Faith and answered prayer

[2ndAmendment]

The account of the faith of the leper and the centurion teach much about our own prayer and faith.

Matthew 8:1-13

Jesus Cleanses a Leper; The Centurion's Faith

<sup id="en-NASB-23347">1</sup>When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. <sup id="en-NASB-23348">2</sup>And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."

<sup id="en-NASB-23349">3</sup>Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

<sup id="en-NASB-23350">4</sup>And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

<sup id="en-NASB-23351">5</sup>And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him,

<sup id="en-NASB-23352">6</sup>and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented."

<sup id="en-NASB-23353">7</sup>Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."

<sup id="en-NASB-23354">8</sup>But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

<sup id="en-NASB-23355">9</sup>"For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."

<sup id="en-NASB-23356">10</sup>Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.

<sup id="en-NASB-23357">11</sup>"I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;

<sup id="en-NASB-23358">12</sup>but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

<sup id="en-NASB-23359">13</sup>And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed that very moment.

If we pray and do not believe that God will or is able to do something, why pray for that something at all. God does for us according to our faith. If our faith is lacking, then we need to pray for increased faith. Oh, faith only as large as a mustard seed would be wonderful. Faith beyond that would be glorious. Faith to the point of conviction that moves from "I believe" to "I know" is the aim.

 

[Railroad]

We should also understand that we can get negative answers to our prayers, and that God's will for us is that the RIGHT things happen for the RIGHT reasons. Sometimes that entails very painful answers to prayer. Also we need to understand that things will happen in GOD's time, not ours. It could take most of a lifetime to get an answer to a prayer, or to discover why a given prayer was left "unanswered."