revival2

LECTURE V

THE PRAYER OF FAITH

Therefore I say unto you, What things so ever ye desire when ye pray, believe

that ye receive them, and ye shall have them . – MARK 11:24.

These words have been by some supposed to refer exclusively to the faith

of miracles. But there is not the least evidence of this. That the text was

not designed by our Savior to refer exclusively to the faith of miracles, is

proved by the connection in which it stands. If you read the chapter, you

will see that Christ and His apostles, as they returned from their place of

retirement in the morning, faint and hungry, saw a fig tree at a little

distance. It looked very beautiful, and doubtless gave signs of having fruit

on it; but when they came nigh, they found nothing on it but leaves. And

Jesus said: “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And His disciples

heard it” (Mark 11:14).

“And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig-tree dried up

from the roots.

“And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto Him, Master, behold, the

fig-tree which Thou cursed is withered away.

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain,

Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his

heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass;

he shall have whatsoever he saith”(20-23).

Then follow the words of the text: “Therefore I say unto you, What things

so ever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall

have them.”

Our Savior was desirous of giving His disciples instructions respecting the

nature and power of prayer, and the necessity of strong faith in God. He

therefore stated a very strong case, a miracle – one so great as the removal

of a mountain into the sea. And He tells them, that if they exercise a

proper faith in God, they might do such things. But His remarks are not to

be limited to faith merely in regard to working miracles, for he goes on to

say:

“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that

your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But

if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive

your trespasses” (25, 26).

Does that relate to miracles? When you pray, you must forgive. Is that

required only when a man wishes to work a miracle? There are many other

promises in the Bible nearly related to this, and speaking nearly the same

language, which have been all disposed of in this way, as referring to the

faith employed in miracles. Just as if the faith of miracles was something

different from faith in God!

In my last Lecture I dwelt upon the subject of Prevailing Prayer; and you

will recollect that I passed over the subject of faith in prayer very briefly,

because I wished to reserve it for a separate discussion. The subject of the

present Lecture, then, is The Prayer of Faith. I propose to show: