How to Pray the Prayer of Faith
How to Pray the Prayer of Faith
by Annette Capps
What is the “Prayer of Faith”? One of the easiest ways to define something is to discover what it is NOT. The opposite of the prayer of faith is a prayer of unbelief. Why would someone even bother to pray a prayer of unbelief? Usually a person thinks the act of prayer or repetition of prayer and begging God will finally change His mind or get Him to give in. Jesus said in Matthew 6:7, “And when praying, do not use needless repetitions as the Gentiles do, for they expect to be listened to because of their multitude of words.” (Weymouth)
Unbelief simply means that you don’t believe it will happen based on God’s goodness and willingness. But…it MIGHT happen if you work hard enough in your own strength by praying a lot, or repeating something over and over. (This is what the prophets of Baal did in 1 Kings Chapter 18.) If you are in total unbelief you might not even bother to pray. After all, whatever happens will happen.
Let’s take a look at what the scripture says: “And we have an assured confidence that whenever we ask anything in accordance with His will, He listens to us.” (1 John 5:14 Weymouth)
Do You Believe God Hears You When You Pray?
The first question to ask is, “Do you believe God hears you when you pray?” If your answer is yes, then great! You are not in unbelief regarding His attention to you. But if you don’t feel like you have God’s attention, and are doubtful if He hears you, then there is only one way to remedy that. Search the scriptures for proof that He hears you. 1 John 5:14 is a good place to start. This unequivocally states that He is listening and attentive to His children. Read Psalm 34:4, “I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.” Locate at least three scriptures that support your BELIEF that God hears you.
Is God Willing to Answer Your Prayer?
The second question to ask is, “Do you believe God is willing to act on your behalf?” If the answer is, “I am not sure,” then again, there is only one remedy. Search the scriptures. John 16:23, “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” If Jesus said it, do you believe it? I do!
Have You Forgiven?
The third question is, “Is there anything hindering your ability to believe?” Jesus repeatedly told his followers that forgiveness is required toward all in order to get prayers answered. If you have unforgiveness toward someone, then your own heart will condemn you and you will not be able to receive. “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” (1 John 3:20-21)
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:25)
Have You Received the Answer In Your Spirit?
The fourth question is, “When do you believe that you will receive what you prayed for?” If your answer is, “I’ll believe it when I see it,” then you probably will never see it. Prayer is a spiritual force operating in the realm of the unseen. The prayer prayed in faith receives the answer in their spirit.
Knowing that God the Father is a good God who gives good gifts to His children, when you pray a prayer in faith, you receive the answer in your spirit when you ASK and then thank God it is done. You see, all things in the physical world are birthed in the unseen spirit realm FIRST and the physical realm SECONDLY. You receive the seed of your healing in your spirit. As you worship the Lord and water the seed, it begins to manifest in your body. You don’t receive healing in your body through your five physical senses. You receive it in your spirit, and only afterwards does the body feel differently.
Faith believes. Faith receives. Faith is confident that God hears you. Faith is confident that God is willing to act on your behalf. Faith is confident that what has been received in the spirit will manifest in the physical realm. Faith speaks words of forgiveness regardless of feelings. Faith is grateful and thankful.
“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:23-24)
Don’t Give in to Doubt!
But what about doubt? When doubts come against your mind (which they will), you must return to the scriptures that answer the doubt and SPEAK them out loud. When I studied the temptation of Jesus, I discovered that He did not try to OUTTHINK the thoughts, ideas, and words of the devil; He OUTSPOKE the thoughts, ideas, and words presented to Him. If you have three scriptures memorized that support your prayer, then these are your weapons against doubt. But you must SPEAK them out loud. You don’t have to do it in front of people, but you must answer the doubt with GOD’s WORD spoken out of YOUR MOUTH!
Now, the prayer prayed in faith will bring healing to the body, healing to relationships, provisions for finances and all other needs in your physical world. But it is received in your spirit FIRST.
Jesus said the devil is a liar. His tactic is to lie to you about yourself, your faith, and especially lie to you about God. He is a slanderer, and if He can’t slander God to you, he will slander you to yourself. James 4:7 says, “Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee...” One thing about it, the devil doesn’t like for you to speak the scriptures out loud. He’s okay with you reading or thinking about it, just don’t SAY THOSE WORDS OUT LOUD! The sound vibration of God’s Word is not only irritating to him but incompatible with his energy.
Have you ever seen one of those devices that have a sound frequency that repels rats and mice? My Dad gave me one of those for my airplane hangar. Honestly, I really did not think it would work. I couldn’t hear anything coming from the device, but evidently the rodents did because I experienced much fewer problems after plugging that thing in!
Well, that’s how the frequency of speaking God’s Word works upon the devil, demons, evil spirits, and negative entities. The frequency of God’s Word is incompatible with sin, sickness, disease, discouragement, and disharmony.
Back to the prayer prayed in faith…
James 5:14-15 says, “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
James, the half-brother of Jesus, knew something about the prayer of faith. You, individually, can pray a prayer in faith for yourself and receive anything from God. James says it must be in FAITH, not unbelief, and not hindered by sin or unforgiveness. It is a prayer of confidence that God is listening and willing to act.
Notice what kind of prayer saves or heals the sick person. It doesn’t say the “prayer of hope,” or the “prayer of desperation,” or the “prayer of worry.” The “prayer of faith” saves the sick. How? The elders of the church are in agreement with God’s Word. They are in agreement with each other. And they are in agreement with the sick person.
What is their agreement? Pray that if it’s God’s will, he will be healed? Pray that he suffers until he’s paid for his sin, whatever he’s done? NO! The elders are to pray a strong prayer in faith for complete healing and forgiveness of sin, for it is EXPRESSLY stated in the scripture that Jesus forgave sins and healed ALL their sickness and infirmities. Knowing this…they can pray the prayer of faith and receive healing and forgiveness in the spirit and it will manifest in the man.
Dear partner, I feel sure you have needs in your life today that only God can meet for you. I want you to understand that He is not only available, but willing to heal you, free you from discouragement, help you financially, and give you hope. You can pray a prayer of faith using the steps in this pamphlet. God is listening.
If you want me to agree with you, take the steps above and send three scriptures to support your prayer of faith. I will lay hands on these in our Capps Ministries chapel service, and my staff and I will pray the prayer of faith for you.
To read more teachings online Click Here
Order pamphlets of this teaching to share Click Here
To Order the 2 Book Combo Faith That Will Work for You & God's Creative Power® Will Work for You by Charles Capps Click Here
To Order the CD or USB Flash Drive by Annette Capps, How to Pray the Prayer of Faith Click Here