Archives For August 2018
How do we know we have faith for answered prayer?
You might not believe everything I say here, but read the whole thing and leave a comment to let me know what you think.
God’s will is important
Obviously God’s will is the most important factor in answered prayer. Since that is so obvious I won’t discuss it here.
Faith is important
Several dozen times Jesus said that faith is a key to answered prayers. God’s will is the most important factor. But why did Jesus only talk about God’s will a few times and he talked about the importance of faith several dozen times? I think it is because he wants us to know that we have to do our part.
Why does God consider faith so important? The Bible says we go to heaven based on faith, not works. Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith…” Faith and love are the very most important things in our lives.
But someone might say, what if it is not God’s will to help me? That shows he doesn’t have faith that his prayer will be answered.
If we pray to make a good grade on a test, we can’t just pray, we have to study. We have to take action. We have to do something. God normally doesn’t help with that kind of a prayer unless we do our part.
But what if we are sick and we have done all that we can to get well. We eat right, exercise, see a doctor, take medicine and still don’t get well? That is when God steps in and helps. Jesus said to the sick woman who had the flow of blood for many years: “Your faith has healed you.” Matthew 9:22. Also, Jesus healed the blind and told them their faith healed them. Luke 18:42.
Why didn’t Jesus say that God healed them, why did he say their faith healed them? I believe it is because he wanted them to know they had to do their part. They had to have faith.
How do I know I have prayer-faith?
Think about a person who is deeply in debt and can’t pay his bills. One day a rich man decides to not only pay his bills but also to give him a million dollars. How would the poor man feel? Well, it probably depends on whether or not the poor man really believes the rich man is going to help him. If he really believes the financial help will come to him, he will feel happy and relieved. His worry and negative feelings will go away completely.
You would know if the poor man believed or not by his feelings. In the same way, we can check our feelings to see if we really believe God is going to answer our prayer. If we are in dire straits financially and can’t pay our bills, we can pray for help. If we are sick, we can pray. If we are filled with joy because we know God will help, that shows that we have faith that God is going to help.
