Prayers Of Faith

Matthew 21:18-22

You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it. (Matthew 21:22)

J. O. FRASER, a British missionary to the Lisu people of Southeast Asia in the early 1900s, developed an interesting illustration for prayers of faith. At the time, the Canadian government was offering land incentives for British citizens to move to Canada. The western territories were wide open, and the government wanted people to cultivate it. Immigrants could claim up to 160 acres of land, but only if they would commit to care for it, accept the government’s conditions, and live on it productively. It was an open invitation to spread out and steward resources for the benefit of the realm.

Fraser believed Christians have been given the same opportunity in the Kingdom of Heaven. That’s what Jesus’ prayer promises are about. There is plenty of territory waiting to be occupied by faith and cultivated by responsible stewards. But there are conditions. We must ask specifically, commit to tend the land faithfully, get up and move into the promise, and then cultivate what we’ve been given. God has chosen to expand his Kingdom through the prayers and works of those who represent him faithfully. By understanding the dynamics of prayer and acting on them, we receive the answers that were promised.

A lot of “territory” in this world remains outside of God’s Kingdom, and we are given extravagant promises for expanding into it. Some Christians see the situation and retreat into their own communities to defend their faith, but the compassionate heart of a priest recognizes a deeper opportunity and steps into it. The prayer of faith is the catalyst that lays claim to unclaimed land and embraces the burden of stewarding it well.

Learn to pray with the kind of definition and commitment a land claimant has for his or her new property. Understand that God’s gifts are free but still must be handled with care and faithfulness. Develop a vision for the territory of your calling, and then ask God for it in faith and take decisive, definite steps to enter in.

{Jesus, fill me with the kind of faith that receives your promises decisively and completely. Give me spiritual territory to steward and cultivate. Teach me to ask according to your will, and grow your Kingdom through the faith and prayers of your people. Amen.