POWER of Prayer

that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. ~ Philemon 1:6, KJ21

What is the POWER of prayer? The POWER of prayer is FAITH (TRUST) in God, Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God. Furthermore, our Lord teaches us that we must pray in FAITH, and never doubt. When we pray in this kind of FAITH, we then can ask whatever we desire, in Jesus’ name (authority), and not only believe that we will receive it but also we can expect to receive it (cf. Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24; John 14:13-14; John 16:23).

Christ Jesus agrees, because He teaches us that we must:

…Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, ‘Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea,’ and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, what things so ever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. ~ Mark 11:22-24, KJ21

Specifically, this FAITH that the Lord speaks about comes from hearing the Word of God (cf. Romans 10:17). This FAITH also is the measure of FAITH that God gives to us—His Faith, the same measure of FAITH Christ Jesus had.

Having said that, it is important to note here that before we can be sure that we are using the POWER of prayer correctly, we have to understand that this FAITH, which the apostle Paul calls our measure of faith (cf. Romans 12:3) is ENOUGH faith. We also have to agree with apostle Paul, who says in Galatians 2:20 that our measure of faith is the same quantity and quality of FAITH that Christ Jesus had.

Please notice that in the King James Version of Galatians 2:20 Paul says that he lives “…by the faith of the Son of God….” Now, several English language versions translate this portion of this verse as “…by faith in the Son of God….” However, this blogger believes that the King James Version, the 21^st Century King James Version, and the Complete Jewish Bible, just to name a few, translate this verse correctly. That is to say, in the mentioned believed to be correct translations of Galatians 2:20, the apostle Paul is NOT saying that he lives by the faith he has in Christ Jesus, but rather he is saying that he has that same quantity and quality of faith that Christ Jesus had!

The point here is that every one of us who is born again, saved, justified, and who is being sanctified has received the same exact measure of faith. Additionally, the truth is that none of us use ALL the FAITH we’ve been given.

The main reason why we do not use ALL of the FAITH we have been given is because we often think that we don’t have ENOUGH faith to accomplish successfully what God has given to us to do. That is why we often pray to God to give us MORE faith, and why so many spiritual leaders teach that, if God hasn’t blessed us with financial increase, or physical and spiritual healing, or reconciled our marriages, and so forth, then it must be because we don’t have ENOUGH faith!

The Divine Truth is that, if we are not getting the results we KNOW God wants us to receive, then we either are asking for something God already says we have, or we are asking for something that only will satisfy our selfish wants, or we just don’t know what to pray for nor how to pray. Put differently, when we seem to not get what we prayed for, the reasons very well could be because: We should have been praying for the removal of our sensual unbelief instead of praying for MORE faith (cf. Matthew 17:21; Mark 9:29; James 1:6; see also Romans 8:26-27); or we should have been praying to know how and when to release the healing POWER that already is in us instead of asking God for His healing POWER (cf. Romans 8:26-27); or we should have been praying for the removal of our greed, lust, and selfishness instead of praying for MORE money, a bigger house, a more expensive car, etc. (cf. James 4:2b-3; see also Romans 8:26-27); or we should have been letting Christ Jesus, who is making intercession for us, continue to intercede on our behalf and continue to handle the mediation between God and us instead of trying to do His work for Him (cf. 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 8:6; see also Romans 8:26-27); and so forth.

The bottom line is this: If we used ALL of the FAITH God already has given us; that is, if our measure of faith is functional (operating in us 24/7), then our measure of faith will work more for us once we acknowledge EVERY GOOD THING that God already has given us, which includes ALL the FAITH that we need (cf. Philemon 1:6).

For our FAITH to work more for us, we additionally need to understand that the POWER of prayer is also the POWER of God (the POWER of His Holy Spirit). God uses His POWER not only to hear but also to answer our prayers that are in agreement with His Will. That we must pray in harmony with the Will of God is why Christ Jesus tells us that our prayers need to be about us hearing and obeying God’s Will on Earth just like the angels hear and obey His Will in Heaven. Therefore, there are NO “magic formulas” for us to follow that will give us powerful prayers, because God’s answers to our prayers are not based on how eloquently, lengthily, passionately, silently, or loudly we pray, but rather His answers are based on whether or not we willingly have submitted to His Perfect Will and are living/doing/following His Moral Will (cf. Hebrews 12:9; James 4:7a; Luke 22:42; 1 John 2:3; 1 John 3:22; 1 John 5:14).

Christ Jesus agrees that getting God to answer our prayers has more to do with our submission and obedience than it has to do with our eloquence, or long-windedness, or redundancy, etc., for He says:

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him. ~ Matthew 6:7-8, KJ21

 AND

In this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. ~ Matthew 6:9-10, KJ21

In addition to praying according to God’s Will, the apostle Paul makes it very clear that even though the POWER of prayer is also God’s POWER, God only will respond to us “…according to the power that works in us” (cf. Ephesians 3:20). In other words, it is possible that we can hinder how, when, or even if God responds to our prayers, like we know and trust He is capable of doing, if we have NO power in us, or, more important, if we do not believe that the power that is in us is the same Divine POWER that our Lord had.

The Divine Truth is, if the Word of God, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are NOT living on the inside of us, or if they are inside us but, as earlier mentioned, we doubt that they will work for us the way they work for others who have been abundantly blessed, financially prospered, miraculously healed, and so on, then we won’t get the results we want. On the other hand, once we totally are submitting to God’s Will, willingly are being obedient to His commands, and genuinely are acknowledging EVERY GOOD THING that God already has given us (primarily the POWER that works in us), as well as once we are trusting without doubting, believing and expecting to receive, and demonstrating the right motives, we then are ready to speak (pray) in FAITH, releasing the POWER and AUTHORITY that is within us that move God to hear and answer our prayers.

To sum it all up, the POWER of prayer is the FAITH that God gives to us—His Faith, the same measure of FAITH Christ Jesus had. Thus, the FAITH we have in God, in Christ Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, and in the Word of God comes from hearing the Word of God (cf. Romans 10:17). When we pray with the POWER of this FAITH, which would be minus any doubt that comes from sensual unbelief (a trust in our feelings, our emotions, our vision, our hearing, our circumstances and situations, or a trust in the opinions of others), then we will have the kind of FAITH that enables us to believe and receive whatever we ask.

Finally, the POWER of prayer also is the POWER of God—His Holy Spirit’s dunamis (power) and the exousia (authority) in Christ Jesus’ name. It is this POWER and AUTHORITY that God uses when He not only hears but also answers our prayers that are in agreement with His Will. Then too, God reveals His Will to us through His Word and by His Holy Spirit.

Taking into consideration that we are submitting totally to God’s Will, are being willingly obedient to His commands, and genuinely are acknowledging EVERY GOOD THING that God already has given us, we then will know that we are ready to speak (pray) in FAITH, releasing the POWER and AUTHORITY that is within us that move God to hear and answer our prayers. For the record, the mountains that Christ Jesus says we should speak (pray) to MOVE because of our God-given FAITH and God-given POWER and AUTHORITY that flow out of our hearts in word form (prayer). As a result, just as God promises, when we believe and never doubt, and when we have the right motives, then, by the power that works in us, we will receive whatever we say (cf. Mark 11:23; Ephesians 3:20; James 4:3)!