When You Pray, You Must Believe!

by Rex Rouis

The Bible tells us that we are not just to pray, but rather to pray believing. If we
are specifically told to believe when we pray, then it must be possible to pray
and not believe. Not all prayer brings results. Only believing prayer moves
God and receives from Him.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of
the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he
shall receive any thing of the Lord. James 1:6, 7

All of the worlds religions exhort men to pray, but it is only the Bible that
requires men to believe what they pray. This is the radical concept of the Bible
the requirement of actually trusting God. This was first exhibited in the Old
Testament, and further developed in the New Testament the absolute
necessity for one to believe when one prays. Other religious systems are
content with the motions of prayer, but the true Living God requires that we
maintain a relationship with Him and that we trust Him.
Therefore, I say unto you, whatsoever things you desire, when you
pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. Mark 11:24

Believing takes the emphasis off of prayer itself, and puts the emphasis
entirely on God Himself. It is all about Him and His faithfulness. The Bible
does not teach is to rely on prayer alone. It teaches us to rely on Him. Only
when we can fully rely on Him can we fully pray believing. We are to believe
Him first, and then express that belief in prayer. The faith must be in the heart
before the prayer comes out of the mouth.

But what does it say? THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN
YOUR HEART that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you
confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person
believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses,
resulting in salvation. Rom 10:8-10