Prayer and Faith

5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:5-14


These seem like such impossible instructions: Whatever we ask? Do the things Jesus was doing? Even greater things? This seems like an impossible faith. But we need to know that God can do anything before we can ask Him effectively. There are no boundaries on His power or His abilities. He can do the most impossible, incredible, unbelievable thing with no effort. Planets and people, nature and nations, time and temperament are all subject to His command.

But it is not enough that we know that God can do anything. We need to have the faith to believe that He would want to. It is often not the magnitude of the task but the insignificance of the need in the global perspective that holds us back from asking. Why should God care about me and my small problem? Our lack of understanding of the boundless love of our Father holds us back from asking and daring to believe.

Jesus patiently explains to Philip, that with the Father dwelling in Him and He in the Father – all things become possible. For Philip this is doubly true because not only is he indwelt by the Father through the Spirit, but Jesus is with the Father interceding on his behalf. What is true of Philip can also be true of us.

It is a strange truth that our prayer builds our relationship with God which strengthens and guides our prayer which further builds our relationship with God which…. Even more encouraging is that the faith supporting this upwards spiral is said to be a gift from the Holy Spirit available to us all for the asking. St Paul says that we are to eagerly desire the Spiritual Gifts and lists Faith as one of these (1 Corinthians 12-14) and Jesus says even a small dose will be enough (Matthew 17:20, 21:21).

A.W. Tozer explains this kind of faith: “Faith as the Bible knows it is confidence in God and His Son Jesus Christ; it is the response of the soul to the divine character as revealed in the Scriptures; and even this response is impossible apart from the prior inworking of the Holy Spirit. Faith is a gift of God to a penitent soul and has nothing whatsoever to do with the senses or the data they afford. Faith is a miracle; it is the ability God gives to trust His Son, and anything that does not result in action in accord with the will of God is not faith but something else short of it.”

Many years ago when Linda and I lived in South Africa, God found us and, through the help of the Anglican Marriage Encounter movement, taught us how to pray together each day. The experience transformed our lives. We found our lives suddenly filled with faith and turned back to God in prayer. This began a journey of discovering daily small miracles happening to us and through us in answer to our prayers. Our prayer built our faith which built our prayer life. Moreover, through this process we turned from ourselves towards God and it has made all the difference since. Our prayer this day is that He might do, or continue to do, the same for each of you.

Mike Clarkson