The Prayer Of Faith

By Daniel Owusu Yeboah

In my years in the Prayer Ministry, I have come to discover that there are many diverse views of prayer, apprehensions, misunderstanding, misuse of prayer for financial gain through the exploitation of seekers of help. Thus, in many instances, the object of prayer, praying to God, has shifted from God to faith in men who promote prayer through Wealth and Healing Ministries. These men promote prayer, by manipulating their followers' minds, as the only power to gain wealth and healing while acting as their intermediaries between them and God to receive answers to their prayers. Their goal, however, is to make money on the backs of their followers who are manipulated to believe in the so-called miracles they perform for them. The power and true benefits are now shifting to false miracle-working prayers. Of course there is a place fro and power in intercessory prayer, no one should be made to believe that there are some special people who alone who can, and must pray to God to experience his blessing. The single most important requirement of prayer is faith in God. When personal faith in God is absent, prayer dies and the experience of the power and blessings from prayer are lost. Faith, however, may not necessarily translate into victory in every circumstance. what acts of faith do guarantee is that we will please God and eventually be rewarded by him. The purpose of this book, The Prayer of Faith (Praying with Hope), is to help everyone who prays to understand that prayer is first, building a relationship with God, through Jesus and not just to receive or see miracles. It explains that anyone who exercised faith in Jesus can literally move the "mountains" in their lives, if they prayed and prayed the right way. Faith treats things hoped for as a reality, with a conviction that what is being asked for, has a real answer. Faith is, therefore, mandatory for those who approach God. Faith is never easy, it wasn't meant to be so. But the more convinced we are of the reality of an all-good, all-loving, all-powerful God, the more our trust will grow, and the least we will be overwhelmed by doubts and temptations. How strong is your faith? As thou has believed, so be it done unto thee. Discover the secret, the power and joy of praying by faith to move your mountains as you read on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781641918053

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The Prayer Of Faith

Daniel Owusu Yeboah

Copyright © 2018 by Daniel Owusu Yeboah

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Dedicated to my grandchildren

Preface

In my years in the prayer ministry, I have come to discover that there are many apprehensions, misunderstanding, misuse of prayer, and even the use of prayer for the purpose of exploitation. Thus, the object of prayer, praying to God, has shifted to faith in men. These men have created so-called prayer, faith, and healing ministries investing power which they do not have in themselves, making their followers believe that they and they only can pray to God and receive answers. The focus is miracle—miracle in rallies but performed by them only. We are now seeing or hearing more and more the gospel of miracles than the gospel of salvation. Because of Jesus, we all have access to God through prayer, and no one should be made to think that there are special people who alone can pray to God. Of course, there is a place for intercessory prayer, but that doesn’t take the privilege of prayer from anyone. The primary purpose of this book, The Prayer of Faith: Praying with Hope , is to help everyone that prays to understand that prayer is first building a relationship with our heavenly Father through Jesus and not just to receive or see miracles. It also makes it clear that anyone who exercised faith in Jesus can literally move the mountains in their lives if they prayed and prayed well. The book’s audience is, therefore, to every disciple of Christ who seeks to build a relationship with Him through prayer.

The single most important requirement of prayer is faith. It is doubtless that preserving prayer is the secret of keeping up faith. When faith fails, prayer dies. In order that our faith fails not, we must pray. Faith pours forth prayer, and the pouring forth of the heart in prayer gives steadfastness to faith. Faith is no guarantee of earthly success, though faith has won great victories. Having steadfast faith in God does not guarantee a happy, carefree life. What acts of faith do guarantee is that we will please God and eventually be rewarded by Him. Believers living by faith can rest confidently that God’s promises will be fulfilled, that their fulfillment is in fact a reality in their lives before it becomes manifest to the believers’ senses. Faith treats things hoped for as a reality with a conviction that what is unseen is real. When we study the lives of men and women in Hebrews 11 worthy of recognition as heroes of faith, the Holy Spirit tells us the secret of each life is faith and the reliance upon a faithful God. These men and women obtained testimony—that is God’s approval. God considered them righteous because of their faith. Yet many of them lived and died without seeing the fruit of their faith on earth but still continued to believe.

True faith helps us see beyond the grave. We too can experience victory through Christ. Even though this body deteriorates and dies, we will live forever because of Christ. In the promised resurrection, death will be defeated. We may never see the purpose of our suffering, but we know by faith that God will keep His promises. He promised never to leave us (Isaiah 43:1–3). Remember the Lord’s protection of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the fiery furnace and Daniel in the lions’ den all because of their expressed faith in their God. While these faithful men knew that God could deliver them, they were also aware that God may have chosen not to do so. But if not, be it known to thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou has set up (Daniel 3:18). Faith in God may not translate into victory in every circumstance. To these men, the outcome was irrelevant, for what was at stake was not God’s ability or their own lives but their faith and obedience to serve Him regardless of the cost. What faith and courage! Their firm determination to be true to God caused Him to jump into the fire and the lions’ den to save them, not only to honor their faith but to demonstrate the power of God over the vaunted gods of Babylon.

It is impossible to please God without faith. Faith is mandatory for those who approach God. Faith is never easy. But the more convinced we are of the reality of an all-good, all-powerful God, the more our trust will grow, and the less we will be overwhelmed by doubts and temptations. How strong is your faith? As thou has believed, so be it done unto thee. When I consider faith and prayer, what comes to mind is Ezekiel’s dream of the four creatures and the wheels (Ezekiel 1). The wings of the creatures were joined one to another, and they did not turn when they went; each one went straight forward. Their appearance and work was, as it were, a wheel in a wheel. When they moved, they went toward one in four directions. So is the relation of faith and prayer. They are locked in like a wheel in a wheel, and they move together. Their wings are joined one to the other. You need faith to pray, and similarly, you cannot pray without faith. Their power and manner they work is secret, invisible, and indivisible; they all contribute to our success before the throne of grace. Based on the way you have been praying so far, are the wings of your faith and prayer joined one to another, and are they wheels within a wheel? The measure of the success of your prayer depends on how well you have believed. Faith is not a crutch for those too weak to stand on their own. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, and without which, no one can please God. (Hebrews 11:1, 6)

The secondary purpose of this book is to show that it is only through faith that we can pray well and accomplish something to the glory of the Lord. The first step to praying well is to admit your lack of faith (Help thou my unbelief) before you can begin to see and experience what God can do in your life. When God’s Spirit is within us, we can pray well. How do you measure your faith? Make sure your faith is genuine. Discover the secret, the power, and the joy of praying to move your mountains by faith as you read on.

Acknowledgments

Irecently saw a TV advert that ended with a punch: The people you love are behind. I believe this is very true for me in the writing of this book. All those I love contributed in one way or the other to the writing of the book by way of encouragement, editing, support, suggestions, and ideas. To all of them, I wish to express my sincere thanks. I would like to mention a few names here: my dear wife and friend of my life for over the past forty years. Her support has always been there when I needed it most. Thank you, honey. Dr. David Burt, a very good friend, whose encouragement inspired me to become a Christian author. Thank you, Dave. I will always be grateful for your words of encouragement. Dr. Elijah Enoch James, the tireless editor of this and other manuscripts. Zeb, thank you. Mrs. Connie (aka Pat) Simon-James, my most valuable coach on typing and getting documents in the right shape, and designer and printer of almost all my seminar materials. All the members of my prayer circle affectionately called the Village, thank you for the love you’ve shown over the years and for your friendship and constant prayers. Mrs. Paulette Burt, who is always excited about my prayer retreats. And finally, the prayer warriors who are in church early in the morning every week before church begins. You are always a source of inspiration and encouragement. Finally, I want to thank all the friends who have always supported my prayer ministry.

Introduction

James wrote, "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick (James 5:15, emphasis supplied), thus making it clear that prayer is a work of faith and God often waits for our prayers of faith before intervening to act upon our requests. A living faith is bound to express itself in words of prayer. Faith is an attitude as well as practice. All prayer, to be effective, must be offered in faith: The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16). Prayer that is not salted with faith is unavailing. Therefore, faith is an indispensable ingredient for a satisfactory prayer life. Yet one of the greatest handicaps to prayer is the lack of faith, and so millions of prayers are prayed without faith, because the actual content of faith—what is actually believed—is many times ambiguous to many of us. The question may be asked whether there can be any true prayer without faith. The writer of Hebrews emphasizes the importance of faith when he says, But without faith it is impossible to please God; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). Obviously, it is pointless to ask God to answer prayer when that person praying does not believe God has the power to do so. Faith believes not only that God is able to do what one petitions Him to do but that God is willing to do it. It is the combination of these two that constitute faith. One without the other will hardly do.

Faith has come to exist in many forms to us according to the degree of one’s understanding and use of the word. Sometimes faith is used in our everyday conversations that lead to different interpretations. Faith could be used as a system of beliefs, such as a person’s religious faith. Sometimes it expresses deceit or dishonesty (such as in bad faith) or in expressing honorable intentions (such as in good faith). Many Christians think that faith should enable them to escape trials—that is, if they had faith, everything would be peaceful and calm. These few examples (and there are still more) have somehow colored our understanding of faith so that the actual meaning of faith as belief without need of certain proof has become elusive to many. Consequently, many a Christian’s prayer has been without faith. In the Scripture, however, faith is the operative factor in many of Jesus’s miracles. Again and again, Jesus told those who needed His help: If you believe, it will be done. He sometimes marveled or became impressed by the faith of those who brought their sick to Him for healing, and He told them their faith had made them well. When Jesus told the father of the demon-possessed boy that all things are possible to the one who believes, the man without hesitancy, cried out in tears: I belief, help thou my unbelief (Mark 9:23–24). Jesus said that all things are possible to the one who believes because He knew the tendency of the human nature is to doubt rather than believe. The substance called faith, which is conditional to experiencing the power of God, is the subject of this book.

Every Christian must wrestle and fight for issues of faith in his or her life. But as indicated by James (James 2:19), talking faith is cheap, because the devils even believe there is one God and tremble but they do not obey Him. True faith goes beyond mere talk; it leads to action. Though Christ does respond to our faith, He also performs His wonders freely and spontaneously. God can still work miracles despite our doubts, and even strong faith does not guarantee miracles. In Acts chapter 12, for instance, we read of the stories of the death of James and the imprisonment of Peter and his rescue from prison by God as result of the prayer by the church. Why did God allow James to die yet miraculously save Peter? Life is full of difficult questions like this. Why is one child born disabled and another born normal or even gifted? Questions like these are very difficult to answer because we do not see all that God sees.