Unpacking Prayers of Faith - Pastor Steve Schell

This year’s 21 Days of Prayer + Fasting theme is “Prayers of Faith.” What does it mean to have faith while we pray?

The phrase “prayers of faith” can mean many different things to many different people. Is it following the “name it and claim it” philosophy, believing that God will give us whatever we ask if we just have enough faith? Is it only praying “safe” or vague prayers that we fully believe we have the faith to support, and that God will do? What do we do when our prayers seem unanswered?

As we prepare for 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, it’s worth taking a moment to examine the Bible’s teaching on the intersection of faith and prayer, specifically Jesus’ words on the subject.

In John 16:22-24, Jesus teaches us that praying in faith is directly connected to praying in His name, and praying in His name is directly connected to joy. 

TWO SOURCES OF JOY

When Jesus first spoke the words of John 16 to His disciples, they didn’t know it yet, but they were about to go through tremendous hardship. To prepare them for what lay ahead, He gave them two promises that were specifically designed to lift them out of their sorrow.

First, He said: “I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you” (v. 22). That means: “You’ll never be alone. I will always be with you, and someday you’ll see me again, face to face.”

No matter our circumstances, we know and believe in faith that God will make all things right in the end, and we will be with Him. At their most basic, all of our prayers are really just asking God to be who we believe him to be: a God who loves us, who cares for us, and who will restore all things. 

One day, we will see God face to face. Then our prayers will be answered in completeness. In the meantime, we can praise God in faith for what He has done in the past and what He will do, even in the midst of hardship or in the midst of seemingly unanswered prayer.

The second promise Jesus made was this: “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full” (v. 24). In other words: “You’re going to see answers to prayer that are so amazing, you won’t be able to be sad. You’ll be constantly rejoicing in God.”

IN MY NAME

What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name? It means to pray what He tells us to pray. Let’s consider each step:

1. Discover Jesus’ will — Answered prayer starts by asking Jesus to reveal His will in a particular matter. What does He want us to do? What is He going to do? Those are very different questions from what do we think should happen.

2. Ask the Father — Jesus said that because of His cross and resurrection, we can boldly and confidently go straight to the Father with our prayers. If we have discovered what Jesus’ will is and what we should pray, we can be confident that the Father will surely answer us in His own way and in His own time. In fact, Jesus literally assured us that we will always receive an answer when we pray this way.

3. Pray through — Prayer is not usually a simple process in which we merely ask for something and God immediately gives it to us. In practice, there is often a delay (sometimes a very long one) between the prayers we pray and God’s answer. That’s where enduring prayer comes in. We don’t continue praying as a way of pushing God to do something He doesn’t want to do. We keep praying because that’s what faith truly is, continuing to believe even when it’s hard or doesn’t make sense. 

THE JOY OF ANSWERED PRAYER

In John 16, Jesus explained to His disciples the joy they would discover when they learned to pray in His name, to pray in faith. With complete openness, He described the hardships that lay ahead of them, but then quickly assured them that those seasons of hardship would become joyful times. They weren’t going to miserably hang on until it was over. They were going to be filled with joy.

In effect, He said, “Don’t focus on the trials that are coming; look at the promises I’m giving you because these promises will lead you into a wonderful future … full of joy.”

This is what it means to pray in faith. You and I can rejoice right now because He’s given these same promises to us. I can’t wait to see the joy the Lord will bring us through this time of praying in faith together.

Steve Schell, D.Min, is the president of Life Lessons Publishing. He previously served as a Foursquare pastor and Bible teacher for 40 years, including 28 years at Northwest Church in Federal Way, Washington.