Faith to Receive: Part 1

Have you ever wondered why sometimes you can feel your prayers go through to the throne room of God? It seems that every time you pray for someone, their need is met. On the other hand, have you ever wondered why your prayers go unanswered at least the answer that you desired? If we are all being truthful, we would have to say that both of these situations have happened to us when we go to the Lord in prayer. In my next series of podcasts, we are going to be dealing with the topic of how to receive greater faith. The Bible tells us that we all have been given a measure of faith. To some, that measure of faith seems great and to others it seems quite small. But God loves everyone equally and He wants us all to be blessed equally.

Over the next few months, I will be speaking on the issue of “Faith to receive.” My podcasts will be based on a book I have written titled, “Receive Everything from What We Call Nothing.” You can obtain this book through my web page, davidcfriendauthor.com. On my twice-a-week podcasts, we will learn what God’s Word tells us about greater faith. As the Lord leads, we will address various topics on how to receive powerful, effective prayers. I believe the Lord will bless us with greater faith. In addition, we will receive a greater understanding of our God’s desire to bless us with a greater measure of faith and how to believe His Word.

The weekly topics will deal with the area of dreaming again for past dreams and goals. The Lord wants us to dream big because we serve an amazing God with unlimited resources and promises. As a child, I had dreams of being a professional bowler. My uncle was a professional bowler and he spoke encouragement and hope into me. He was a follower of Jesus Christ and knew that God would bless me if I would stay focused, pray and seek God for direction in my future. At the age of seventeen, my bowling skills qualified me to apply for membership with the Professional Bowling Association.

That is when a friend of my parents, who was a successful businessman, came to me and offered to support me on the summer professional bowlers tour. My parents felt I was too young to go on a tour with older men and they were right. The fact that I was not able to go is not the point I want to make. The important issue was a young man working hard and staying focused proved to be a great combination for success.

It is the same with our desire to increase the level of our faith. If we have ever dreamed of having greater faith, then we must decide to be around Christians who speak encouraging words into our dreams. Then we must stay focused and learn what God’s Word has to say about increasing our faith. The Bible tells us to draw close to God and He will draw close to us. Having faith to believe for great results in our prayers requires us to have a great commitment to understand God’s instructions to increase our faith. My favorite scripture on prayer is found in James 5:16 (NLT), “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

May I encourage you to join me in this series on how to increase our faith. It will be a great journey I look forward to and one that has many promises. From podcast to podcast, we will see examples of great faith and how we can be a part in seeing our God answer prayers. {eoa}

David C. Friend was the founder and pastor of North Scottsdale Christian Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. He has served as the president of the Paradise Valley Chamber of Commerce and was chairman of the Grand Canyon University Foundation Board. Before answering God’s call and accepting the full-time position as pastor of North Scottsdale Christian, David spent 14 years in banking and owned a real estate development company for 20 years. He taught banking operations at Arizona community colleges. David resides in North Scottsdale with his wife, Sharon, and together they have two married children and six grandchildren. David is an award-winning author, veteran, entrepreneur, pastor, banker and teacher.