THE PRAYER

THE PRAYER OF FAITH - PART 2

Mark 11:22 "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have Faith in God

23 "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and 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".

Earlier this week, we were made to understand how important prayer is to every believing child of God. Prayer is what brings down Divinity into Humanity. It is our one means of connecting with what God's plan and purpose for our lives are. Looking into the scriptures, we see so many instances when the children of God use this weapon of prayer and fasting when they had to seek His face. Prayer is also an avenue of being intentional unto God our needs and as a loving father responding unto us accordingly. Matthew 7:11 "how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?.

But today, we will look further into the concept of Faith-full Prayer. 

We must understand that Faith goes beyond a confessional statement. Yes, in Prayer, we make the confessions, but in Faith we make more than just confessions. It is adding sophistication to our confessions. We see from the anchor scripture "if you will say". This was the praying part. Then Faith stepped in as d latter aspect" if you will not doubt but believe in your heart". Many a times, until our Faith is put into action, our prayers can never be answered. Therefore, it becomes necessary to understand Why Faith?

We see in Mark chapter 9; a boy who had just been brought afflicted with demonic spirits. Yes, at this time, the disciples have been taught well on how to pray; this they did, but still there was no results. Jesus called them in verse 19 "O faithless generation". This is just to reiterate the importance of our Faith. 

1. Faith is an accelerating force:

We have seen countless instances from God's word, where the Faith of men had to be in place for the blessings to be encountered. Christ's encounter with the centurion (Matthew 8), the Healing of the woman with the issue of blood(Luke 8:43-48), the healing of the demon possessed son (Mark 9), and many like this. Faith is that force that brings instant answers our way. The Bible makes us understand that Faith is Now (Hebrews 11:1). It is an instant Force bearing instant miracles.(Matthew 8:13).

2. Faith does not look at impossibilities, but believes God in all things: 

This is one attribute of Faith in God and a reason why as believers we need to be full of Faith. This Jesus demonstrated in John 11 when he raised Lazarus from the dead. Verse 40-41 "said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said,  Father I thank thee that thou hast heard me". The phrase "hast heard me" is a that of an assurance and this can only mean one thing, Faith in God. Despite how impossible it looked for Lazarus to rise being dead four days, it wasn't Jesus who would raise, it was God the Father. And His power to do all things is magnificent and unending. Christ showed unto us what Faith in the Father entails and why it is important to have Faith as Christians. Verse 42" that they may believe that thou hast sent me". Mark 9:23 "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth".Faith creates possibilities out of a myriad of impossibilities.

3. Faith is a working force: 

Have you ever had to trust God for something and He came through for you. What exactly do you think was in place? Faith is you handing over wisdom, and knowledge to Him who is more wise and knowledgeable on any subject matter. It is a state of complete, and unshakable trust in God. Looking at the lives of our Fathers of old (Abraham, Moses, Noah, David) and how this principle of Faith worked for them, we can boldly say Faith is a working force. Let's see John's testimony in 1John 1:3 " that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us". You can only tell of a thing when you are totally confident of its potency. It is no doubt that the fellowship of Faith will anytime any day yield results. Faith is a very potent force.

4. The proofs of Faith are undeniable:

In Acts 3:1-13, we see the works of Faith wrought here undeniable. The Bible makes us understand in verse 11 "And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together  unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's greatly wondering.

Peter replying them in Verse 16 " And his name through faith in his name (JESUS), hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. No one can deny the working proofs of Faith, even the Pharisees and Sadducees as much as they didn't believe Jesus's testimony, they were terrified by them.

 5. Faith purifies the heart:

Romans 10:10 "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation". Acts 15:9 "And God which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by Faith. We see, as much as Faith is a thing of the heart, it also has the capacity to purify he heart. The Bible made us understand that Abraham believed and it was counted to him unto righteousness. (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3, 13). Faith brings us into this level of Purification.

TO BE CONTINUED...

THE MEN THAT LEAD

Building manhood...