Praying like you actually believe the God you are talking to.
How do you pray with faith? You pray with faith by trusting the character of God more than the size of your problem, asking Him for what you need and then believing He heard you and will do what is best. It is not working up a feeling or convincing yourself you believe hard enough. It is leaning your full weight on a God who is real, who is good, and who is able. This is for the believer who has been told to pray in faith and walked away confused, or who prays but secretly assumes nothing will come of it. It matters because faith is the hinge that prayer turns on, and once you understand what praying with faith actually means, your whole prayer life changes.
Why Faith Matters So Much in Prayer
Scripture does not treat faith as a nice bonus on top of prayer. It treats it as the thing that makes prayer prayer at all. The writer of Hebrews puts it about as plainly as it can be put.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
Two beliefs are baked into that verse. First, that God is, that He is really there and really listening. Second, that He rewards those who seek Him, that He is good and He responds. When you pray with faith, you are not just throwing words at the ceiling. You are coming to a Father you trust, believing He hears and believing He cares. Take that trust out of prayer and what is left is prayer with no power, just talking to yourself.
What Faith Is, and What It Is Not
Let me clear up the biggest lie about this, because it traps a lot of good people. Faith is not a feeling you have to manufacture. It is not pretending you have zero doubt. It is not the power that gets God to move, as if your believing hard enough is what twists His arm. That kind of teaching crushes people, because when the answer does not come they assume they just did not have enough faith. That is not the gospel. When His followers were stunned by a withered fig tree, Jesus did not tell them to look inside themselves. He pointed them somewhere else.
So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God. Mark 11:22 (NKJV)
Have faith in God. Not faith in your faith. Not faith in a feeling. Faith in God, the Person. Praying with faith is not staring at your own belief and measuring it. It is staring at God and trusting His character, His power, and His promises. The strength of your prayer was never your believing. It is the One your trust is leaning on.
Even a Little Faith Is Enough
If you think you need great faith, some giant, mountain-sized thing, before God will listen, breathe easy. Jesus said the exact opposite.
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. Mark 11:23 (NKJV)
Elsewhere Jesus said faith the size of a mustard seed, one of the smallest seeds there is, is enough to move a mountain. He was not measuring the volume of your belief. He was making the point that even small, real trust placed in a great God does great things. You do not need more faith than you have today. You need to aim the trust you do have at the God who can actually do something with it. So bring Him your mustard seed. He has never once turned away a person for showing up with a small, honest heart.
Faith Believes You Have Received
Right after the mountain, Jesus gave the heart of praying with faith.
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. Mark 11:24 (NKJV)
Believe that you receive them. Faith prays and then rests, trusting the matter is now in God's hands. This is where the promises of God come in. When you find a promise in His Word that fits your situation, you can stand on it and pray it right back to Him with confidence. The Lord watches over His Word to perform it, and not one of His promises has ever failed. Praying with faith often looks like finding what God has already said in Scripture and holding Him to it, not because you are twisting His arm, but because He told you to take Him at His Word. That kind of confidence does not come from you. It comes from knowing the One who made the promise, and it is yours in Christ.
And here is why you can pray that boldly. Because of what Jesus did, you do not have to crawl up to God hoping He is in a good mood. The Father throws the door open and invites you in.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV)
Sit with that. You get to walk straight up to the throne of grace, like a child running to a Father, and find mercy and grace at the exact moment you need it. That is the kind of confidence this prayer carries. Not confidence in yourself or your own goodness, but confidence in the welcome you have in Christ. Through the Son, the throne room is open, so come.
Faith Prays Two Ways: Assurance and Submission
Here is a distinction that will save you a lot of confusion. Faith prays in two different ways depending on what God has made clear.
Sometimes faith prays with assurance. When God has plainly promised something in His Word, or has made His will clear to you, you can pray with bold certainty, because you already know the answer is yes. You are simply agreeing with what God has said.
Other times faith prays with submission. When you do not know God's specific will in a matter, faith still trusts Him fully, but it holds the request open-handed and says, if it is Your will. That is not weak faith. That is mature faith. The leper came to Jesus and said, Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean, full of trust in Jesus' power and fully submitted to Jesus' will at the same time. Even Jesus in the garden prayed, not My will, but Yours be done. Submission is not doubt. It is trust deep enough to let God be God. Praying with faith means knowing which kind of prayer the moment calls for.
When You Struggle to Believe
What about the days you do not feel any faith at all? You are in good company, and the Bible does not shame you for it. A desperate father once brought his suffering son to Jesus, the Son of God, and admitted his faith was shaky.
Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! Mark 9:24 (NKJV)
Read that again. I believe, and in the same breath, help my unbelief. He brought Jesus the little faith he had and was honest about the doubt mixed in with it, and Jesus answered his prayer anyway. That is one of the most freeing prayers in the whole Bible. You do not have to fake confidence you do not feel. You can come weak, scared, full of doubt, and say, God, I want to believe, help me. Honesty about your struggle is not the enemy of trust, it is the doorway back to it. When you are weak, lean harder on Him, ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen your trust, and keep praying through the fear.
How Faith Grows
Faith is not static. It grows, and you have a part to play in growing it. The single biggest builder of faith is the Word of God.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
The more you fill your heart with Scripture, the more your faith has to stand on, because faith feeds on God's Word. The Holy Spirit uses the Word to grow real confidence in you over time. So if your faith feels thin, do not just grit your teeth and try harder. Get into the Bible, ask God for wisdom, for He gives wisdom freely to all who ask, remember the prayers He has already answered in your life, and let the Spirit build strong faith and hope where there was fear. Strong faith is built over time, not born overnight. Faith grows the same way muscle grows, by being used. Every time you trust God in a small thing and watch Him come through, you are stronger for the bigger ask down the road.
The Prayer of Faith for Others
Praying with faith is not only for your own needs. Some of the most powerful praying in faith you will ever do is for other people. James gives a striking promise.
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 5:15 (NKJV)
James then points to Elijah, an ordinary man with a nature like ours, who prayed in faith and the heavens shut for three and a half years, then prayed again and the rain came. The lesson is not that Elijah was a spiritual superhero. It is that an ordinary person praying in real trust taps into the power of God. So go to bat for the people you love. Pray over the sick and watch what happens, intercede for the lost, and ask the Lord boldly on behalf of your family and your church. God loves to answer the believing prayers of His children, and healing and breakthrough still happen today when His people pray for healing. You will not always see the healing or the answer on your timetable, but your prayers are never wasted when they go up in faith for someone else.
A Simple Way to Pray With Faith
Let me make this practical so you can actually do it today.
· Start with who God is. Before you ask for anything, remind yourself out loud of God's character, His power, His goodness, His promises. This is what builds faith on the front end.
· Ask boldly and specifically. Tell God plainly what you need or desire. Faith is not vague. Name it, bring it to your Father, and do not be shy about it.
· Anchor it to His Word. If you know a promise or a Scripture that fits, pray it back to Him. Standing on the Word steadies your confidence.
· Then believe and release it. Thank Him before you see the answer, leave the matter in His hands, and refuse to keep picking it back up in worry. That is faith.
Do that, and you are praying with faith, not because you worked up some feeling, but because you brought a real need to a real God you actually trust. Remember who you are when you pray. You are one of God's children, welcomed into His family, and your prayers carry real weight in heaven. Your Father hears every one, and you never know what God will make happen. So pray alongside other Christians in your church, hold onto hope when the answers are slow, and keep coming, because the Lord is near. Christians have prayed this way for two thousand years, and Jesus Himself taught us to pray believing. It is a hope that does not disappoint. The Christian life is a life of prayer, and learning to pray with faith is how you walk it out. Keep at it, and watch your faith and your prayer life grow together. Praying with faith is not a one-time prayer, it becomes a way of life.
And when the worry creeps back in, which it will, take it straight back to God. Paul said to be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, to let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your heart. That peace is one of the surest signs your trust is finally resting where it belongs. Real prayer trades the knot in your stomach for the peace of God.
Common Questions About Praying With Faith
What does it mean to pray with faith?
It means trusting God's character and His Word as you pray, asking Him for what you need and then believing He heard you and will do what is good. It is faith in God Himself, not faith in your own believing.
How much faith do I need for God to answer?
Jesus said faith the size of a mustard seed is enough. God responds to small, real faith placed in Him. You do not need more faith, you need to aim the faith you have at a great God.
Can I pray with faith when I still have doubts?
Yes. The father in Mark 9 prayed, I believe, help my unbelief, and Jesus answered him. Bring God the faith you have and be honest about the doubt. Honesty does not cancel faith, it opens the door to it.
Why does it seem like my prayers of faith go unanswered?
Sometimes the answer is no or wait, and faith trusts God even then. When you do not know His will, you pray with submission, holding the request open-handed and trusting He will do what is best.
How can I grow stronger in faith?
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, so get into Scripture, remember past answers to prayer, and lean on the Holy Spirit. Faith grows by being used, one act of trust at a time.
