YOUR FAITH AND YOUR PRAYER - PART 2

TUESDAY 26 OCTOBER 2021

Our prayer life depends on our faith. In other words, our faith has a lot to do with the results or outcomes we get after our prayer session. Even after praying, we must keep exercising our faith in the Word and spend time giving thanks to God in advance, as an appreciation to answered prayer. An attitude of gratitude to God strengthens our faith to see the manifestation of the answer we received.

Reference: James 1:6-7 New King James Version (NKJV) "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord."

Asking in faith is the measure or standard by which God evaluates our request or prayer before adequate response. If this is the case, it means that first, our personal desires and requests must align with God's will in His Word. And second, we must never be ignorant of what the Word says regarding our requests because our faith must be based on the Word, not on the request. Third, we must be convinced in our hearts that God answers our prayers. 1 John 5:14 reads, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us" (NIV-UK).

Obviously, your emotions, wrong imaginations or metal pictures may react after asking in faith but you must not allow them to take over your mind. How can you achieve this? 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (NASB). The expression, "To the obedience of Christ" suggests "Under the authority of the Word of God".

When the wrong imagination finds expression in your mind, subdue and tear it down by verbalising the Word and affirming that you have your request already granted by God. When any intellectual arrogance arises to oppose the knowledge of God concerning your request, destroy such argument instantly by responding back with the Word. When "What if" thoughts show up on your mind, reject and take captive of such thoughts by echoing the knowledge of God concerning your requests. As for any mental pictures in your mind contradicting the answer you've received, overturn the pictures by rejecting them outrightly and replace them by vocalizing the dictates of your desired answer.

You must be willing to cast down the imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God regarding your prayer requests, and bring every negative thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. That's another way of saying, "fight the good fight of faith". You must lay hold of the answer to your prayer until you see the manifestation. So you gain possession of it by declaring the words of faith. That's how to exercise your faith to overcome doubt and unbelief, after presenting your requests to God.

Another factor to watch out for is human opinions. They can actually influence or manipulate the results we get after prayer. When the wrong opinion is shared and you allow it to permeate your mind and heart, the problem is that such opinion or perception is never consistent with the reality of God's Word. And sometimes we allow another person's doubtful words or actions to negatively influence our thoughts and mind-generated imagery. When this happens, it drives our mental production into faulty ideas that might actively resist, oppose, or distort the real picture of the answer we've received from God.

Dearly beloved, faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1 NIV). But first of all, this faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17 NKJV). Therefore to maintain and exercise our faith in prayer or concerning any other thing in life, we must deliberately and consciously desire to meditate on the Word until our thought process is firmly governed by it. That's exactly how to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. So the purpose is to establish mental and emotional stability based on the efficacy of the Word as we focus our thinking on divine viewpoint after prayer. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Isaiah 65:24; Matthew 21:22; John 15:7; James 4:3; John 15:16; Hebrews 11:6.

Exuberant Declaration: My faith in Christ is an inherent supernatural virtue deeply rooted in the Word. It is the substance that has a persistent influence in the outcomes of my prayer life. By standing firm on the Word, I always ask in faith, without doubt and God works the wonders needed for the confirmation of the answers in my life through His power. Nothing is too big for my true faith to obtain and its always agreeable to the will of God, which is contained in the Word. Hallelujah!