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The Power of Prayer |
By Lance Witt
Jesus answered, "Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ´Go, fall into the sea.´ And if you have no doubts in your mind and believe that what you say will happen, God will do it for you. So I tell you to believe that you have received the things you ask for in prayer, and God will give them to you." Mark 11:22-24 (NCV)
The kind of faith Jesus describes in Mark 11 also flows out of relationship. The more I know God the more I trust him to respond to my prayers. The longer I walk with him and witness his faithfulness to meet my needs and respond to my prayers, the easier it is to have faith in him. Notice that the object of my faith is to be God. It is my ability to trust and put my faith in God that gets results.
While I do not think that Mark 11 is a blank check promising that anything I ask from God I will get, it does indicate that faith plays a prominent role in prayer. This passage also clearly indicates that my prayers matter and have the ability to change things.
We have a great example of this in James 5:17-18; “Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years! Then he prayed for rain, and down it poured. The grass turned green, and the crops began to grow again.” (NIV)
The devil is not terribly frightened of our human efforts and credentials. But he knows his kingdom will be damaged when we lift up our hearts to God. He knows that when we call on God in faith that things can change. That is why he works to keep us defeated and paralyzed in our prayer lives.
“God says to us, ‘Pray, because I have all kinds of things for you; and when you ask, you will receive. I have all this grace, and you live with scarcity. Come unto Me, all you who labor. Why are you so rushed? Where are you running now? Everything you need, I have.’ If the times are indeed as bad as we say they are…if the darkness in our world is growing heavier by the moment…if we are facing spiritual battles right in our own homes and churches…then we are foolish not to turn to the One who supplies unlimited grace and power. He is our only source. We are crazy to ignore Him.” Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.