Paul is asking a rhetorical question here. The obvious answer is by the the "hearing of faith." The hearing of faith is, in a nutshell, hearing what God has said and believing and applying it to our lives. Paul is addressing the trap that Christians easily succumb to as fallen human beings -- thinking that God's work in our lives is based on our goodness. In reality it is based on His goodness.
That's not to say that there is not a price for sin and disobedience. There is. Sin hurts us. One of the ways it hurts is that it gnaws at our conscience and gives the enemy a place to speak into our lives with thoughts like, "God doesn't listen to your prayers. Look how you sinned." It plays out in our lives by creating a paradigm for God's work in our lives that is based on our ability. We think that God helps us when we're good and abandons us when we're not so good. We've made ourselves the standard.
Paul nails that with this question. God supplies His Spirit and works in our lives by the "hearing of faith." He doesn't do this because we keep the rules and live a really good life. He doesn't do this because we are good but because He is good.
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