The Preconditions of Prayer (1)

But without faith it isimpossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe thatHe is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11.6

“And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Matthew 21.22

Not a blank check
In Mark 11.24 Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” This sounds very much like His promise in Matthew 21.22. Whatever we ask from the Lord, whatever we need, if we just believe, the Lord will grant our request.

Yet this is not intended as a blank check, so that we may use prayer for whatever ends we choose. Jesus is not saying that if you believe that you’re going to get what you want, you’ll get it. When we come to God in prayer we are seeking mercy and grace to help in our time of need (Heb. 4.16). Certainly we may put our requests before the Lord boldly; but God knows better than we precisely what form His mercy and grace should take, as we have seen. The form in which He chooses to answer our prayers is ultimately His to decide, not ours.

This leads us to a consideration of the preconditions involved in the privilege of prayer. These are criteria or qualifications that must be met before the Lord will even hear our prayers. So important are these preconditions that we cannot believe, except foolishly and in vain, that anything we might ask in prayer will be ours unless these preconditions have been met as we come to the throne of grace.

However, these preconditions being met, we may be bold in our prayers, confidently, joyfully, and expectantly seeking from the Lord whatever we will, and believing that He will grant our requests according to His mercy and grace.

And, naturally enough, the first precondition of prayer is that we come to the Lord in faith.

Coming in faith
What does this mean? The writer of Hebrews explains that faith has both a subjective and an objective dimension (Heb. 11.1). Faith is assurance that what we hope for is already ours. Further, faith supplies evidence that our relationship with God is according to His will.

Let’s look a bit more closely at each of these dimensions of faith.

When we come to God in prayer, we must come in faith, believing. We show that we believe in God when we come to Him assured that, because of Jesus – not because of anything in us – we will find mercy and grace to help in our time of need (Heb. 4.16). We come to God in prayer assured of Jesus, that we belong to Him and that He intercedes for us. If we come to God in prayer by any other means, or seeking anything other than mercy and grace, then we are not coming in faith.

We come to God in faith when we believe that He will show us mercy, because of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ in forgiving our sins; and that He will give us the grace we need, so that we may learn Jesus and follow Him in all things (Eph. 4.17-24). We do not prescribe to God what He should do for us. We appeal to God for what is right and best, which only He knows.

Thus, we are assured in faith, because of Jesus’ mercy and grace, that our prayers will be heard, that God the Father knows what we need even before we ask, and He will meet our need for mercy and grace so that we may serve Him as disciples of Jesus.

Going in faith
Then, second, believing that what we seek in prayer – mercy and grace to help us live for Jesus – because it falls within the parameters of what God has promised to provide, is already ours, according to the good pleasure of God, we must act on that belief, in line with God’s riches in glory in Christ Jesus. We will not know the specific form God’s answer will take, but, hoping in the unseen God and relying on His Word, we go forth from prayer, convinced that He will answer, and therefore rejoicing in anticipation of His response.

When we have come to God in faith, trusting in Jesus, we can know that our prayers have been received according to His good pleasure, and that He will answer our prayers with a measure of grace sufficient for our time of need as disciples of Jesus. He will not fail us, and He will not forsake us (Heb. 13.5). His answer will come, and when it does, we will recognize His answer to be just exactly what we need.

Thus we should come away from prayer neither fearing, fretting, nor doubting, nor simply waiting around to see what happens; rather, we come away in peace, filled with assurance and joy, looking toward Jesus, and pressing on in our Kingdom-and-glory calling as agents of grace to the world (Heb. 12.1, 2). If we have made our requests boldly in faith, seeking only mercy and grace to help in our time of need, then we can go forward in faith, knowing that our God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Faith – inward assurance based on Jesus, and outward evidence seeking Jesus – is the first precondition, the access and egress, of prayer.

For reflection
1.  Why is it that we can come boldly before the Lord’s throne in prayer? Does coming boldly mean we don’t come humbly? That we can’t come when we’re sorrowing? Or fearful? Or doubting?

2.  Why is it important that we come to prayer knowing both that God already knows what we need, and that He knows better than we how that need should be met with mercy and grace?

3.  If we truly believe God has heard our prayers, how should that affect the way we go forth from prayer to our daily lives?

Next steps – Transformation: Would you say that you enter and leave your times of prayer in faith? Why or why not?

T. M. Moore
Each of our “next steps” exercises is tied into goals and disciplines involved in working your Personal Mission Field. If you have not yet identified your Personal Mission Field, watch the brief video showing you how to get started right away (click here). Learn how to work your Personal Mission Field by finding a friend and signing-up for our Mission Partners Outreach.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.