One of the most important spiritual truths that I often discuss during my talks and seminars is how to get faith. Who doesn’t want more faith? Who doesn’t want to eliminate apathy and doubt? Here is a seven step process of how to pray with faith.
1. Pray and ask for faith. The purpose of prayer is to unite with the Lord as His children. To communicate in an intimate way and realize how much God loves us. It is important to be honest with God and tell Him what we are feeling, our struggles, pain and suffering. When we ask for something, we should especially ask for spiritual growth.
I often get asked, “How do I get more faith?” Let’s look at Scripture for the answer.
Luke 11:9-13 “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For anyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
How is that possible in relationship to getting more faith? Once again we turn to Scripture and look at the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians,
Galatians 5:22-23 “In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
In other words, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we ask for more faith and we can be assured we will get it!
Faith is a gift that God wants to give us, and we can be 100% assured that when we ask and believe we will receive it.
2. Through prayer expect to receive faith without doubting! Praying for faith is not enough. We see this clearly in James,
James 1:5-8 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.”
When we ask for faith, expect to receive it. Then asking in faith, we receive the wisdom of the Lord. It is important that we learn the critical lesson found in 2 Corinthians,
2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
3. Pray in trust and faith. When we pray in faith everything changes.
Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.”
This is also expressed in 1 John,
1 John 5:14-15 “And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours.”
4. Pray in faith for healing. Faith and healing go hand in hand. When we pray and believe, God works in mighty ways. We see this in the Gospel of Matthew,
Matthew 9:27-30 “And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed [him], crying out, ‘Son of David, have pity on us!’ When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I can do this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘Let it be done for you according to your faith.’”
An example of this occurred when a woman came up to me and asked for prayer for her aunt who was in the hospital and not expected to live. I prayed in faith and believed. Two days later the woman was totally healed and walked out of the hospital.
5. Pray for miracles with faith.
Matthew 17:20 “…if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
My ministry, Spirit Filled Hearts, sponsored a young adult program in a room that held 300 people. It was filled and was an anointed evening. During the evening, the Holy Spirit came upon me and told me to pray over a woman in a wheelchair. I was stunned when I realized that I was to ask her to stand and be healed.
At the end of the evening she was pushed to the front of the stage. I didn’t know her and she didn’t know who I was. I told her that God wanted to heal her and that she was to get out of the wheelchair. She looked at me like I was crazy! It was at that point that I mustarded up the courage and with a loud voice said, “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth stand!” Her arms began shaking, her eyes widened dramatically and she stood! I found out later it was the first time in 16 years. I put my hand on the small of her back that was badly deformed and commanded it to be healed. To my surprise and wonder, the back became straight and normal.
The woman began crying and went to the floor praising God. All the people who were in the hall were singing, “Alleluia! God is good, all the time!”
6. Praying with faith leads us to endurance. I love the story of St. Monica and St. Augustine. For many years, 17 at least, St. Monica prayed in faith that her son would come to the faith. She went to bishops and all the holy people she could find and asked for their prayers and intercession. Finally, not only did it happen but it led her son Augustine to become a great doctor of the Church and a saint himself.
7. Praying with faith, we realize that “all things work for good.”
Romans 8:28 “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
I was senior vice president of a Fortune 25 company. I was successful, but with a change of CEO, I was expendable and fired. While I was upset, I realized that God had a plan. The plan led me to become a deacon and also blessed me financially with a great new job! No one can stop or reduce God’s great love for us.
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
When we pray with faith we connect with the love and power of Jesus Christ!
Deacon Steve Greco writes more about praying with faith in his 2020 book Miracles through Prayer. Visit the store on www.spiritfilledhearts.org to get a copy.
