By Pastor Jack Graham
The 18th century clergyman and songwriter John Newton is known for giving us the great words to the song, Amazing Grace. But one thing a lot of people don’t realize about Newton is that he wrote many other songs as well. One of them was called, Thou Art Coming to a King, and went like this…
Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much;
None can ever ask too much.
None can ever ask too much. I think a lot of times people feel like they’re bothering God with their prayers. But the truth is that God welcomes our “large petitions” toward His throne—but there’s one important element in our prayers that gets His attention toward our needs and unleashes His blessings in our lives.
I’m talking about faith.
Faith is the most dynamic force on earth because it accesses the omnipotent power of God and gets your prayers answered. And it’s not so much that our faith has to be great—but the fact that the God in Whom we place our faith is already great.
Hebrews 11:6 proves this…
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
One thing that’s important to remember about faith is that you can have it anywhere. You don’t have to be at church or at Bible study—you can simply wake up in the morning and pray, “Lord, I believe and trust in you today—no matter what challenges I face or whatever comes my way.”
When you begin your prayers like that, you’re praying in faith!
It’s sort of like the great Babe Ruth, when they were taunting him and trash-talking him up in Chicago back in the day. Babe Ruth stepped out of the box, pointed to center field with his bat, and he got back in and hit it right over the center field fence. He called his own shot.
When you pray in faith, you’re calling the shot! Don’t worry about putting God on the line. You don’t have to worry about God’s reputation. Trust God, believe in Him, and speak in faith!
Philip Yancey said, “Faith is believing in advance in something that will only seem logical when seen in reverse.”
So do you have a mountain you’re facing? A mountain of bad health or a broken relationship? Or a mountain of bondage to sin or a child going in the wrong direction? A mountain of bills you can’t pay? What are you going to do? Give up?
Not if you have faith!
What you’re going to do is speak to the mountain in faith, call down victory, and cry out to a God who can do anything but fail. Jesus said in Mark 11:24, “…whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Faith is the key to calling down God’s heavenly power, putting it to work in your life, and getting your prayers answered. Pray and believe—that’s the formula for unleashing God’s blessings in your life.