“…The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Romans 10:8-10
Christians understand how easy it is to receive Jesus. They simply must believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord and then actually say it out loud. They understand it’s not enough to simply believe, they must also be able to say that He is Lord. Additionally, it’s not enough to only say that He is Lord, they must believe that what they are saying is true. They need both. This is the same formula for all faith! Whether we are having faith for finances, healing, relationships or anything else in our lives. The formula for successful prayer is simple. We believe in our heart and confess with our mouth the desired result.
Jesus illustrates this beautifully in Mark 11:22-25. We are told to speak to our mountain and believe in our heart that we will have whatsoever we say. If we command the mountain to move, then we must believe in our heart that it will. This is the same method for salvation, there is no difference. Therefore, if we find we are not getting results in our lives, we can check to see if we are saying what we believe. If we believe we will have lack and speak it, we will have lack. This is a form of faith. It’s just faith for negative results instead of faith in God’s word. However, if we believe God’s promises regarding the situation and then speak His word, we will see His word come to pass. The key is to become so saturated in His word that we actually believe it in our hearts. When we do this, we will see the results! We won’t be moved by how long it takes; we will simply know that it must come to pass.
In addition, to believing and speaking, we must also act on what we believe and forgive. If we believe that what we say will come to pass, then we will act on it. In James 2:17-18 & 20: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou has faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without works, and I will she thee my faith by my works..But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” Another way to phrase it is: “Faith without corresponding action is dead”. If you pray for a job, and believe you receive it, then you must prepare for it. You must take the necessary steps to apply for the position; whether it’s preparing your resume, purchasing job appropriate clothing or doing targeted job searches. You do not just sit and wait for the job to fall in your lap. You take steps forward towards the goal, listening for God’s instructions regarding your request and then acting on His instructions.
I did this when I prayed to have a wife. I realized, since I believe I receive my wife I need to then act like I have one. I began preparing for her arrival. I started fixing up my apartment to prepare for another person. I stopped dating, because I realized, married men don’t date. As an act of faith, I even went to dinner and had a place setting for my future wife. To those around me it looked like I was eating alone, but in my heart, I was with my future wife. As I did this, it prepared me to be able to recognize her when we met because I was focused on the promise. I put corresponding actions to my faith and God did the rest.
Finally, to receive answered prayer we must walk in forgiveness. God is love. Therefore, we need to keep the law of love so that we can hear Him clearly without interference. Since faith works by love (see Galatians 5:6), the only way our faith will work is if we continue to walk in love. Therefore, the formula for answered prayer is simple: Believe + Confess + Act + Forgive = Prayer Fulfilled! Let’s keep it simple!
Further Reading: James 2, Romans 4, Hebrews 11, Hebrews 12:1-2, Mark 11:22-26
