May we have the same bold faith and interactions with Jesus as those who saw Him face-to-face, for in doing so, our prayers in faith will yield results above and beyond what we hoped or imagined.
When you pray, do you pray in faith? I’m sure we all think that we do, but do we always?
Prayer is the means by which we communicate with God through praise, thankfulness, confession, intercession, and through conversation with Him in general. However, sometimes our intercessory prayers are lacking in faith. Instead, we may be telling God what He should do, or we may be doubting that God can/will even do what we are asking.
A prayer made in faith is one in which we go to our Heavenly Father knowing we are loved, trusting Him to take care of us and provide for our needs, believing His promises to us, and asking for His presence and perfect will.
"And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." Matthew 21:22
I believe there are four ways a prayer made in faith will yield results:
1. Lifting the Hands of Another in Faith
Have you ever been in a difficult situation in life where you felt hopeless, defeated, or just so weary that you didn’t have the motivation to pray on your own? I sure have. Moses knew that feeling too!
"As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun." Exodus 17:11-12
Sometimes we are called to come alongside someone in prayer and “lift up their hands.” To intercede in faith on behalf of someone else. Where their faith or strength is faltering, we pray for them in their stead.
I don’t know about you, but I seem to pray more boldly and in faith when I pray for someone else. I declare God’s promises over their situation believing that God will do what He says He will do. I continue to “lift up their hands” until I see God’s answers.
The following biblical account highlights this type of faith:
"And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, 'Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.'” Matthew 9:2
The Apostle Mark expanded on this story relating that not only had four men brought the paralytic to Jesus, but they had cut a hole in the roof and lowered him down to be near Jesus! Now, that was bold! Jesus saw the faith of those carrying the paralytic to Him for healing and Jesus healed him not only spiritually, but physically.
Let’s lift the hands of another in faith with boldness, and as the Lord sees our faith, He will answer as He has promised.
2. Prayer on Behalf of Another in Faith
You might be reading thinking, “Well, isn’t a prayer on behalf of another the same as lifting up the hands of another in prayer?” I would say it’s a little different. When we pray on behalf of another, the object of our prayer might not even know who we are, or we may see a need in a person that they don’t see in themselves, or they don’t know how to pray, or are unable to.
The following biblical account showcases what it means to pray for someone who is unable to pray for themselves:
"A synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, 'My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.' When Jesus came into the official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder, He said, 'Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.' And they began laughing at Him. But when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up." Matthew 9:18, 24-25
The official’s faith was so bold that He told Jesus to come and lay His hand on the child and she would live. Here again, seeing the faith of the official, Jesus healed his daughter.
I had prayed for years for a person in my life to become sober, yet I was doubting that the prayer would be answered because their living situation, in my mind, wouldn’t have given that person half a chance. One night, I came to my own breaking point about the situation and I cried out to God in faith with boldness that He would remove the chains of addiction from this person. In the most miraculous way, He did just that! My years of praying weren’t wasted, but when I prayed in faith believing God would heal, that is when the healing came.
God hears and answers the prayer made in faith on behalf of another.
3. Interceding for Ourselves in Faith
How easy is it for you to pray for yourself? I find that I rarely pray for myself. I know!! It seems silly, but I don’t. As stated earlier, I’ll pray boldly for someone else, but for myself, I think, I know He can heal me, but will He? Maybe some of you can relate.
The story of the hemorrhagic woman showcases bold faith on behalf of oneself:
"And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, 'If I only touch His garment, I will get well.' But Jesus turning and seeing her said, 'Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.' At once the woman was made well." Matthew 9:20-22
This was such a bold move on her part because: 1. she was unclean and was supposed to be isolated according to the law, and 2. she touched the hem of His garment, which during those times was a sacred part of the robe from a Kingship standpoint. Jesus, seeing her great faith, made her well.
This type of healing and/or answered prayer is just as possible for us today as it was for her then. All we need to do is pray in faith. I’m not promising that every person who prays will be physically healed, but for every person who prays in faith, even if they aren’t healed physically, God touches and brings healing in one way or another.
4. Communal Prayer in Faith
"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20
There is so much power when a community prays in faith that God promises He will be in their midst.
I’m sure if we met for coffee, we’d be able to share testimony after testimony together of miraculous answers to prayer we’ve witnessed when a church or community prayed together for a specific need.
Years ago, I discovered a lump in my neck that turned out to be a thyroid nodule. The first biopsy didn’t yield adequate results, and if the second biopsy didn’t either, they would have no choice but to do a thyroidectomy, which is pretty major surgery. I was put on many different churches' prayer chains, asking that the second biopsy would yield not only an adequate sample but that the results would be benign. The prayers made in faith on my behalf by several different church communities yielded not only an adequate sample but no cancer was found! The doctor was very surprised, as he doubted he would be able to get an adequate sample even the second time. But God and the prayers of the faithful…
The following biblical account adds more credence to the communal prayer made in faith:
"As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, 'Have mercy on us, Son of David!' When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?' They said to Him, 'Yes, Lord.' Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'It shall be done to you according to your faith.' And their eyes were opened." Matthew 9:27-30
Jesus saw these two men together crying out to Him in one common voice in faith and He healed their blindness.
May we be the church who prays in faith as a community. As a result, we will see God move in amazing ways.
The biblical accounts discussed above may not have mentioned prayer, but their interactions with Jesus were no different than our prayers to Him today. They were able to talk to Jesus as He stood before them. We speak to Jesus through prayer.
"Thomas said to him, 'My Lord and my God!' Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'” John 20:28-29
May we have the same bold faith and interactions with Jesus as those who saw Him face-to-face, for in doing so, our prayers in faith will yield results above and beyond what we hoped or imagined.
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