Learning How to Pray Effectively in 59 Seconds or Less (Part 17)

I recently had coffee with a friend at Starbucks. “You will never guess what the leader of our Bible study asked me last night?” he said.

I shook my head.

“The leader asked, ‘On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your faith level?’ I answered her by saying that mine was probably a zero or a one.”

“What did she say to that?” I asked.

“She wasn’t impressed and said that her faith level was at least an eight or a nine. Another person stated that his faith level was a perfect ten. Larry, what would you have replied to them?”

I laughed and said, “I probably would have jumped up and said, ‘Let’s go to a hospital or a funeral home right now. Such great faith needs to be used for healing the sick and raising the dead. Let’s not waste any time!'”

We both laughed.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

At our salvation, we each received our own lumps of faith. What we do with our lumps is up to each of us. We can increase our faith through studying God’s word, prayer, hearing the voice of God, our experiences, fasting, and so forth. Yet, there will eventually be certain situations where we realize that our faith is not enough.

looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith… (Hebrews 12:2)

Then, our faith must be in the Lord, His power, and His wisdom to do what’s best for that situation. If the Lord heals, if He provides, or if He shows up with a miracle, praise the Lord. If He doesn’t, praise Him anyway.

“Sometimes God allows in His wisdom what He could easily prevent by His power.” (Graham Cooke)

How can we boast in our weakness like the Apostle Paul did?

(Continued in Part 18…earlier parts can be read by clicking here.)