What is the prayer of faith? It goes without saying that, there is no prayer without faith. At least not in its purest sense. By the same token, faith cannot and should not exist without prayer. A relationship with God is fostered and anchored on prayer.
Prayer of faith is the prayer that bears results that cannot be seen in any other situations or instances. Prayer that comes without faith lacks result. We are going to consider this idea in a lot more detail, as well as prescribe some ways that you and I can tap into the power of the prayer of faith.
If we want to take it back to the very basics. Hebrews 11 defines faith as “EVIDENCE”. It is said to be the evidence of things HOPED for. It is EVIDENCE of that which we desire but has yet to manifest.
Now if we take that even further, and consider the definition of evidence. Evidence is:
- Proof
- Confirmation
- Verification
- Authentication
- Corroboration
- Affirmation
When you have evidence we can safely say that it is done! When your prayer is grounded on evidence, it is bold. Doubt is usually what slows us down. It is doubt that makes it more difficult for us to express our desires to God in an honest manner. Without doubt we can walk in more miraculous life. I challenge you to grab hold of that!
Prayer of Faith is Based on His Promises
Jeremiah 1:12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am [b]ready to perform My word.”
The prayer of faith is grounded in God’s own word. It is founded on his promises. We know the Lord’s promises to be yes and amen. What I love the most about our God is that he is not just a talker.
He backs it with action. The bible tells us that he watches his word to perform it. If he has said it, he is faithful to see it through until it is completed.
Isaiah 55:11 New King James Version (NKJV)
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me [a]void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
His word once sent out will be sure to accomplish that which it has been sent to. This all happens under his watchful eye. It shall not return void. Not that he would ever forget, seeing as he is watchful of his word, but we call on him to accomplish that which he has promised to. For him to not accomplish his promise would make him a liar. We know that this is not who he is.
Numbers 23:19 New King James Version (NKJV)
19 “God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
The scripture above serves as a reminder of this ancient truth. He is not a man that he would lie. God is truth. He is eternally truth. Even when he speaks what is not, it becomes. So when he speaks things that are not there, they manifest. So what is seeming false, out of his mouth becomes truth.
Let me give you an example this point a little further.
Mark 5:39 New King James Version (NKJV)
39 When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.”
The child in this case was clearly deceased. Mourners would have gathered after the physician had been and gone. For Jesus to come and say that the child was not dead was false. Yet, as soon as he said those word, it became truth. Death evacuated in obedience to his word. Sleep occupied as commanded.
When we pray in faith, we pray with the understanding that, what is impossible is impossible until God says otherwise. We know him to be a God that makes a way where there seems to be none!
Surrenders All
We exist in such a fast paced world. It is Go Go Go. Then it becomes Do Do Do! There is little or no time left to just be still in God’s presence. It takes faith to be able to let God of things and trust in God’s sovereignty to take care of said things.
The harder we try to hold on to things, the more they tend to slip away from us. Letting go and letting God be God is the best way to hold onto the things that we treasure. Prayer of faith surrenders. It lays it all before God. We come before his throne of grace, admitting that even when we do all we can do, things may fail.
King David understood this, as did Moses. They refused to go ahead with anything without God’s presence. Total surrender allows God to steer it all. This is genius because he is omniscient. What is to come is already known to him. When he steers, there is a sense of inevitable glory that is set to come.
Dr Myles Munroe once said that God is not obligated to finish what he does not start. Surrendering all puts us in place where we start everything in him and through him. We all know what happens when we start things in the Lord? He is faithful to see it to completion. God will never leave things half done!
Burden is no longer on you
A few years ago I found myself completely burned out in ministry. I had never realised how draining it can all be. We were exactly where God wanted us to be, but instead of playing my part, I was starting to try to play his part as well.
When I realised I was starting to crawl into a place of depression due to how much I was broken at the suffering that I was seeing others go through across the world, I sought his counsel.
His response is one that I will never forget. It was simply, “You are not God!” It shook me to the core because all along I had not realised that this is what I had been doing.
You see, it is God who has shoulders that are broad enough to carry the burden of the world. It is no longer on us!
Matthew 11:28 New King James Version (NKJV)
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
It is Jesus who said to come to him when we are heavy laden. Rest is found in him. It is not in our pastors, prophets or anyone else for that matter.
This is the truth that I was starting to lose sight of. I was weary and heavy laden, yet still trying to be the source of rest for others.
That burden is not on us when we stand on prayer of faith. We are able to direct it into his capable handles, fully knowing that he will take care of it.
Women with the issue of blood
What can we learn about the prayer of faith from the woman with the issue of blood? We know that she had been bleeding for so long it would have become her norm. She would have tried everything and everyone to get her healing, yet this had remained.
- If only I touch him were her words. Our prayer of faith is based on a stubbornness in knowing that all it take is one touch from God and all will be well.
- It takes action. Had she not taken action and pushed herself through the crowd, nothing would have come of it. She saw God and reached out to him.
- The prayer of faith draws power out of God. We know that Jesus was touched by 100s of other people on this day, but only one was significant. She was standing on that faith.
Luke 8:43-47 New King James Version (NKJV)
43 Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, 44 came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.
45 And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?”
When all denied it, Peter [a]and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, [b]and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”
46 But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.”
47 Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.
The Centurion
The centurion was singled out by Jesus for having incredible faith. I have always wondered what would have happened if Mary and Martha had this same level of faith while Lazarus was dying.
Where they said, “if you had been here our brother would not have died.” The centurion said, “Just say the word and my servant will be healed.”
In a sense, the prayer of faith understands the authority of God over everything. He is not bound by time or any other of the world’s elements. This is what the Lord had to say about the Centurion.
Matthew 8:10 New King James Version (NKJV)
10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!
Without Ceasing
When you pray in faith you do it continually. Jesus referred to this as “abiding”. Prayer of faith abides in Christ entirely. Your walk is governed by who he is.
The aim is, therefore, to be in constant communication with the Lord at all times. There is not a thing that you cannot pray about. At the very core of prayer is a RELATIONSHIP.
Think about everyone that you speak with regularly. Unless there is something that you want from them, you speak with them because you care about the relationship.
Summary
There is not much that can be added. I challenge you to press in pursuit of that prayer of faith.
