Another condition for an effective prayer life is faith. Mark 11:24, "Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." James tells us to ask God for wisdom when we lack it, but he also admonishes us in James 1:6, "But when he [a person] asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
A former pastor of mine, Rev. O. B. Sansbury, told the story of a man who had a mountain behind his house, and that mountain obstructed the man's view of the sea. One day he read Jesus' words, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there" and it will move." So the man knelt down and asked God to move the mountain behind his house. Then he got up off his knees, looked out the window, huffed, and said, "Just as I thought. It's still there." He didn't exactly pray in faith!
If faith is so crucial to our prayer life, how can we increase our faith? I'm glad you asked.
Romans 10:17 tells us, "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God." Our faith grows in proportion to the amount of time we spend in God's word.
Also, faith grows as we fellowship with other Christians and are encouraged by hearing how God is working in their lives.
As we trust God in situation after situation in our lives, we find that He is faithful, and we learn to trust Him. When God is faithful to hear and answer our prayers, we are encouraged to pray in faith. A cycle is established. The more we pray in faith, the more God answers our prayers. The more God answers our prayers, the more faith we have with which to pray.
Thank You, Father, for the privilege of prayer. Even the faith with which we pray comes from You, as does every good gift. Thank You. Amen.
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