Radical Faith Prepares for Answered Prayer

“And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.” Philemon 1:22 NIV

Radical faith. The apostle Paul demonstrated it on numerous occasions, didn’t he? When he wrote the words above to fellow believer Philemon, he wrote them from prison—a place he frequented because of his bold displays of faith.

Being imprisoned didn’t dampen Paul’s faith as we might imagine. In fact, he made plans to visit Philemon based on his hopes of answered prayers. He encouraged Philemon to act in faith as well. Paul exhorted him to prepare a room for him—to behave as if the answer to prayer had already been granted.

And when Paul told the Corinthians to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7), he not only doled out instruction, he lived it himself. His instruction to Philemon shines as just one example.

What kind of faith are you and I demonstrating in our lives today? Could someone point to us and say, “Look at how she lives by faith. Look at how she trusts God.”

Are we like Paul? Are we living in the hope of answered prayer? Let’s think about what we can do right now to live in expectation and to prepare for the answers that God will send. Let’s show some radical faith.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 NET

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*Flickr photo by familymwrCreative Commons License

Comments

  1. Mary Wishall says

    Thank you! I am praying for some things right now. I think I will pray with the assurance that God will answer.

  2. Hi Cheryl – Knowing and trusting that God answers our prayers is so important. I like how you emphasize that we must not just hope for an answer, but truly believe in God’s support. Sometimes, his answer is not what we envisioned, but always the best way forward. In Ireland we have a saying, “”Without faith in your heart, you can do nothing.” It’s very much in tune with your beautiful thoughts today.

    • Mairéad, you’re right — God’s answers are always best, even when they’re different than what we hoped for. And thanks so much for sharing the saying about faith that you have in Ireland. Always love hearing more of those Irish sayings. Blessings to you and yours!

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