Prayer’s Indispensable Ingredient
What makes prayer, prayer? When does a prayer count as a real, live prayer in God’s sight?
We’d all agree that we can pray out loud or internally, alone or with company, at any time, in any posture, in any place. While we might have our personal preferences, none of those things stop prayer from counting as real prayer. But there is one ingredient that does make all the difference: faith. Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).
While there’s a strong element of encouragement in that verse, Jesus’s “faith as small as a mustard seed” saying comes just after the disciples have failed to drive out an evil spirit. In context, Jesus is drawing attention to his followers’ lack of faith. He’s challenging them to overcome their faithlessness.
The Challenge of Mustard Seed Faith
It’s possible to have faith in a general way without activating that faith in a particular situation. Shortly before the disciples’ failure to drive out the evil spirit, Peter declares that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus’ reply shows his faith is genuine: “Blessed are you … for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven” (16:17). Yet despite this, the disciples don’t act with faith when it comes to the specific task of driving out the evil spirit. They seem to have no confidence in God’s power. Jesus challenges them—and us—to believe that God really is capable of doing more than we can imagine.
In the Christian life we constantly need reminding that “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). We can easily assume that if we pray with the right words for the right things, God will hear us. But God sees what’s going on in our hearts. If faith is absent, our prayers will go unheard. To pray with faith we need to believe that God can do what we’re asking him to do, and if it fits with his purposes, he will do it.
The Encouragement of Mustard Seed Faith
While it’s certainly good to have great faith, like the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:28), the really important thing about faith is just having it—even mustard seed-sized—rather than not having it. This is tremendously encouraging. Often my faith that God can do what I’m asking him to do is as small as a mustard seed. But Jesus says that’s enough for the prayer to count! Mustard seed faith is all that’s required to move mountains. Doesn’t that spur you on to call out to our omnipotent God today?
Bernard Howard