Have Faith in God

In Mk 11:22-24, in the context of teaching his disciples the importance of believing that they would receive the things they pray for, Jesus told them to have faith in God.

A great example of a man praying with this kind of faith in God is found in 2 Chr 20.  The man was Jehoshaphat and the occasion was his prayer asking God to intervene against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir.  They had come against Jehoshaphat to battle.

We can discern from his prayer those things he acknowledged that will help us to have faith in God when we pray.  His faith was strengthened by:

God’s sovereign power, v.6.  Art not thou God in heaven? Yes. Rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? Yes.  And in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Yes.

When we pray, we want to remember God’s sovereign power and authority over the matters about which we’re praying.  If answering our prayer is not his to do, then don’t bother him with it.  But if it is, then strengthen your faith by recognizing that he is the right one to ask and he has the power to make it happen.

God’s peculiar relationship, v.6-7.  You are God of our fathers, our God, and Abraham’s friend.  We are thy people Israel.  You don’t have this kind of relationship with these enemies of ours.

We are God’s children.  And he is our Father.  We come to him through his own precious Son whom he loves.  He is the one who initiated, desired, and provided for our personal relationship with him.  We didn’t have this relationship before we were saved.  But we do now.  And we can count on God our Father to hear the prayers of his children.

God’s prior accomplishments, v.7.  You drove out the inhabitants of this land and gave it to the seed of Abraham.  And you gave it to his seed for ever.

Consider all that God has already done in your life.  How many times and in how many ways has God already intervened.  The history of all of God’s accomplishments helps us to have faith in God that he will continue to do great things on our behalf.

God’s confirmed promises, v.8-9.  When Solomon dedicated the temple, he prayed for seven very specific things and God confirmed that he would do them.  One was that he would hear and help when evil came upon them in the form of a sword, for example, if they cried unto God in their affliction.

He knew what Solomon had prayed and what God said he would do.  And so he held God to his word.

You should know God’s word well enough to count on his word.  For example, consider Matt 18:19-20.  How encouraging this promise is and how it prompts us to pray with others.

God’s customary response, v.10-13.  We have no might against this great company.  In fact, he had the largest army of any king before him.  He had 1,160,000 soldiers, 2 Chr 17:14-19.  But he counted them nothing by comparison to the greatness of God.

He confessed in his prayer, “Neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee”.  He approached the Lord in great humility.

They stood there with their little ones, their wives, and their children.  This demonstrated their total dependence upon God.  This wasn’t a refusal to fight.  This was recognizing certain defeat without God.

We are instructed to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.  And yet we are instructed to come boldly unto the throne of grace.  You can see throughout the Bible how God responds to people who come first to him in humility.  He has pity and answers them.

Conclusion: When you come up against something so hard that you think about quitting, pray like this and you will get through, victoriously.  Have faith in God.