Prayer
Faith in Prayers
James 5:15
And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and
the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
NKJV
The prayer of faith spoken of by James is the prayer offered in line with the full belief of Who God is, of the attributes of His character, and in the knowledge that He does does desire to listen to our prayers and respond to them. They are prayers offered to God as He is described in the Bible. When we offer our prayers to this God, in the manner He has prescribed, that is, in His Will, we are offer a prayer of faith.
The prayers with the most meaning
come from the heart. This is the heart that places its trust in the God
of the Bible Who has spoken to us through the life of Jesus and the teachings
of the Bible. Just as we may speak to God through our prayers and our
actions, God spoke to us through His actions -- the sending of Jesus to
earth as a man for the purpose of showing us God the Father and through
the written Word.
John 6:46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except
He who is from God; He has seen the Father. NKJV
John 17:17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word
is truth. NKJV
Faith is the element of believing
the Scriptures and knowing
that the loving, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present God of the Bible
will hear our prayers and act upon them. Our inadequate knowledge of God,
our persistent spiritual blindness, and our own inexperience may limit
our prayer faith. The need for knowledge of God, for spiritual awareness,
and for experience emphasize our need to establish a consistent prayer
life and quiet time. It is during this time that we may study God&s Word,
may develop a prayer life, and may learn to find God. This is how we develop
the confidence we must have in our prayers.
1 John 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have
in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
NKJV
Prayer presumes a belief in the personality of God. Prayer presumes a willingness on God's part to respond to us. This is faith.
