Prayer Of Faith

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. James 5: 15.

James speaks about the prayer of faith! What is the prayer of faith? Is it the prayer our Lord taught His disciples, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name, which we too have learnt, many of us from young ages? Is it the prayer of the publican, God be merciful to me a sinner, which we as sinners still pray? We can cite hundreds of prayers, but the prayer of faith is not first and foremost the mouth of prayer, but the mind of prayer. It is not the custom of prayer, but the conscience of prayer. It is not the words of prayer, but the will of prayer.

The prayer of faith is not the prayer of fear. We listen and look at the verse again to receive what the prayer of faith produces. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Four guaranteed outcomes have been fully exposed to us in the prayer of faith.

The Power of God, in the prayer of faith

The Provision of God, in the prayer of faith

The Promise of God, in the prayer of faith

The Produce of God, in the prayer of faith

The Power of God, in the prayer of faith.

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

We acknowledge with great joy and thanksgiving that the Power of God never ever stands alone or is ever seen by itself, without Authority of God. Power and Authority are so one, if one speaks of power, one is also speaking of authority. It’s like living and breathing. If, for instance, you say that a person is living, aren’t you also saying that the person is breathing? There is not one without the other.  As long as we know, not just praying, but faith in prayer, we are drawing on the authority of our Lord in prayer.

I can hear this question being asked. Is not all prayer in faith? The answer comes with a resounding, no. Not all prayer is offered in faith. Jesus has spoken about faith and believing, when praying, on several occasions. Here is one well-known instance. Nine of Jesus’ disciples were unable to fulfill the prayer request of a most desperate and distraught father. He had asked them to heal his demon-possessed son and they accepted the request. They never told him no. They did not even tell him to wait for a more convenient time, when Jesus would be around. These nine disciples, who were accustomed to miracles, never hinted, in any form or fashion that the man’s prayer request was out of the ordinary or that his son was not a good candidate for divine healing. They accepted the prayer request and they would have prayed, or spoken by faith in their Master’s Name, but nothing happened. This was impossible to them.

Lo and behold! When Jesus arrived, He took over the situation. He handled the prayer request of that, even more distraught than ever and despairing father. Jesus healed the boy. Jesus answered the prayer of the father, who received just what he asked for. Later, when they were in private, the nine disciples asked Jesus why they were unable to victoriously answer that prayer request. They had prayed to God as they were taught. They had spoken to the demon in Jesus’ Name. They had done all the things right.

Listen to what Jesus told them, and still tells His confused, disappointed servants, who are unable to pray and know the Power of God in prayer. The reason, the single reason, is unbelief, which means, lack of faith. We all need to listen and hear again. Their mind-disturbing question to Jesus was this. Why couldn’t we cast out that demon and give the father what he requested? Jesus openly said to them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Matthew 17: 20b.KJV

In this setting, Jesus has placed the onus on the power of prayer. Faith is power and if there is any kind of unbelief in the one who is praying, prayer will not be granted by Father God. Faith pleases Him, not unbelief.

Do you realize that there is already power in prayer? Prayer is Power, in the same way that sun is light. Just as when you go out into rain, you go into wet, likewise, when you go into prayer, you go into power. When we pray, we are simply activating power that is already there. Why then are we claiming prayer, yet it is so powerless to us?

Lord, have mercy upon us! Amen!

The Power: The prayer of faith is Authority of God.