The album was released after a hiatus of roughly eight years, during which Staples lost her father, singer, songwriter, and guitarist Roebuck "Pops" Staples, and stopped touring in order to deal with the illness of her sister Cleotha.[2][3] Upon completing the recording, which she financed from her savings, she was turned down by a dozen labels before Alligator expressed interest.[2] She recalled: "You have some companies don't want to sign older artists. It just happened that I finally got the message."[4] "I made this record... with my own money and shopped it around. I thought, if I have to sell it out of the trunk of my car, I will."[5] Regarding the album title, Staples commented: "all we need is a little faith, just about the size of a mustard seed."[6]
Have a Little Faith initiated a period in which Staples returned to recording on a more regular basis, and in which there was a resurgence of interest in her work.[7]
In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek called the album "a glorious return for Staples... capable of inspiring those who are lucky enough to encounter it," and noted that "one can feel the presence and influence of Pops on these sides."[8]
A writer for Cross Rhythms described the album as "Timeless music from a true musical giant," and commented: "Mavis' core audience, and a good cross-section of gospel music lovers, should enjoy this."[9]
Margaret Moser of The Austin Chronicle called the music "a traditional Staple offering of sacred tunes and contemporary message music, blended in a timeless groove rising from the Mississippi Delta into the heavens above."[10]
Writing for the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot described the recording as "one of the finest albums in Mavis Staples' career... a blues-tinged gospel album about making the most of troubled times, a message that Staples has been delivering her entire life."[11]
A reviewer for Billboard wrote: "Staples' performance is a constant delight. Have a Little Faith is a glorious album of tremendous emotional depth, a work that reaffirms Staples' place among the finest singers in modern American music."[12]
The Chicago Reader's David Whiteis praised the track titled "God Is Not Sleeping," on which "her choked delivery approaches the wracked spiritual fervor that made her 50s Vee-Jay performances some of the most apocalyptic in the gospel canon."[13]
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