Pray with faith….

“You must have faith as you ask Him. You must not doubt.   Anyone who doubts is like a wave which is pushed around by the sea.  Such a man will get nothing from the Lord”.   James 1:6-7  NLV

We must have faith in God and if we are faithful and obedient to Him then He will hear and answer our prayers, otherwise we will receive nothing.

Jesus said in 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.”   So we must have faith if we expect God to answer our prayers.

Since Jesus is our advocate with God, He says in John 14:13, “….whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”   Our requests to God must be in the name of or by the authority of Jesus.

Another requirement of God answering our prayers is we must be forgiving of others.  Jesus also, said in Mark 11:25-26, “…..whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.   But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”  

How important it is to be forgiving of others?  

Could the Lord be any clearer as to what will happen to us if we are not forgiving?

The Lord will not forgive us and we will be eternally lost.   According to Isaiah 59:2, it is our sins that “separate us” form God so we cannot go to heaven.   We must develop a forgiving attitude toward all people so that God will be forgiving of us so we can go to heaven.

How we treat others can also affect the way God hears our prayers.   In I Peter 3:7 we read, “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prays may NOT be hindered.”   Our prayers can be hindered by the way we treat our family, relatives, friends, acquaintances, or strangers.