Praying by faith

The faith factor is a critical, indispensable part of our Christian walk. It is central to everything we do for, "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." Hebrews 11:1 NLT

Prayer activates our faith, so what does praying in faith look like, and how do we do it? A passage in James opens the door of understanding for us. "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much ... ." James 5:14-18 NKJV

This is the only passage in The Bible that mentions the prayer of faith. There are three elements here that are required for a prayer that "... has great power and produces wonderful results":

1. The person praying must be righteous.

2. The prayer must be fervent.

3. It must be effective.

Praying in faith requires that:

1 I must be righteous

Righteousness simply means, a condition of being right. And in the context that we are using it, righteousness is simply being right with God. James is not referring to personal sinlessness; rather, he is speaking of the ordinary believer who is righteous because of receiving forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ alone, and by daily efforts to conform our lives to the Lord's will. James is saying that prayers that originate from godly men and women have great power and produces wonderful blessings.

So, are you right with God?

2 My prayer must be fervent

A fervent prayer is characterised by passion. This kind of prayer comes out of your heart, and for some people, they are so fully engaged that it is difficult to stand still, or to control their voice or emotions because they are just pouring everything out to God.

How are you during your prayers?

Fervent prayer is not only about passion but also about being relentless or persistent. Many of us have a habit of only praying once about an issue. We think 'since God knows my need, why do I need to repeat myself?' But repeating yourself airs the issue with God, so He can speak to you and it demonstrates a dependence on Him.

When we practice emotionally engaging, persistent prayer, we find that God's heart has become our heart and we begin to care about the things that God cares about, we see people the way that God sees people and we understand the world from the perspective of eternity.

3 I must pray effectively

There are a number of things that can make our prayers ineffective. James states "You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive; because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." James 4:2-3 NIV. With that said, what are the features of an effective prayer?

a. The word of God

We need to learn God's Word in a manner that results in an understanding of His desires. When we know His Word, we will know what He wants and how He does things. Then we will be able to make our prayers effective because we will ask for the things that are according to His will.

b. The name of Jesus

We know that we can pray in the name of Jesus and expect results. John 14:13-14 NIV says, "... I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son ... ." If you base your prayer on God's Word (faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God) and you act as Jesus' ambassador (in His name), then faith will change the circumstance so that it agrees with God's will.

c. The holy spirit

The Holy Spirit can assist us in praying prayers that God the Father will say yes to. We know this because the Holy Spirit will never do anything that would be contrary to God's will. In praying by faith, the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential to the process. There are three things that the Holy Spirit does: The Holy Spirit can pray on your behalf, guide you to the truth of God's Word, and strengthen you.

God wants us to be people of faith. He wants us to share prayers that have great power and that produce wonderful results. So step forward to pray in faith, examine yourself and your prayer. And by following the principles outlined in James 5, your relationship with the Almighty will grow and flourish and your faith will grow as you pray prayers of faith.