Are We To Pray For Faith?

treeinhandsThe Bible never teaches us to pray ‘for’ faith.  Yes, seeking Him in prayer is a necessary part of growing faith in our hearts, but the seeking is to be on behalf of the desired answer, not about faith per se.  We grow faith by planting the ‘hopes’ of God’s word in our hearts, that is, the promises in the Bible that are pertinent to the answer we are desiring.

Even though we grow faith in our heart by planting God’s promises (and watering it by walking clean before Him in the Spirit), it is God who gives the ‘increase’ to the sown seed.  God is the one who turns seeds into harvests.  Again, let me make this point very clear; we do not grow faith independent of God.  We do our part in obedience to what the Bible says, but the final moment when faith comes alive in our heart is determined by Him, and its life is given by Him.

Once faith is achieved, we are to release that faith verbally by either an asking prayer, or a declaring statement.  The Bible only guarantees that prayers of faith will be answered, not just any prayer or declaring statement, no matter how needed they are.

He is very clear.  He only responds to faith.

Comments

  1. Faith and fear cannot exist together. Faith is described in Hebrews 11:1 as being “certain of what we do not see.” It is an absolute belief that God is constantly working behind the scenes in every area of our lives, even when there is no tangible evidence to support that fact. On the other hand, fear, simply stated, is unbelief or weak belief. As unbelief gains the upper hand in our thoughts, fear takes hold of our emotions. Our deliverance from fear and worry is based on faith, which is the very opposite of unbelief. We need to understand that faith is not something that we can produce in ourselves. Faith is a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9), and faithfulness is described as a fruit (or characteristic) that is produced in our lives by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23). The Christian’s faith is a confident assurance in a God who loves us, who knows our thoughts, and who cares about our deepest needs. That faith continues to grow as we study the Bible and learn the attributes of His amazing character. The more we learn about God, the more we can see Him working in our lives and the stronger our faith grows.

    A growing faith is what we desire to have and what God desires to produce in us. But how, in day-to-day life, can we develop a faith that conquers our fears? The Bible says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). The careful study of God’s Word is of primary importance in developing a strong faith. God wants us to know Him and completely rely on His direction in our lives. It’s through the hearing, reading, and meditation in the Scriptures that we begin to experience a strong, confident faith that excludes worry and fear. Spending time in prayer and quiet worship develops a relationship with our heavenly Father that sees us through even the darkest of nights. In the Psalms we see a picture of David, who, like us, experienced times of fear. Psalm 56:3 reveals his faith with these words: “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.” Psalm 119 is filled with verses expressing the way in which David treasured God’s Word: “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands” (verse 10); “I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways” (verse 15); “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (verse 11). These are revealing words which speak wisdom to us today.

    God is kind and understanding toward our weaknesses, but He requires us to go forward in faith, and the Bible is clear that faith does not mature and strengthen without trials. Adversity is God’s most effective tool to develop a strong faith. That pattern is evident in Scripture. God takes each one of us through fearful situations, and, as we learn to obey God’s Word and allow it to saturate our thoughts, we find each trial becomes a stepping stone to a stronger and deeper faith. It gives us that ability to say, “He sustained me in the past, he’ll carry me through today and he’ll uphold me in the future!” God worked this way in David’s life. When David volunteered to fight against Goliath, he said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37). David knew the God who had sustained him through dangerous situations in the past. He had seen and experienced God’s power and protection in his life, and this developed within him a fearless faith.

    The Word of God is rich with promises for us to take hold of and claim for ourselves. When we face financial trouble, Philippians 4:19 tells us, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” If we are anxious about a future decision, Psalm 32:8 reminds us that God will “instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” In sickness we can remember that Romans 5:3–5 says, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” If someone turns against us, we can be comforted by the words in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us who can be against us!” Throughout life we will continue to face various trials that would cause us fear, but God assures us that we can know a calm peace through every situation: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

    1. Wow. This is awesomely awesome.
      God bless you so much. Amen.

  2. It is interesting that in Luke 17 Jesus did not act on the prayer for “increased faith” but responded by saying that even the smallest faith can uproot a tree and toss it into the sea. Apparently true faith, small as a mustard seed, is sufficient to accomplish great things (apparently, the disciples little faith must have been smaller than that). So the question remains, should we prayer for faith? Oswald Chambers helped me to understand this better in a lecture about prayer to students at the Bible Training College. In his lecture he said this, “God does not give faith in answer to prayer: He reveals Himself in answer to prayer, and faith is exercised spontaneously.” This was quite profound to me. This taught me that I should pray that God will reveal Himself to me and when answered, it will produce in me sufficient faith to accomplish the purposes of God.

  3. Praying in tongues, your own prayer language from the Holy Spirit also increases your faith. Jude 20 says “building yourselves up on your most Holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Yep. This will do it.

    We are told to fight the good fight of faith. This will increase and strengthen your faith.

  4. we are Christians we live in Pakistan we are in trouble in these days but pray for each other that heavenly “FATHER” will be healled us because we have lost my Father Mr.Riaz Washington in Church Bomb blast Peshawar pakistan. He is Saint and alive in “JESUS CHRIST” we have strongly faith to Almighty “GOD” “FAITH HOPE LOVE these three but the greatest of these is LOVE” GOD BLESS YOU All

  5. Uhhh YOU NEED TO READ SCRIPTURE! Even the apostles prayed for their faith to be increased. We do not know how much or how little faith each one had at the very time Luke 17:5 was written. Perhaps a lot, perhaps very little. But they prayed: And the apostles said unto the Lord increase out faith. You are misleading people with your words here. I’m sure you do not intend to do so. However…you are. You may want to rewrite this article.

    1. Author

      Faith comes by hearing, the Bible says. It does not come by praying for it. The Disciples asked Jesus to ‘increase their faith.’ He didn’t just increase it, He then taught on the power of a seed.

    2. How many times did Jesus rebuke the apostles for having little faith??? He called the very leader of the group (or whatever possessed him at the time) Satan-get behind me. Why did you doubt? Oh ye of little faith. A Roman soldier and a sick woman and a blind man are the only ones he said anything about their faith. This being Jesus and He is the judge. So I hate to call you out, but your words provoke d me. Not many should teach. James the tongue is like a rudder on a ship. Watch where you’re going. May we only have the Fire of heaven burning up the chaff in our hearts. Purify us like gold, Father..

      Pax et Caritas

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