringes of his cloak. This she did, believing and trusting in the promise of God found in Malachi 4: 2 “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings”. For which Jesus commends her for her faith. Therefore, we can define our faith as putting into action/reality the trust we have in our beliefs.