30 Day Course on Faith - Day 10

Faith and Prayer

Continuing the story about the father who brings his son to Jesus to be healed and asks Jesus to help his unbelief, after Jesus heals the young man his disciples ask him why they were not able to cast out the evil spirit.  Jesus responds:

“This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.”  ~Mark 9:29

Today we are going to talk about how prayer helps increase our faith, and tomorrow we will talk about fasting.

What does it mean to pray with faith?  A faithful prayer is so much more than a recitation.  It is a two-way communication with God.  We do more than recite all of our needs, we take time to listen and feel any inspiration or promptings we may receive.  At first, it may feel awkward and it may feel like nothing is happening – but with practice, every one of us can tune into the inspiration that comes through prayer!

“The trouble with most of our prayers is that we give them as if we were picking up the telephone and ordering groceries – we place our order and hang up.  We need to meditate, contemplate, think of what we are praying about and for and then speak to the Lord as one man speaketh to another.” ~Gordon B. Hinckley

To pray with faith also means to pray with real intent.  I always thought I was praying with real intent because I really wanted what I was asking for.  I thought that if I dug down deep enough, and pled hard enough, then I was praying with real intent.  In my studies, I learned that “praying with real intent” meant that I was praying with the intention that I would do whatever I felt prompted to do as a result of the prayer.  That changed the whole meaning of praying with real intent for me!

Am I committed to doing whatever God asks me to do to accomplish this?

If you can answer “yes” to the question above, then you are ready to pray with real intent.  If the answer is “no,” then you either don’t really want it as much as you thought or you will need to get to work and increase your faith so you can pray with faith for what you seek!

Another important thing to remember about prayer is to pray without ceasing.  The Bible tells us “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Wallace D. Wattles elaborated a little on this:

“Oral prayer is well enough, and has its effect, especially upon yourself, in clarifying your vision and strengthening your faith; but it is not your oral petitions which get you what you want. In order to get rich you do not need a “sweet hour of prayer”; you need to “pray without ceasing.” And by prayer I mean holding steadily to your vision, with the purpose to cause its creation into solid form, and the faith that you are doing so.”

I have found through my personal experience that when I am really clear about what I am asking God for, and when I am really clear about what I am willing to do to accomplish what I am seeking, and I hold that prayer continuously, I am putting myself in a situation to more easily receive inspiration and guidance.  Doors open for me and miracles happen!

Here is an experiment you can try:  Before you go to bed, say a prayer.  Talk to God.  Tell him your worries, your concerns, your frustrations, and ask Him for His guidance.   Go to bed trusting that the answers will come.  (Doing this right before bed allows our subconscious mind to process all that we talked to God about while we sleep.)  As you wake up in the morning, say a prayer of thanks for all that God has given you – be sure to thank Him for all His guidance.  Starting your day with gratitude in your heart will open the way to receive His answers.  Write down any thoughts that come to you – even if they don’t make complete sense to you at the time.

Daily Challenge: Every day for 30 days in a row, I want you to say the following out loud at least 10 times each day!!!  Be sure to say it cheerfully and enthusiastically!  This scripture is found in Philippians 4:13:

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” 

You've now completed this challenge ten days in a row! 
Be sure to congratulate yourself for a job well done!