21 Days of Prayer ChallengeSample

Day 10: Does the outcome of prayer depend on my faith?

From Pastor Mark Zehnder

Oh good. Another question with several possible answers! Okay, let's start with this word from James 1:5-7: "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord."

Based on this passage, it sure seems like praying without faith is NOT a good idea!

Still, how many times do we see in the New Testament where Jesus healed someone who not only had no faith but didn't even know who Jesus was? Or how about this…Jesus raised a dead boy in a funeral procession (Luke 7:11-17) and a little girl in her house (Luke 8:49-56). It's 100% impossible to have faith when you are dead!

There were other times when Jesus healed people not because of their own faith but because of their friends. For example, in Mark 2:1-12, four friends carry a paralyzed man to Jesus, and Jesus healed the man on behalf of the friend's faith.

On the other hand, Jesus healed many people, and after doing so, made a comment: "Go, your faith has made you well." You even read about these today in Matthew 9:29 and Mark 5:34.

So, what can we conclude?

When we pray, we should do so with faith, remembering that it is our job to ask and God's job to act! Therefore, we should always pray with faith, trusting that God loves us and knows what we need best.

It helps me to remind myself that I am not praying with faith in my faith. No, I am praying with faith in Jesus because I know this: Ultimately, the fact that a person is healed is based NOT on the quality or even quantity of faith in the person praying, but in the HEALER himself, Jesus.

Day 10 Challenge: Share the Bible verse Jeremiah 32:27 on social media and declare your trust in God: "I am the Lord, God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" You can use the verse image in this app to help you share this well.

Prayer Prompt: For the children in our life