PRAYING IN FAITH

MATTHEW 21:20–22

“And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive”

(Matt. 21:22).

Whenever we approach our Sovereign Lord to lay our requests before Him, we must always pray in faith and we must pray according to the will of God.

To pray in faith does not mean that we necessarily believe that we will get what we ask for. We cannot approach God thinking that if we have faith that we will be healed of a particular disease then we will definitely be healed. What happens when we are not healed? What conclusion must we draw? The obvious answer is that we did not have enough faith. This can lead to despair and even rejection of the Christian religion altogether.

What, then, does it mean to pray in faith? The Puritan John Preston answers this way, “It is enough to believe that God is a Father, that He is ready to hear, and not only that He is ready to hear, but that He is ready to do that which is best for me (in this particular situation). Both are required: that you believe Him to be well-affected towards you as a Father, as one who tenders your good, and not only so, but that He will do that which shall be most for His own glory and for your good. If you do so, you pray in faith, though, for the particular (thing that you pray for), you do not know whether it shall be granted or not.”

If we had a promise, like Elijah who was told that it would not rain, then we can believe in the particular object for which we are praying. But, since we pray about many things for which we do not have particular promises, we must simply have faith in God Himself, who acts for our good and for His glory. Such an approach to prayer may seem like casting lots, but this is not the case. Having faith in our Father’s goodness is all that is required. We should bring our requests before Him, trusting in Him and wanting only that His will be done.

If our faith in a particular request determines the answer to our prayers, then Jesus must have been faithless indeed, for He prayed that the cup pass from Him. But it did not because that was not God’s will. Jesus, of course, was faithful, and even as He knelt in the shadow of the cross, He trusted in His Father and prayed that His will be done. By this, we learn what it means to pray in faith.

CORAM DEO

Psalm 109–111

Romans 16

There are many things we can pray for with knowledge that they will come to pass. Can you think of what some of those things are? If you are not sure, look up “promises” in your topical concordance, and read of Christ’s promises. When you pray, lay all your requests before God, keeping these promises in mind.

For further study: Matt. 7:7–11 • Mark 14:32–42 • John 16:24 • Acts 16:25–26

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