Praying in Faith

Mar. 7, 2018 | By Creflo Dollar

Everyone needs help from time to time, and when we get caught in a situation that’s too much for us to handle alone, we need someone on whom we can rely. The natural response is to go to family and friends, but people have their human limitations. Putting faith in another person to pull us out of a difficult situation can be hit-or-miss, but putting faith in God to deliver us from trouble gets results. Going to Him in prayer is a powerful statement of our trust in Him.

Often, prayer is our last resort when it should be the first thing we do. It’s not God’s will for us to struggle with problems by ourselves, but He’ll always give us the choice of whether to accept His help. Believing that He’s always willing and able to steer us clear of trouble, or rescue us when we’re in the midst of it, allows Him to step in and intervene. “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their distress  and  troubles” (Psalm 34:17, AMPC ). God considers us righteous when we trust Him.

Our prayers take on power when we begin them by thanking God for what He’s already done in our lives and praising Him for who He is. When we make requests of Him, He already knows what we need, but He still loves hearing from us in the same way a father loves hearing from his children. When we pray, doing so in faith makes our prayers effective. “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:22).

We may wonder at the time if our prayers make any difference at all, especially if nothing changes at first. This is where our faith comes into play. Faith is being consistently, constantly the same in all circumstances, regardless of what’s happening around us. Praying in faith and in agreement with God’s Word does make a difference. “…The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16, NIV ).

There are times when we feel led to pray but we don’t know what to say. True prayer goes beyond mere words, and it comes from the heart. In situations when we sense our spirit needing and wanting to pray but the words just aren’t there, we can rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us in the perfect prayer. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4, NKJV ). Praying in tongues is a grace gift from God, and it’s just as powerful today as when it was given to the believers during the first Pentecost.

Praying in the Holy Spirit frees us from having to understand with our minds. “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful” (1 Corinthians 14:14). We are spirit beings living in physical bodies with limited understanding; when we come to the end of our finite human comprehension, this type of prayer moves our spirits into alignment with God’s Spirit. Connecting with Him allows us to receive unlimited wisdom from Him that we could never discern on our own. There will always be times when we have more questions than answers, but we know who to go to for those answers.

Praying in Faith

By Creflo Dollar

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