Ingredients of Effective Prayer (5)

This is the ninth post in a series on Praying Effectively. We talked about what effective prayers are and in the most recent post we learned that effective prayer is always directed by the will of God . If you are just joining me, please see the end for a special note before continuing!


(5). Faith in God is an essential ingredient of effective prayer

• Confidence in the ability of God is critical.

Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Matthew 19:26
But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Jeremiah 32:17
‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

Matthew 21:22
And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Mark 11:24
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us

• It is the recognition and committal of ourselves and all matters to the faithfulness and ability of God.

Romans 4:20, 21
He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

1 John 5:15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

• There can be no wavering.

James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

• We are to have faith in God, not faith in faith.

Mark 11:22
So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.

[This is the ninth post in a series on the subject of prayer. Last week we discussed how an effective prayer always has the objective of yielding to and asking that God's will be done, in any matter.  These posts are interspersed among other blog topics so for the easy identification of related posts, look for the label 'praying effectively - series' in the sidebar. If you are just now joining in I recommend that you read the first post where I shared my reason for doing this series. I hope to share practical keys and insight into praying effectively, in bite-size blog posts which you can easily follow.]