Prayer of Faith

The prayer of faith is rooted in our confidence in God's Word. When you are sure that what you are praying for is God's will for you, the prayer of faith can be employed. The prayer of faith is knowing God's will, praying it and receiving it from Him. Not forgiving and doubting are the two greatest hindrances to prayers of faith. 

The prayer of faith is a "prayer that changes things." Please note that it changes things and not people. Too often we try to help someone by praying that they change their behavior. But people do not change against their will. What people need is to recognize their need for God and to give their life to Him. Once they do that, then God can show them what He wants them to be and give them the ability to change.

The prayer of faith changes things or circumstances. Anything that can be seen is subject to change and can be affected by a prayer of faith. "...for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18) The prayer of faith changes things like physical ailments, lack of wisdom, or your employment status. Through the prayer of faith, you can have healing and health for your body, wisdom for your mind, and even a good job.

Before you get the wrong idea, the prayer of faith is not a magic wand or a genie in a bottle. But the prayer of faith is a tool that we can use to implement God's will in our lives. Through the prayer of faith, we can have the things that God desires for us to have. God desires us to be healthy, wise, and gainfully employed, etc. Although these good things may not be a reality in your life right now, with the prayer of faith, these things that you are hoping for can become reality.

History

To understand the prayer of faith, we should first know what faith is and where it comes from. The Bible says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence (or reality) of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) In other words, faith is the spiritual substance that causes the things you are hoping for to become reality. When you are sick, the thing that you are hoping for is health. Faith causes the thing that you hope for (health) to become real (you get healing). When you are confused and do not know what to do, faith causes the thing that you hope for (wisdom) to become reality. Faith is far more than simple mental agreement or sincere hope. When you have faith, the thing that you are hoping for is more real to you than whatever you may see with your eyes. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence (or reality) of things not seen."

In our examination of the prayer of faith, we will use the Scriptures as the basis for our understanding. The passage upon which we will base our examination is James 5:16b "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (The word "man" means mankind and therefore includes women.) There are three elements here that are required for a prayer that avails much; that is, a prayer that God will say "Yes" to.
1. First, the man praying must be righteous.
2. Second, the prayer must be fervent.
3. And third, the prayer must be effective.
The first two are widely taught to believers in most circles so we will only cover those topics briefly. Then we will look in depth at the elements of an "effective" prayer.

The Prayer