{"id":2430,"date":"2015-09-14T13:52:21","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T17:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=2430"},"modified":"2015-09-14T13:52:21","modified_gmt":"2015-09-14T17:52:21","slug":"a-prayer-for-faith-to-pray-in-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/09\/a-prayer-for-faith-to-pray-in-faith.html","title":{"rendered":"A Prayer for Faith to Pray In Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI believe; help my unbelief!\u201d<\/i> (Mark 9:24)\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

All we need is mustard seed faith. Just a bit is enough to begin. As a cup of water poured down the old well can prime the pump, and set the waters flowing, all you need today is faith to pray for faith to pray. That may be your first ask: \u201cLord, help me ask!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A father with an ailing child once came to Jesus asking for healing. Jesus\u2019 apprentices had failed, but the man wasn\u2019t deterred and asked to speak to the management. Jesus answered him straight, \u201cAnything is possible if a person believes\u2026\u201d<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reading this story I wonder if Jesus\u2019 line \u201cAnything is possible if a person believes\u2026\u201d<\/i> is aimed more at his bumbling followers than to this father. Earlier when Jesus learned that his boys had failed to deliver healing he\u2019d scolded them in frustration, \u201cYou faithless people!\u201d<\/i> (9:19). Clearly, he\u2019d expected more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the poor, frightened, discouraged father, hanging by a thread that can barely be called faith who responds honestly. It\u2019s his first step to victory: admitting he\u2019s struggling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But\u2026 and this is so encouraging to me\u2026 he had enough faith to still be there, to ask one more time after his bitter disappointment. He believes, but he knows himself enough to know he is fragile. So he uses his small faith wisely in a single brilliant prayer: \u201cI have enough belief to ask you to give me enough belief\u2026\u201d He\u2019s like the man granted one wish who wishes for a thousand wishes. The man prays for faith! And he gets both<\/i> miracles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps you identify with this man. As you consider your enterprise, you may see a nagging, dominant problem. You find it hard to believe this can ever change. Admitting that is your start.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Take your shreds of faith and ask for more faith. Then wait. Your soul will begin to register God\u2019s response. Wait some more. <\/i>Paul writes, \u201cFaith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.\u201d<\/i> Find a promise in the Bible and cling to it. Then take your new \u201cslightly stronger\u201d faith and invest it again by asking for more faith still. Get the pattern? Keep investing your returns back into prayers for greater faith \u2013 and in the scripture promises that feed that faith. With each cycle, you are fixing your focus on Jesus, not on the problem, making RELATIONSHIP not result the priority.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, at a point, as you continue to ask for more faith and more of God\u2019s truth, you will in a moment find your faith strong enough to believe for that \u201cimpossible\u201d situation impossible no more!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, say, \u201cLord, I believe; help my unbelief!\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI believe; help my unbelief!\u201d (Mark 9:24)\u00a0 All we need is mustard seed faith. Just a bit is enough to begin. As a cup of water poured down the old well can prime the pump, and set the waters flowing, all you need today is faith to pray for faith to pray. That may be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3],"tags":[787,1361,532,450,1362,1363,1096,1360],"class_list":["post-2430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","tag-belief","tag-dissapointment","tag-encouragement","tag-faith","tag-fragile-faith","tag-help-me-in-my-unbelief","tag-moving-mountains","tag-prayer-of-faith"],"yoast_head":"\nA Prayer for Faith to Pray In Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/09\/a-prayer-for-faith-to-pray-in-faith.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Prayer for Faith to Pray In Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cI believe; help my unbelief!\u201d (Mark 9:24)\u00a0 All we need is mustard seed faith. 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