Today I was looking on eBay and Etsy at wood signs and shelf sitters when I came across one that caught my eye. Maybe you've heard or seen the saying before. It said, "Faith is not believing that God can, it's knowing that He will." While not exactly the Biblical definition of faith - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," (Hebrew 11:1) - I think it's a maxim we should live by. It evidently is speaking of faith, but relates really well to prayer, the topic of this post. The question then, if this be sound wisdom, is how may we live it out and under what circumstances? I hope you'll join me now as I try to clarify that, as well as explore what God's Word says concerning this matter.
Since we are going on to prayer, it seems appropriate to first talk about the way in which we approach our Heavenly Father. Do we come, as the saying suggests, with hearts full of unwavering faith before His throne of grace? Or, do we sometimes bring our petitions to God while entertaining doubt about whether He will do it - or even if He can?
While either of these are real hindrances to prayer, and in particular, answered prayer, I know that I certainly have been guilty of both. In the case of the latter, I've prayed for a certain thing only to doubt, deep inside, that God could actually do the thing I was asking. Let me give an example that maybe you can relate to. Have you ever prayed for a family member's or friend's salvation but inwardly despaired, "I just don't think so-and-so will ever get saved! She's too far gone;" or, "His heart is too hard;" or maybe, "It would take a miracle?" Too often this has been my experience. I would pray, only to follow up with nagging thoughts like these. Sadly, what this boils down to is seriously underestimating God's power - the power of the One who created the heavens and the earth by His great power and outstretched arm! (Jeremiah 32:17)
In my case it seemed that the only way the Lord could help me overcome this sin of doubt was by giving me trials which developed total dependency on Him. In Psalm 46, verses 1-3, the sons of Korah remind us of the blessing of "trouble" by discovering God to be very real in those situations: "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride." It's as if the writers of this psalm wanted to impress on our hearts that although all these catastrophes would be HUGE and POWERFUL, they're nothing, not even a shred, compared to GOD'S POWER!
Another passage for you and I to consider - and one I encourage you to read over right now if you have your Bible nearby - is Isaiah 40. This amazing chapter, when really meditated upon, will deepen our understanding of how great our God really is! We will become more aware of His holiness; and, in turn, of our lowliness. I think most of us, if we're truly honest, might feel as if the prophet's words stir in us a desire to strip ourselves of the pitifully low view of our creator God, and humbly cry out in fellowship with Isaiah, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." (Isaiah 6:5)
However, perhaps nothing is so "faith building" than when we have nothing, and nowhere to turn, except to God alone. In the summer of 2009 this was the very place the Lord, in His mercy, brought me to. (If you're just joining us here, you can read the story of my husband's affair by clicking this link: http://oilofhisgrace.blogspot.com/2010/08/what-ive-learned-through-my-husbands.html ). All this reminds me of when Jesus asked the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?” (John 6:67) Simon Peter, sort of being their unofficial spokesperson at times, answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life." I believe that Peter understood by this point that they really had no where else to turn, so he went on and made this incredible statement of faith: "We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God." (Verse 69) Wow! That's just what our heart attitude should be. Our desperation of having no one else to whom we may go should likewise lead us to have that measure of faith.
If by chance you're reading this and find yourself in a difficult situation, with no earthly comfort, please rejoice as the Word tells us to do in James 1:2-4. Why? Because the Lord is going to use this to bring about the kind of faith in you that moves mountains! When once you've grasped the awesomeness and omnipotence of God, you'll begin to experience answered prayer at a greater level than ever before. This has been my testimony, and the testimony of so many of the great cloud of witnesses. (Hebrews 12:1)
Now, some thoughts occur to me concerning our faith and prayer. First let's consider the words spoken by Jesus in Matthew 7:7-11: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" In these verses the Lord gives us what our hearts long for - an assurance that God does indeed hear and answer our prayers. In fact, notice how many times He uses affirmative phrases in verse 7 to emphasize this (I've italicized and bolded them for you above). "It will be given... you will find... it will be opened."
Similarly, verse 8 seems to repeat this pledge of answered prayer by explaining that there is a spiritual law concerning this: "...Everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; to him who knocks it will be opened." Jesus didn't want us to miss the truth that we should confidently expect an answer to our prayer.
Now, let me also share something interesting from the Greek with you. (No - I'm not a Greek scholar [LOL!], but I did do a bit of research on this verse, and in particular the two verbs, lambanei and euriskei, here translated "receives" and "finds.") When used in this passage in the original language, both of these verbs are in the present active indicative. This means that, first, they are in the present tense - the action is taking place today, or right now. Additionally, according to the late theologian John Gresham Machen, "The indicative mood makes an assertion, in distinction, for example, from a command or a wish." In other words, the indicative mood indicates that the action is really taking place.
Now I don't know about you but I find that pretty exciting! This means that when we bring our petitions to God we are receiving, and when we seek Him we are finding Him. It's not some future event; it's happening now! I hope that by understanding a little more of what the Lord was trying to get across to us here, your faith and hope are beginning to rise. "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13)
However, as wonderful as this promise is, we need to balance this with other Scriptures which show us that there are certain prerequisites we must meet before we experience the blessedness of answered prayer. For starters, we've been discussing faith quite a bit here. We've discovered how seeing God for who He is can help us to believe that He can answer prayer, i.e., that He has power sufficient to bring about the things we ask. Now we must bring the subject of faith full circle and address how it affects whether God will give us what we ask. Again, while it's true that Jesus said we may have confidence in our prayers being heard, we must also consider what He says in Mark 11:22-24, "Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you."
In this passage from Mark we see that our faith is directly related to whether we will be granted our petitions, or not. For the best explanation I've read on this let me quote from Andrew Murray:
"Faith in the promise is the fruit of faith in the Promiser: The prayer of faith is rooted in the life of faith. And in this way the faith that prays effectually is indeed a gift of God. Not as something that He bestows or infuses at once, but in a far deeper and truer sense, as the blessed disposition or habit of soul which is wrought and grows up in us in a life of intercourse with Him." (Gained chiefly by having 'nowhere to turn, except to God!') "Surely for one who knows his Father well and lives in constant close intercourse with Him, it is a simple thing to believe the promise that He will do the will of His child who lives in union with Himself." - From "With Christ in the School of Prayer" by Andrew Murray
So we see from all this that faith is all-important in prayer. It enables us to believe that He can, and He will. We may gain this type of faith by: 1) Meditating on His great power, and 2) Knowing Him more intimately through total dependence and close intercourse with Him. However, look with me at the last sentence in the quote by Andrew Murray. He says, "He will do the will of His child who lives in union with Himself." This is an incredible statement. Many times when we think of prayer, we turn to the familiar scene where Jesus cries out in the garden, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42) In light of this - this was Jesus praying, after all - how could Andrew Murray make such a statement?! It seems too bold, too presumptuous to expect anything like that.
Well, I'm going to leave you hanging. I hope, though, that I've got your curiosity up, maybe just a little. (Sorry, I'm being silly and teasing about that last part.) I would, however, love to cover this question right now but I'm afraid it really will have to wait since this post is getting long. While I'm in a bit of a playful mood here, I do want to tell you seriously that this topic is very "near and dear" to my heart. I'd love it if we all became intercessory prayer warriors! At the very least it's vitally important that we learn to stand in the gap in prayer for our own marriages - and, I dare say, for any that we know are in trouble. Satan is out to destroy the very foundation of our society, which is the family, and we must be ready to oppose him on our knees. Therefore, next time and Lord willing, we'll pick up with what the one other necessary "ingredient" to answered prayer is. Hope you'll join us!
You're welcome - I'm so glad you came by!
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