Very helpful answer on regeneration preceding faith

I hold that regeneration precedes and causes faith. I found this at Monergism in response to a questioner who was told that John 20:31 proves the opposite (which makes no sense at all but I digress). I especially liked this explanation of the relationship between regeneration and faith.

Faith is to regeneration as heat is to fire. They do not happen at different times but simultaneously ... yet we know that one causes the other. Similarly When one strikes a pool ball and it hits the other ball, the two actually strike one another at the same time, but it is actually the momentum of one which causes the other one to move. When a baby is born, he breathes. Likewise, when the Spirit regenerates us, we believe. It is part of the new nature to do so. And the Spirit does it in conjunction with the word, with preaching. The preaching of the word is like seed cast into the ground, but for the seed to take root, God must plow up the fallow ground of our hearts and like rain from heaven, he must geminate the seed with the Spirit. Without that we are hardened to the gospel and remain unfruitful. So all the glory goes to God alone in our salvation.

It is inadequate as are all analogies by nature, but it makes a lot of sense as do the verses quoted in the body of the response. Faith is a result of, is caused by regeneration. With regeneration, faith is impossible.