Praying is a must for a Christian lifestyle. What is the prayer of faith? It goes without saying that, there is no prayer without faith. There is no prayer of faith in the absence of the Holy Spirit. 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. Our goal should always be to desire and seek his way every day. In your prayer life and in your deeds to feed your soul.
Prayer of faith is the prayer that bears results that cannot be seen in any other situations or instances. Daily prayer that comes free of 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 perfect 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 the evidence of things HOPED for. It is EVIDENCE of that which we desire but has yet to manifest. How can one be praying for anything without believing?
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. We have that assurance. That is another key element of the prayer of faith. Doubt is usually what slows us down and makes us weak. It is doubt that makes it more difficult for us to express our desires to our dear God in an honest manner. With no doubt, we can seek, work and walk in a more miraculous life. I challenge you to grab hold of that by praying! Amen
Prayer of Faith is Based on His Promises
Jeremiah 1:12 Then the Lord told me, “You have seen well, for I am [b]ready to perform My word.”
The prayer of faith is grounded in dear God’s own word. It is founded upon his promises and praying them into being. We thank the Lord for his promises to be yes and amen. What I love the most about our God is that he is not just a talker.
He seeks to back it with action. The bible in the Old Testament tells us that he watches his word to perform it. If he has speaks 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 good watchful eye as we continue praying. It shall not return void. Not that he could 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 could make him a liar. We can always know that this is not who he is.
Numbers 23:19 (NKJV)
19 “God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He spoken, 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 the truth. He is the eternal 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 the truth. That is the basis of prayer of faith.
Let me give you an example of 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 had gathered after the physician had been and gone. For Christ Jesus to come and say that the child was not dead was false. Yet, as soon as he spoke those word, it became truth. Death evacuated in obedience to his word. Sleep occupied as commanded.
When we say a prayer of faith, we pray with the understanding that what is impossible is impossible until God says otherwise. We know him to be a holy God that makes a way where there seems to be none! We must be bold and confident enough to ask God for help when we ever need help.
Surrenders All
We exist in such a fast-paced universe. 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 go of issues and trust in God’s sovereignty to take care them.
The harder we try to hold on to stuff, the more they tend to slip away from us. Letting go and letting God be God is the best way to hold onto the stuff that we treasure. Prayer of faith surrenders. Praying goes on to let it all lay before God. We come before his throne of grace, admitting that even when we do all we can do, all may fail.
King David understood this, as did Moses. They refused to go ahead with anything beyond God’s presence. They prayed. 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 explained that our Heavenly Father is not obligated to finish what he does not start. Surrendering all puts us in a place where we start all in him and through him. We all know what happens when we start it all in the Lord? He is faithful to see it to completion. God will never leave things half done! If only we would learn to ask our Heavenly Father when we need help. Just ask God!
The burden is no longer on you
Here is a real-life example of how the prayer of faith applies to us daily. 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. I was desperate for that prayer of faith to strengthen me.
God’s 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 the good 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 asked us 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 the prayer of faith. We are able to direct it into his capable handles, fully knowing that he will take care of it. That is what fuels the prayer of faith. Understanding that it is all in God’s hands and not our own.
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 stubbornness in knowing that all it takes 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 Bible recounts how 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 exclaim, “if you had been here our brother would not have died.” The centurion declared, “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 say a prayer of faith you do it continually. Jesus referred to this as “abiding”. Prayer of faith abides in Jesus 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 power of relationship.
Summary
There is not much that can be added. We thank God. I challenge you to press forward in pursuit of that prayer of faith. It must be done every day. See, prayer should always be a deeply personal matter, as should praise. The storms of our daily lives will surely visit each family. We are called to grab hold of divine wisdom as you read and use the word of a good God.
We understand the muscle that is faith will grow with every bit of pressure. Whatever we do, we should keep moving on purpose. That is how might is built. You should not have to do it alone. You have an able helper in the Holy Spirit and his work. A God that will hear every request through prayer.
Therefore, we must learn to put all trust comes in him alone. He will feel and see each trial as it comes. This is a gift that we should all be content to have received for free without having asked for it. It lends us in a place where we are forgiven, making it possible to get the greatest benefit from all three attributes of a tri-union God.
Originally posted 2019-07-10 19:12:36.
