Let's clarify things first. I am assuming that by "faith", you mean "religion", or some kind of religious cult following, at the very least. Not just any old
strong belief.
I don't know how one "acquires" faith. You just have faith. You believe. I mean, it's like sitting on a chair without thinking about how stable it is. It's an
analogy a lot of people use, so it's become kind of clichéd, but it does accurately describe what faith is like. You don't think twice, you just believe and
know. As a Christian, I must say having "faith in God" is really a hard thing to do, because if I had faith the size of a mustard seed I would be moving
mountains and doing a lot of really amazing things. But because I'm not, it's obvious I don't really have that much faith at all. I wish I did, but getting
there is a HUGE struggle. And though some agnostics and atheists tell me, in response, that there is no point if professing a certain faith is so difficult,
I tell them right back that it is because it is so difficult that it is all the more worthwhile taking part in the struggle.
You know how after working really hard on a tough Calculus problem you finally work out the answer? That feeling of having achieved something great..
I get that feeling every time I say a little prayer and it seems like it's been answered. (i.e. when I pray for guidance on a midterm, and God answers by
putting my mind at ease; or when I ask Him to help me look for something I've lost, and He answers by helping me jog my memory) I reckon that the
day I really DO manage to muster faith the size of a mustard seed or bigger, that feeling will be multiplied tenfold, a hundredfold, maybe even more.
And that, I suppose, brings us to the question about needing faith to be happy. I suppose it is possible to be "happy" without professing faith in something,
but I feel that that happiness is kind of superficial. When you have faith in something, and that something comes true, then the whole world will suddenly
seem right to you. Because what matters is what you have faith in, yes? If you don't believe in something, why should it matter what becomes of it? And
so because I have faith in my religion, with every passing day a little facet of it is revealed to me, I am happy. When a prayer is answered, I am happy.
When someone comes to Christ, I am happy. In a sense, your faith becomes something like a basis for you to feel not necessarily "happy", per se, but
"fulfilled"... do you see what I mean?
