Effective prayer depends on faith, especially on a willingness to trust in God's faithfulness to his promises to his people.
Faith is necessary in order to approach God
And without faith it is impossible to please God. For anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Faith is necessary to receive benefits from God
Mark 6:5–6; James 5:16–18 See also Ephesians 3:12; Hebrews 10:22
So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them. And He was amazed at their unbelief. And He went around from village to village, teaching the people.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops.
Faith is necessary for effective prayer
Matthew 21:21–22 parallel Mark 11:22–24James 1:5–8 See also James 5:14–15
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Jesus Christ responded to people's need on the basis of faith
Matthew 9:27–30 See also Matthew 8:5–13 parallel Luke 7:1–10; Matthew 9:20–22 parallels Mark 5:25–34, Luke 8:43–48; Matthew 15:21–28 parallel Mark 7:24–30
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” After Jesus had entered the house, the blind men came to Him. “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” He asked. “Yes, Lord,” they answered. Then He touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you.” And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one finds out about this!”
Examples of notable prayers of faith
1 Kings 18:36–37 Elijah, in contest with the prophets of Baal; James 5:17–18 Elijah, praying about rain; 1 Kings 17:19–22 Elijah and the widow's son; 2 Kings 4:32–35 Elisha and the Shunammite's son
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.