Building Your Prayer LifeSample

Lesson Three:  The Dimensions to Follow - Dimension No. 3, Praying in Faith

If praying in Jesus’ name is the width, and praying according to God’ will is the length of the floor area, praying in faith would be likened to the height of our prayer life. The wonderful thing about it is that we can build as high as our faith will take us, assuming that we are also complying with the first two dimensions. Jesus said, “Be it done to you according to your faith.” (Matthew 9:29) The issue is not how big one’s faith is over a particular request we are praying for; rather, it is how big a request our faith allows us to ask from God.

Romans 10:17 suggests a basic principle concerning faith. It comes from hearing the Word of Christ. This brings us back to the importance of studying the Word of God. Great men of prayer in history were great lovers of the Word. George Mueller, the famous man of faith, testified: “It has been my habit to read the Bible through four times a year; in a prayerful spirit . . .”

C. H. Spurgeon, known as the Prince of Preachers in the 19th c. was a serious student of God’s Word. He also led his church personally in extensive times of united prayer, and he said: “If a church does not pray, it is dead.” The fact that faith naturally grows as one’s knowledge of God increases, true knowledge of God is thus appropriately regarded as the proper foundation for the prayer life.

Three Principles to Remember in Praying in Faith

A. Recognize that faithlessness is sin. (Hebrews 11:6)

It is very important that we do not rationalize our unbelief. Instead, we confess it as displeasing to God, and ask Him to help us believe. (Read Mark 9:23,24.)

B. Exercise whatever "size" of faith – big or small – you have. (Luke 17:5,6)

Many Christians worry about how much faith they have – whether it is enough or not, our second principle teaches us that what really matters is that we exercise our faith regardless of its size. Great faith always starts from little faith. And what matters is not the size of our faith; rather, it is the greatness of God’s faithfulness and power.

C. Visualize your position and privileges in Christ (Ephesians 2:5,6 and Matthew 7:7-11)

Unless a believer has a clear vision of his exalted position and special privileges as a child of God, he cannot be confident in asking anything from God. He will be living needlessly in spiritual poverty because he is ignorant of his rich heritage in Christ. Meditating on what the Word of God tells us about our spiritual heritage and exercising simple faith in claiming our present `inheritance’ are necessary. Our vision of who we are and what we have in Christ is affirmed even more as we experience God’s movement in and through our lives. For example, George Mueller was spurred on to his journey of faith after he personally experienced God’s specific answer to his prayer. Like a child, He asked God to provide for His tuition and boarding fees when, on his senior year at the university, his father decided to cut off his allowance. His father didn’t like his idea of becoming a missionary. However, this gave Mueller the opportunity to prove God’s faithfulness, and henceforth, he depended on it for the rest if his life and service.

Memory Verse 3C: Matthew 21:22

“And the things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.”