There is an old hymn that asks the question, “Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray?” The better question would be, “When you left your room this morning, did you think when you prayed?” If you’re like me, so many times I get on my knees and quickly talk to God as if He were a merchant with a list of wares to sell and give away. “I need that. I don’t want that. Please give me this.” I don’t mean to do that; I’m just busy. You know how it is. I always have a to-do list longer than the day is to complete it. If I really stopped and thought about the price of things, I might be a little more selective in my requests to the Merchant of the Universe, and I might be more selective in what I ask for. What is His price, and what does He have to offer? The simple answer: Faith in Jesus Christ is the price, and everything wise and wonderful is His offering.
I was taught that faith is a principle of power. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God” (Hebrews 11:3 KJV). In other words, faith is the power behind the rising sun and the turning planets. It is the manager of the times and seasons, and the rise and fall of the tide. It is the force behind the wind and the rain and the power of a seed breaking through the earth reaching for the sun. In short, faith is the power that God used to create His universe and still uses to keep it moving and growing. Furthermore, faith is the power that God expects us to exercise in order to influence the course of events in our lives. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 KJV).
What is this wonderful power of faith, and how do we acquire it? Paul said, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 KJV). If faith is substance, it must be, at some level, tangible or recognizable. Since it is the evidence of something you can’t see, there must still be a way for faith to manifest itself to our senses. There must be a feeling, an assurance or something that signals to our spirit that we are exercising faith and that it is working for us.
Abraham had the assurance as he walked up the mountain with his son Issac to make his ultimate sacrifice that the Lord would provide. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had the same faith when they walked into the fiery furnace. They didn't know the outcome, but they had an assurance that it would turn out right. Esther entered the king’s presence with that same faith. She didn't know the outcome, but she trusted with great faith that the Lord would make it right.
You don’t get that kind of faith from a shopping-list prayer. That kind of faith comes from a daily-communion, relationship-building prayer.
In James 1:5-8 KJV we read: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
According to this scripture, faith and doubt cannot coexist. It has to be one focus, either faith or doubt. Double mindedness brings instability, and faith is lost. Faith does not waver. How can faith waver? By our thoughts. We cannot entertain two opposite thoughts. We can’t pretend to pray with faith for something we need and desire, then say in our minds, “Well, it probably won’t happen.” Faith is a white-hot focus, not a wish that is cast aside when adversity sets in.
Of course, faith and truth go hand in hand. You can’t hold a white-hot focus on something that is against nature and have it come to pass. You can’t have faith that if you plant carrot seeds, gold will grow from the seeds. That is against natural laws. You can focus all you want that the dirt will turn to water, but that is not going to happen, unless God wants it to happen.
If used the right way, faith coupled with prayer is a powerful thing: “Jesus answered and said … If ye have faith, and doubt not, … if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:21-22 KJV).
How do we harness the power of faith? We must take control of our self-talk or the things we allow to play on the stage of our minds. Shakespeare said, “All the world's a stage.” I would add, “The mind of man is a stage where thoughts as actors, invited or uninvited, come to play upon the stage. We are the playwright and director. We choose the set, the sound, the lighting and the actors who will perform on the stage.” We can entertain thoughts of doubt and fear, or we can send them packing by rewriting the script.
Napoleon Hill said: “Remember, the thoughts that you think and the statements you make regarding yourself determine your mental attitude. If you have a worthwhile objective, find the one reason why you can achieve it rather than hundreds of reasons why you can't.”
Hill tapped into the tools that make faith accessible to all of us. The thoughts we think and the words we say are the substance and evidence of things not seen that Paul was speaking of. We show our faith by a white-hot positive focus on our desires and goals. We use our creative-thinking time to create all the reasons why our desires and goals should be met. We don’t spend time improvising scenarios of how things couldn’t possibly turn out the way we desire. We show our faith by kicking doubts from the stage of our minds.
So often, we just allow our minds to wander through the day in a stream of consciousness. We are distracted by the sound of a passing car. We are pulled off track by a phone call. We get trapped for hours mindlessly clicking through the images on Facebook and Pinterest. Our minds are being trained to think in twitters and tweets rather than monologs of faith.
When we pray, do we really think about what we are saying? Do we really consider who we are talking to? This is the God who created the universe. This is the God who parted the Red Sea. He fed the 5,000 with a few loaves and fish. He calmed the waves on the sea and brought back Lazarus from the grave. He notices the flight and fall of every sparrow, and we hand Him a shopping list of I wants, then we don’t even take time to remember and ponder on what we ask for.
Prayer can be powerful thinking time, a sorting-out time, a time to find the reasons why our requests are valid and need to be met. It is time to discern His will for us and to align our will with His. He knows the end from the beginning. His perspective could be a great blessing.
Expressing gratitude for blessings is not so much for God’s sake as for our own. As we take time to say, “Thank you,” we realize that those blessings were indeed tender mercies and gifts from an all- mighty Creator and that He has taken time to touch us, this tiny speck in His universe.
Paul’s advice has merit: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:19-20 KJV).
What a difference it would make in our ability to exercise faith.
