June 18, 2013

  • Growing Faith Through Prayer

    Genuine, authentic faith must be definite and free of doubt. It is not general in character or a mere belief in the being, goodness, and power of God. It is a faith which believes that the things which “he saith, shall come to pass.”  As faith is specific, so the answer will also be definite. “He shall have whatsoever he saith.” Faith and prayer select the things, and God pledges Himself to do the very things which faith and persistent prayer name and ask Him to accomplish. We might also translate Mark 11:24 this way: “All things whatsoever you pray and ask for, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.”  Perfect faith has always in its keeping what perfect prayer asks for. Our major concern is our faith—the problems of its growth and the actions of its strong development. A faith which holds onto the very thing it asks for, without wavering, doubt, or fear—that is the faith we need. We need faith, like a pearl of great price, in the process and practice of prayer.

    The above statement about faith and prayer quoted by Jesus is of supreme importance. Faith must be definite and specific. It must be an unqualified, unmistakable request for the things asked for. It should not be a vague, indefinite, shadowy thing. It must be something more than an ideal belief in God’s willingness and ability to do something for us. It should be a definite, specific asking for, and expecting the things for which we ask.

    Note Mark 11:23,

    “Whosoever . . . shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” Just like the faith and the request is definite, so the answer will be definite. The giving is not something other than the things prayed for, but the actual things sought and named.   ~E.M. Bounds