What Are Faith-Sized Requests?

   What is a faith-sized request?

   A faith-sized request is first of all a request which is just the right "believing" size for your faith. It is not a request which is so large that the very size of it makes you wonder if God will answer. It is a request for a particular situation in which you pray for a special person or thing, and ask only for that which you can really believe God will do, in a given time limit. This does not limit what God can do, but it honestly recognizes the size of your faith. And there is every reason to believe that you will be asking for larger things as your faith grows.

   Let me illustrate this by a prayer-promise in Mark and also by several true experiences.

   Jesus . . . said to them, Have faith in God (constantly). Truly, I tell you whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart, but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him.

   For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe — trust and be confident — that it is granted to you, and you will [get it] (Mark 11:22-24, Amplified).

   The first thing the Lord tells us is to have faith in the One who is able to answer. That is one of the lessons in

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faith which we examined in Chapter 8. Then we are told that no matter what mountain stands in our way, if we ask and believe it will be moved, it will be done.

   To ask and believe is the opposite of wondering in your heart if you will receive it. That negative picture in your mind of "not receiving" what you asked for is doubt, and doubt will surely keep your prayer from being answered. But God has given us power over our imaginations, so that by the positive use of that imagination, we can picture ourselves receiving the answer. This is the way to believe in one's heart, and to believe that what one has asked for, he will receive.

   Jesus repeats this promise again in the next verse, and does not limit it to any one mountain. He says, "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe . . . that it is granted to you, and you will get it."

   Those are strong, positive words. There is no "if" or "maybe" involved. Why is it then, that we don't ask for more? Why is it then, that we seem to get so little when so much is needed?

   About the time I began to be aware of honesty and simplicity and brevity in audible prayer, I listened carefully when others prayed, and also checked myself after I had prayed. I asked myself these questions:

   For what definite thing had I prayed?

   Did I believe that I would get it?

   Could I picture myself receiving it?

   The tragic answer was, that I wasn't asking anything definite, and I wasn't receiving anything definite. I was merely praying platitudes, "Lord, bless my family in America, and bless the Chinese pastors working in Shanghai, and bless . . . and bless . . . and bless . . . ." The words bless and blessing do get a workout when people pray! But what exactly are we asking for? Are we asking for anything? Are we talking to anyone? Are we expecting an answer from Him?

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   Two things began to appear in my short simplified prayers. I saw to it that I thanked Him for something, and I asked Him for something, no matter how small it seemed. It was hard to keep my prayers short at first, but I did it deliberately in order to make myself think specifically, and not just let words flow out without any thought back of them.

   And in the asking, I was careful to ask only for that which I believed He could do. If you think it is easy, try it, and keep your mind on being definite. The first thing I knew, I was editing my prayers. I would ask for something, and then quickly ask for forgiveness, because I found I didn't really believe I would get what I was asking for. Then I'd try again and finally I would arrive at one small request (compared to the first one) which I confidently believed God could do and would do in the given situation.

   In my book, The Years That Count, I have illustrated this point in a detailed story in the 17th chapter. When Karen prayed for the conversion of her boyfriend, Chuck, she was unable to believe he would be saved the first week, but she was able to believe that, on the very next date, she could tell him about her own Saviour. She was enabled to do this. Then she prayed that he would accept a New Testament. He did. Then, that he would be willing to read it. He was willing. And the story goes on, until two weeks after her first request, Chuck made an open acknowledgement of faith in Jesus Christ.

   It is too frequently our experience to pray for the conversion of a loved one for years without an answer. That is not because God isn't willing to save the loved one, it's because we are not praying sensibly and with faith. It is like trying to take one giant leap from the bottom of the stairs to the top of the stairs. We want to get to the top of the stairs. We talk and talk about going and yet there we stand. The reason being, it is impossible to get from the bottom to the top of a flight of stairs in one step. Stairs were made to be used, but they were made to be used one step at a time!

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   The prayer of faith is like that. Climbing the steps is what we mean by a faith-sized request. Take one step at a time. Pray for only what you believe God can do, for a certain person in a definite situation during a given time period.

   To further illustrate faith-sized requests, I'd like to give you the experience of a married couple who moved into a new neighborhood. One of the first requests Mary and Jack made was, "Lord, we'd like to get acquainted with our neighbors, and if they don't know You personally as their Saviour, we'd like to introduce them to You."

   That was a fine request and right in line with what God wanted to do. But it was the description of a goal to be reached, not a step to take. They got down to business then, and took the first step.

   "Lord," prayed Jack, "I'd like to meet the fellow living next door in some casual way and begin to get acquainted with him. I'd like to begin today, and I believe You can arrange it for me. Thank you, Lord." Mary agreed with Jack in her prayer, and gave thanks with Him.

   The morning had scarcely turned to afternoon when the answer came. Their children got into a quarrel over a tricycle with the neighbor's children. Both fathers rushed to the scene. Jack took all the blame for his children, and put out his hand, "I'm Jack M., just moved in, glad to meet you." The first request had been answered. The first step had been taken.

   The second step: "Lord, I'd like to know what that man is interested in, so we could become friends." The answer came within two days. He was interested in football.

   The third step: "Lord, I need two complimentary football tickets, and could I have them by this weekend, please." The tickets came. The friendship grew.

   The fourth step: "Lord, I'd like to invite this new friend to the Bible class I teach a few miles from here. Would You put it into his heart to accept when I ask him to go

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with me tonight?" He accepted. All the way over as they drove, they talked about football. All the way home they talked about Jesus Christ, and what it meant for Him to become one of us . . . God became a Man.

   The fifth step: "Lord, Mary and I would like to invite my friend and his wife to our home some evening this week and have a little talk and Bible reading together." The friends came, and they read and talked quietly together.

   The sixth step: "Lord, next week when I ask them over again, will You prepare their hearts, so that they will be ready to accept You as their Saviour? I believe this is the time to ask for this, and I thank You for all You'll be doing in the meantime to draw them to Yourself." When the next week came, the neighbors willingly and gladly accepted Jesus Christ.

   This method works also in matters of guidance about getting a job, taking a trip, buying or selling a house, getting married, writing a book, or anything you may think of yourself, small or large.

   Here is another illustration. Last year at the Mound Keswick Conference in Minnesota, I met Rev. Harold De Vries, one of the speakers. We both attended each other's meetings. My subjects were conversational prayer and faith-sized requests.

   After returning to his church Mr. De Vries spoke to his people about conversational prayer, and sometime later the women of the church invited me to speak to them on the same subject. Two months ago, Mr. De Vries told a friend something of what was happening among a few groups meeting to pray conversationally.

   "Why wouldn't it be a good idea for your people to meet in small groups and learn to pray like this?" his friend asked.

   Mr. De Vries decided he would introduce the subject at the next Wednesday night prayer meeting. During the day he asked the Lord to send 150 persons to prayer meeting that night. Then he remembered "faith-sized requests,"

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and asked himself if he really believed God could send 150 people.

   He changed his prayer. "Lord, I believe you can and will send one hundred interested persons to prayer meeting tonight."

   There were one hundred persons there that night, and they were all interested in forming groups to pray conversationally. By the next Sunday another fifty had signed up, making a total of 150 who are meeting regularly in groups of from two to six in homes, in offices, in the suburbs and in the Loop. The needs of the people are being met. Spontaneous prayer is offered for one another, faith-sized requests are being answered, more people are taking part, requests are being covered. There are fewer clichés, less padding, more honesty and simplicity in prayer. Men and women are coming close to God and to each other in the Winnetka Bible Church.

   The wonderfully exciting thing about faith-sized requests when two or more are praying is that so many times as you pray by subjects, exactly the same request will come to two or more of you at the same time. That is when faith rejoices and cries, "It shall be done!" That is the moment when doubt disappears. That is when the whole mountain moves — or sometimes only half of it. But the other half will go, too, if you are willing to wait for the next step.

Chapter Eleven  ||  Table of Contents