Cultivating a Life of Prayer
Praying in Faith

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What is faith?

Faith can mean a lot of things. It can mean belief in your own ability to produce in your business, belief in your ability to be productive even in your ministry, or belief in any area of your life that regards your own ability. It can also mean the belief that money is going to solve your problems and bring you happiness, satisfaction or contentment. It can also mean faith in someone else's ability to benefit you in some way.

The Bible’s definition of faith

The Bible’s definition of faith, however, is different. It is “belief in God as revealed by His Word.” This is what distinguishes the faith of Christians from other faiths, religions, cults, philosophies, or ideologies that people may believe in.

The Bible says faith in the Word of God comes one way, and only one way.

Rom. 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

It is, therefore, imperative to get the Word of God rooted and firmly grounded into you for it to become real faith. The Scriptures contains many promises to those who plant the Word of God in his or her life; it will produce the kind of faith that results in receiving the promises of God.

The Word of God is the basis for life

As soon as a person accepts Christ as Savior, he or she needs to make the Word of God the basis for life. It must be the data source for all of life. The ways of the world, including the process of one’s thinking and action, must leave, and the Word of God needs to be exchanged in its place. It is then that the manifestations of a changed life can take place.

If your data source is not based on the Word of God, it has been originated in the mind of man, which is full of error. No matter how loving and sincerely a person may be, whether it is a trusted college professor, parent, respected friend, preacher, pastor or priest, a textbook or philosophy, the human mind is flawed and full or errors.

Your prayer closet

A prayer closet is any place where you can get away with God. It can be a comfortable chair, by the side of the bed, or even a closet. The place is not the important thing. The important thing is that you find a place where your heart and thoughts can be tuned into God without outside distractions. Find a private place with plenty of time in which to pray. Take your Bible with you into your prayer closet. Refer to God’s promises while you pray. Use the Word as a support for your prayers. Prayer and the Word go hand in hand when you bring your requests before God.

Building a prayer life

A solid prayer life is an intricate part of faith. When practiced in faith, one’s prayer life will take a dramatic turn toward thinking like God. True praying begins by the simplicity of prayer and its childlike elements. The aim is not to speak eloquently to God, but simply talking to Him. It is not official or religious, neither is it formal or ceremonial, but heartily seeking God for what is prayed. Prayer is the helpless, needy child crying to the compassion of the Father’s heart, and the fullness and power of the Father’s hand. [1]

As one matures, so should one’s prayer life. That means our lives are being lived out of our prayer closet. As we submit to God’s direction, our lives are lived in holiness and obedience. As we seek His presence, our hearts are yielded to Him, and it is manifested outwardly. Others will see the outward manifestation of the inward yieldedness and relationship we have with the Lord.

Prayer is a force

Prayer, like faith, is a force. Its unlimited possibilities run parallel with the promises of God. It is there for the receiving when put to use. Prayer involves the whole man – spirit, soul, and body. It takes the soul interacting with the human spirit to seek the Holy Spirit within. As your prayer life is developed, it grows from faith into action. Action then becomes a union of the will and intellect, being realized in an intellectual act. Those acts, called spiritual disciplines, are walked out in holiness and obedience.

You will discover that having a consistent prayer life is not for the spiritually slothful. Prayer, consistent prayer, can be hard work. It is a vital ministry for the plan of God to effectively take place on the earth. Heaven and earth can be moved in our prayer closets.

Without faith it is impossible to please God

The Bible says that we cannot even approach God without faith. As a new believer, one of the primary concerns is to please God.

Heb. 11:6a But without faith, it is impossible to please Him.....

We must not only have faith to please Him according to His Word, but believe that our rewards and blessings in this life are a result from seeking Him diligently.

Heb. 11:6b ….for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Faith, rightly understood, is the bridge between the spiritual realm and the earthly physical realm. The world's thought are that if it we can't reach it with our five physical senses (see, hear, feel, taste or touch), then it is not real - it does not exist. We are dealing, however, with faith from the spiritual realm, not the natural. If properly understood, we would know that the spiritual realm is more real than the physical and can lead us to having a victorious life in the physical realm.

Faith is that vehicle that brings spiritual truth into manifestation into the natural physical realm. To receive from God, it comes through the spiritual realm to the physical by faith.

Heb. 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hope is the beginning of a vision

Hope, or vision, is the blueprint for your faith. That is where you begin your faith walk. Hope, however, must originate in the Word of God. When you read a promise in the Bible, (something that you desire in your heart to receive), it enters into your mind for the first time as hope. At this time, it is simply a glimmer of hope. As you continue to build your faith through reading and speaking that promise over and over again, it will grow into a vision. At this point, you now have something to see.

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

If, for example, you have a sickness, and have had it for some time, and you read in the Word or God, or hear a preacher say “by whose (meaning Jesus') stripes ye were healed (1 Pet 2:24),” it originally springs as hope. You may not necessarily believe it because it has not dropped down into your heart as faith as of this point. But you do have hope – a glimmer of hope. Your mind is telling you that “just maybe healing could come to me - I don’t have to have that sickness any longer.” Hope springs alive in your mind. As you keep meditating on that hope, it will, in time, become a vision. You are building substance in the physical realm with the hope that originated in your mind when you first read or heard the promise in the Word of God. You now have something concrete to hang onto. Hope has turned into a vision. This is the basic description of the beginning process of faith.

The process of faith

This process of faith is a spiritual principle that God put within the hearts of all men. It motivates one to bring vision to completion. It works in all areas of life, whether a person is a Christian or not. It is one of those God-given abilities created within man.

Prov 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…

In the business world, progressive business management have been teaching that if you can impart executives and managers with a self-image that is positive, they can come to the place where they believe and see they can be successful. When they do, they will then take the steps to act upon it. The difference is that those in the secular world want people to believe that success comes from their own ability. Our own ability, however, only goes so far. The Bible teaches us to believe in the ability of God, living and working in and around us, is what accomplishes that which needs to be done. There is a world of difference.

Everyone eventually comes to that stark reality in his or her life, either earlier or later, that life is full of situations beyond our control or ability. The sooner we come to the realization that we cannot do things on our own, the sooner we can turn to God for our strength. When we do, we can then realize that within ourselves, we can do nothing, but through Christ we are strengthened and can do all things.

Phil 4: 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

Wrong faith through indoctrination

If God put within the heart of man, of which He did, that faith comes by hearing and hearing, then that same gift of faith can be used to believe in just about anything. Wrong faith can be spread through indoctrination. Truth can be mixed with lies. For instance: If a preacher, who has been indoctrinated through false doctrine over years of instruction, preaches that same doctrine to his or her congregation, the people within the congregation will, over a period of time believe what is preached. They will have heard the same doctrine over and over, believing it to be truth, and in time each will be indoctrinated to the belief system of their pastor. Again, faith comes by hearing and hearing - whether it is positive or negative.

World religions or cults are no different. There may be a certain basis of truth in other religions or cults, and even philosophies of man. But mix truth with lies, hearing it over and over, it will eventually become part of the belief system of the person.

If you think or meditate on something long enough, you will believe it - no matter what

Now take that same principle into other areas of life. If a person has had one failure after another in life, it is a normal thing for that person to begin to see him or herself as a failure, believing he or she will only fail through life. People can believe many wrong or negative things that may or may not be true. By their own belief system and the spoken words of their mouth, they run the risk of calling their belief into being. The reality is a person receives only what they believe.

If that person has not been taught the proper biblical teaching on the promises of God, he or she will travel down the negative road of failure. For every negative word spoken against a person, that person is going to need 25 positive statements to balance out even one negative statement. Those are very high statistics. These horrifying statistics have taught the school systems how to interact with children. These statistics should also warn and teach parents the importance of speaking positive toward their children. Just one statement alone can be so damaging toward a child. It should also be warning that each one of us should be an encourager to one another.

If you have people encouraging you over and over, telling you that you can make it, you will eventually begin to see yourself as making it. You will then act it out and become a successful person. What you believe is critical to your life.

It is really sad, and yet amazing, what some people believe. The devil, or even other people, can bring people to believe wrong or terrible things. For example: If someone has said something hurtful, or even hurt you in some way and you let it stew long enough within you, you can twist your thinking to believe the very worst about that person, whether it is true of false. Things can get blown way out of proportion. Eventually, one starts speaking out those thoughts and ends up acting out those thoughts.

In the extreme, there have been convicted felons who have had thoughts of hate against those who have brought on their convictions. After years of stewing, those thoughts turn to revenge and when released often are acted out in revenge. In turn, the felon believes what he or she did was right. The mind had become so twisted over the years with negative thinking, and they slowly turned into a belief system of a revenge of internal justice.

The real truth – the Word of God

What we believe in must be the real truth. It needs to be the anchor for our life. As properly understood, our belief system must be based on the Word of God. That is the God-kind of faith. The world has a form of godly principles without truthful facts; so furthermore, relying on the world’s system brings beliefs in wrong thinking. It simply comes from the mind of man. Learning and knowing the Word of God, along with the Holy Spirit's revelation within us, is how we find out real truth and develop the God-kind of faith.

Two factors that make up the God-kind of faith

The factor of love:

There are two other factors that must be mixed with faith to make the God-kind of faith work in our lives.

Gal. 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision...but faith working through love.

Faith is made effectual by love. Believing will cause things to come to pass; we are, however, referring to the God-kind of faith which is made effectual by love. God's will, promises and plan for your life will come to pass when you believe; but love must be the motivating factor behind your faith. For instance: We can use our faith to believe for cadillacs, condominiums, or large sums of money to horde up for ourselves. You can then say, "I am a successful faith person, because look at what I have believed for." God wants us to prosper – yes - but not to horde it up on ourselves. This kind of thinking may not be necessarily effectual for God's plan for our life.

It’s important to know that God is not against having good things. On the contrary, he wants us to be blessed – to be a blessing to others. If our thoughts can be focused on why we want those things, it can be put in a better perspective. Motive is the key. Our thinking cannot be focused inward, but outward.

Love is what makes our faith effectual for what God wants to do, because then we are using our faith for things that will bless other people. Love is an ingredient that our faith must have. It must be focused outward – not inward. It needs to be giving out to bless others. The ingredient of love brings us to what we believe, and receive from God, we then have the desire to share. We give out to others.

Your motivation in believing God must not be turned inward - it must be turned outward.

• You need to have your needs met so you can be a light to the world.
• You need to have an abundance so you can give to others.
• You need to be freed from any sickness, bondage of depression or oppression so you can minister life to others.

The factor of patience

The second element that must be mixed with faith is patience.

Heb. 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

If you are going to inherit the promises of God, patience must accompany your faith. The Greek meaning for "patience" is the ability to remain constant and unchanging. It means that regardless of the circumstances or external pressures, you remain the same; you do not change, you remain constant. Patience must be in place for your faith to produce. This is of vital importance, because as soon as you make a stand in faith, you are trusting that God will provide.

Satan may try to come to destroy your shield of faith. You need to understand that you should not expect an attack from Satan, for then you would be in faith of the devil’s ability to try to harm you. Instead, your faith in God’s ability needs to be so strong that if Satan would come at you with circumstances, symptoms, and fiery trials before you reap the harvest of your promise, he would be defeated. If you use the words of your mouth negatively - in other words you start agreeing with your circumstances or symptoms - and you start saying that you don't know how much longer you can handle this sickness or trial, then the devil has just applied more pressure to your faith. It is just a matter of time when you faith will be destroyed, and the devil has defeated you. Remember, the devil wants to destroy your faith in God. His job is to rob, kill and destroy you. But the Lord is stronger than him. Have faith in God - not the devil. Patience is that ingredient which keeps you from responding to that pressure. Patience is that element which causes you to remain unchanging in the face of any symptom, circumstance or fiery trial, so you do not become discouraged and faint before you receive your harvest.

The only Christians who don't harvest their seed they have planted are the ones who quit

Patience is the element that must accompany your faith if you are to reap the promises of God.  So the God-like faith works by love and patience.

A good example of faith can be found in Joshua. Let's look at the Scriptures of an example of faith by looking at someone who received the promises from God. God spoke to Joshua, who was Moses' right-hand man. Moses had died, and Joshua was now in command.

Josh 1:2-5 Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them; the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.

God told Joshua what belonged to him. It was his through the seed of Abraham. He wanted to claim his inheritance. The Scriptures also tell us that, as Christians, we are the seed of Abraham, and should claim our inheritance as well.

Gal. 3:29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.

We can learn how faith operates by reading in Joshua 1:8. God is telling Joshua how to be successful in receiving those promises.

Josh 1:8 This book of the law ...(meaning the first five books of the Old Testament – originally known as the Book of Moses) shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

We receive our promises, just as we saw in the Book of Hebrews - by faith. These verses regarding Joshua succeeding and receiving his promises are simply a description of the operation of faith.

Meditation, confession and action

There are three words we need to underline in Joshua 1:8 Meditate, mouth and do - which is meditation, confession, and action.

These are the three principle elements of faith in operation:

Meditation

The first element of faith in operation

Meditation on the Word of God: The first element of faith in operation.

God taught Joshua how to treat His Word… but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.

We also see in Psalm that this man is going to be blessed – someone whose delight is in the Word of God and who meditates on it day and night.

Psm 1:13 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Whatever you receive from God is by faith. Prosperity in any form comes to you through faith - little by little over a period of time. The person who will meditate day and night in the Word of God will be in faith; therefore, he will prosper.

What is meditation

The Hebrew word for "meditate" literally means to mutter and murmur - so it bears a direct relationship to confession. As you think about something, you are muttering over and over to yourself. In other words, you are confessing it to yourself.

The Hebrew word for meditate also means to imagine. To image means to mentally picture within you what you are imaging. When you meditate on the Word of God, you find a promise in the Word that you need, and you mentally imagine yourself walking in that promise. If you need healing, then you see yourself healed. See yourself doing what you could do when you are healed. Take a promise from the Word of God that you need and build those desired mental images of yourself in healed circumstance.

If you need prosperity, you need to build a mental image that far outweighs what you may be experiencing at the present time. For instance: You need to build a mental image of yourself that is more real than what you are experiencing now - of prosperity, of the windows of heaven being opened in your life.

Mentally imagining having enough money to pay all of your bills, paying your 10% tithe, giving 10% more in an offering and still be able to buy a new refrigerator or automobile. Mentally imaging seeing yourself prosper. Mentally imagine yourself prospering until that image is more real to you than the circumstances you are experiencing. That's meditation.

You need to let such thoughts consume you on a regular basis. However, don't stop meditating when that first manifestation comes and then quit. If you do, the devil will come in and steal what you have just won through the operation of your faith. That is why the Word says to meditate on the Word day and night. The Word of God should consume your thoughts. You should see to it that it is the dominant source of data or material that you think on during the course of the day.

As the Word of God dominates your thought process - .as you mentally image yourself being a fulfillment of what the Word says you are, those images will drop into your heart. You will be in faith and your promise will come to pass.

Confession

The second element of faith in operation

Confession

The second element of faith in operation is confession

Josh 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth…

Confession, the second element of faith in operation, is so important and yet so misunderstood by many in the body of Christ. It is important that you confess with your mouth what is in your heart. According to the above scripture passage, what you speak from your mouth must not leave your heart. In other words, you cannot speak and then forget about it - you need to keep it within your heart continually. We are to confess the promises of God, meditate on the promises of God, and then speak it out of our mouths. What we think and speak comes out of our heart, and what is in our heart is what we think upon and speak.

Prov 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Other verses that speak of the importance of confession:

Mat 12:34 ....for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Mark 11:23 "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

Action

The third element of faith in operation

Acting on the Word: Being a doer of the Word is the third element of faith in operation.

God said to Joshua - …that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.

You must act on the Word of God.

James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

One of the common misconceptions of the new believer is that they hear one or two scriptures and then go off on a tangent without realizing what the Word is saying in its context.

For example: Someone may hear - the just shall live by faith.

Then they take that scripture and combine it with the fact that it is not by works that you are saved. Then they conclude that faith means you don't need to work and speak it out. They may even do presumptious things, such as - I'll quit my job and live by faith. Unfortunately, this too often happens. What they have done is ignored other scriptures that would violate or cause confusion to what was read. All scripture must correspond to other scriptures. In another scripture, it states that faith without works is dead.

James 2:20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

Another verse.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

There is a definite link between the heart and the mouth.

Matt. 12:34....For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

How to be in faith

The thrust of this teaching is to show you how to believe - how to be in faith. Confession is such a vital part of it developing faith. Many Christians have said, “I would like to believe that, but my mind is filled with doubts." It is vital that you eliminate words from your vocabulary that are based on how you feel or what you see. In its place, you need to begin to put the Word of God in your mouth concerning your situation. As you keep confessing it, it will eventually become a heart belief. When you hear or read the Word of God, you speak what you heard. You then meditate on what you spoke and heard - then you speak again what you hear. It becomes a revolving growth in your faith. At some point, the very words that you have read or heard been confessing will drop down into your heart. When it does, you are then in faith.

Rom. 10:17 Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

You may begin by confessing the Word of God simply as a mental thing, knowing you are not in real faith. The good news is that if you will continue reading, hearing, and confessing God’s promises, they will eventually drop into your heart. You cannot continually confess the Word of God without it getting down into your heart. It has to drop into your heart as you continually confess it. God designed you that way. For instance: The Scriptures say that by Jesus' strips you were healed. Those words will form images within you. Then as you continue confessing those words over and over again, those images eventually become the belief you have in your heart. When those words become belief, then it becomes the abundance of your heart, and then you receive.

How do you practically build up your faith?

There are many different ways. But in all way, examine everything by the Word of God. Let the Spirit of God in you, aligning up with the Word of God be your guide. Test everything with the Word of God.

• You can read and meditate on the Word of God (the best)
• You can sit under good anointing preaching that supports the Word of God
• You can sit and learn in a Bible class
• You can listen to good faith tapes that support the Word of God
• You can read a good anointed book that supports the Word of God

Put the Word of God in your mouth. Speak it over and over. You will receive far faster and easier when you speak God’s promises .right from your mouth. As you confess the Word of God, you are hearing it, and the Bible says that faith is coming. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. As you hear the confessions you are speaking, mental images are being formed on the inside of you, and at some point that is going to be what you see - that image that was formed down on the inside of you. That image - then will become your standard of truth. Then you will believe, and it will be in your heart.

Every single person has challenges in life – even Christians. Your challenge could be in your family, sickness in your body, your job, relationships or finances. We all need to live and walk, standing in faith for something. When attacks come, and they will, please remember that the devil is simply doing his job – to rob, kill and destroy. As long as we live, we will have challenges. But it is important to remember that Jesus said, “I have come to give you life, and give it more abundantly.”

John 10: 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

You can overcome every single challenge of the devil. Don't let the devil destroy something precious to you.

We are made in the image and likeness of God

We are made in the image and likeness of God, so you need to emulate God.

Rom 4:17 (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed; God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

God would not tell us to confess His Word unless He had already confessed His own Words. God says in the above Scripture that He calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

God spoke and this world was called things into being. In the beginning in the book of Genesis 1, God said:

Gen. 1:3 God said	Gen. 1:9 God said	Gen. 1:20 God said
Gen. 1:5 God called	Gen. 1:10 God called	Gen. 1:24 God said
Gen. 1:6 God said	Gen. 1:11 God said	Gen. 1:26 God said...Let us make man in our own image....Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth, subdue it, have dominion over everything .
Gen. 1:8 God called	Gen. 1:14 God said
Gen. 1:31 God saw everything he had made and indeed...it was good.

God saw, He spoke, and then His words were manifested into being. It is God who gives life to the dead and speaks of the non-existent things that He has foretold and promised as if they already existed.

Calling things into being

We are made in the image and likeness of God and so we should emulate Him. We need to confess God's Word in the areas of our lives in which we are either struggling or we fall short of God’s best. It is not a denial of the present reality – that would be foolish. Instead, we are calling into being what the Word of God says. It may be for healing, prosperity, deliverance, mending of relationships or a myriad of other things. Keeping in mind that God called things into being, as He asks us to do the same, we can speak those things that "be not as though they were," but how they should be. At that, we are lining up our situation with the promises of God.

As we put the Word of God in our thoughts and mouth, it will become a reality. Faith speaks those things, not as though they were, but as we desire them to be, in accordance with the Word of God. When we do, we are calling things into being.

Faith is you making your life conform to the Word of God

Faith is not something waiting to happen. Faith is YOU making your life conform to the Word of God.

James 2:20-22 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

If you can't act on what you say - if you can't put into action what you are imaging and talking, then you are not in faith. If you are just a hearer and not a doer, it says here that you are deceiving your own self.

James 1:22-25 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Meditation, confession, and action

One of the things that meditation, confession, and acting on the Word have in common is they will get the Word of God from your head to your heart. When you put all three elements of these together, you will then be operating in the God-kind of faith. The images you put on the inside of you start to line up with your own experiences, thoughts, speech, and actions.

You will then be walking out God's will for you. You will then have pulled God's promise from the realm of the spirit into the realm of the natural. You will have literally called those things that did not exist and called them into being.

End Notes

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[1] Bounds, E.M. E.M. Bounds on Prayer. Whitaker House. New Kensington, PA. 1997