To receive from God we must have faith. To receive healing you must beleive God heals. You must have faith in God. It is the foundation of all prayer. Have faith in God. He rewards those who seek Him! "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly, diligently seek Him." -- Hebrews ll:6
As Jesus promised us, when we ask we will receive, as long as we do our part and ask in faith, believing that God will answer. Look at verse 6 here,and note James is using a command again. “But when he asks, he MUST believe and not doubt.” It is a two part command. First, note the parallel of this verse to a statement of Jesus’ in Matthew 21:21-22: Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, `Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Sound familiar? The book of James tells us similar truths. James was an excellent student of his brother’s teachings wasn’t he? The first command we find is we must believe or have faith. It doesn’t read we should have faith. The word here is pisteou which means “belief and conviction and assurance in,” and it refers to something more than just believing God will give us what we ask for, but also includes a confident, unwavering, and complete trust in God and submission to His will. Notice the connection here with the unwavering nature of God in His desire to give, and the nwavering trust we should have in Him in order to receive.
The true Christian prays with this kind of faith, not just lip service. Merely invoking God’s name doesn’t cut it, there must be faith. God will answer the prayers of Christians who have faith in Him. . Do you want access to all the great gifts God can give, including joy in the midst of trials? Then believe and have complete faith in God. If you don’t want to do that, then don’t waste your breath.
A big key to the prayer of faith is, “You must not doubt.” Not only do you have to be a believing Christian, but you must also not doubt. The word “doubt” or diakrino literally means “a divided calling or judgment.” Yes, you may be a Christian, but don’t expect to receive from God if you doubt. James wants us to have that absolute confidence and absolute faith in God. We cannot be half-mast Christians. Half way leads to nowhere.
James 5"16 states firmly that “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” God listens to His people and answers their prayers, if they are offered with the kind of faith James has mentioned. As an example, James gives us Elijah who, under the direction of God, prayed for no rain, and it didn’t rain. Then he prayed for rain, and the rains came. Prayers offered in faith by God’s children can do wonderful things! Without them we are like the dry land of the desert, parched and dry, thirsting for God.
Be diligent in your prayer life. Keep on praying. In your trouble, pray. In your happiness offer praises and prayers of thanks. In your illness, have others pray with you. Whatever your circumstances, be in prayer for those around you, whether they be your brothers and sisters in Christ, or family and friends who need the Lord. Pray.
Paul’s exhortation from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 serves as a nice summary of James’ exhortations: "Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in things."
Are you a man or woman of prater and faith? Such a man was Edward McKendree Bounds was born in northeastern Missouri on August 15, 1835, served as a confederate chaplain in the civil war and experienced something of the mighty work of God in the ranks of that army. He became a minister and retired at 60 to spend the last nineteen years of his life praying and writing about prayer. He arose at 4 a.m. each day. He completed eight books but only two were published during his lifetime, his most famous, "Power through Prayer" was one of those, published in 1907. Bounds' great insistence is upon the place of man or woman in prayer.
He famously wrote these words, "The trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of man or sink the man in the plan or organisation. God's plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. 'There was a man sent from God whose name was John'...What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organisations, or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Spirit can use - men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men - men of prayer"
Those words are as true today as the day E.M. Bounds wrote them over a century ago. We need men and women of prayer, now, more than ever.
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