6.8.2016 Finney on THE PRAYER OF FAITH

THEREFORE I SAY TO YOU, WHATEVER THINGS YOU ASK WHEN YOU PRAY, BELIEVE THAT YOU RECEIVE THEM AND YOU WILL HAVE THEM. mark 11.24

231  there are general promises and principles laid down in the Bible that christians have the opportunity to use, if they would only think. whenever you are in circumstances to which the promises or principles apply, you are to use them.
a parent finds this promise: 'the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fearr him and His righteousness to children's children, to such as keep His covenant and to those who remember His commandments to do them (psalm 103. 17-8) this is a promise made to those who possess a certain character. if any parent knows he has this character, he can justifiably apply this promise to himself and his family. if you have this character, you are bound to make use of this promise in prayer and to believe it even for your children's children.

WHEN TO PRAY IN FAITH

WHERE THERE IS ANY PROPHETIC DECLARATION THAT SOMETHING PRAYED FOR IS AGREEABLE TO THE WILL OF GOD, when it is plain from prophecy that THE EVENT IS CERTAINLY TO COME, YOU ARE BOUND TO BELIEVE IT  AND MAKE IT THE BASIS OF YOUR SPECIAL FAITH IN PRAYER. if the time is not specified in the Bible and there is no indication of time from other sources, you are not bound to believe that it will take place in the near

232  future. but if the time is specified, if it can be learned from studying the prophecies and it appears to have arrived, then christians must understand and apply it by offering the prayer of faith.

for instance, take the case of daniel and the return of the jews from captivity. what did he say? 'i, daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the work of the Lord through jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of jerusalem' (danial 9.2). here he studied his Bible and understood that the length of the captivity was to be 70 years.

what did he do then? did he sit down on the promise and say,  'God has pledged Himself to put an end to the captivity in 70 years and the time has expired and there is no need to do anything'?  Oh, no. he said, 'then i set my face toward the Lord god to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes' v3. he set himself at once to pray that the end of the captivity would come to pass. he prayed in faith.
but what was he to believe?  he believed what he learned from the prophecy. there are many  prophecies yet unfulfilled in the Bible that christians should try to understand as far as they are capable. THEY ARE TO MAKE PROPHECIES THE BASIS OF BELIEVING PRAYER.  do not think, as some seem to, that because something is foretold in prophecy it is not necessary to pray for it or that it will come whether christians pray for it or not. God says, in regard to this very class of events that are revealed in prophecy, 'I will also let the house of israel inquire of me to do this for them'.  (ezekiel 36.37)

TRUSTING THE SPIRIT'S LEADING

WHEN THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS UPON YOU AND EXCITES STRONG DESIRES FOR ANY BLESSING, YOU ARE BOUND TO PRAY FOR IT IN FAITH. you are bound to infer, from the fact that you find yourself drawn to desire such a thing while experiencing the joy and holiness the Spirit of God produces, that these desires are the work of the Spirit. people are not likely to desire with the right kind of desires unless they are inspired by the

233 Spirit of God. the apostle referred to these desires, excited by the Spirit, in his epistle to the Romans where he said, 'likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered' romans 8.26
it is evident that the prayer of faith will obtain the blessing because our faith rests on evidence that it is the will of God to grant that thing. the Scripture is not evidence that something else will be granted, but that this particular thing will be.

THE FRUIT OF FAITHFUL PRAYER
people often receive more than they pray for. solomon prayed for wisdom and God granted him riches and honor in addition. similarly, a wife can pray for the conversion of her husband, and, if she offers the prayer in faith, God will not only grant that blessing, but also convert her child and her whole family.  (acts 16.31) blessings sometimes seem to 'hang together', so that if a christian gains one he gains them all.
I COULD NAME MANY INDIVIDUALS WHO DECIDED TO EXAMINE THE BIBLE ON THIS SUBJECT, WHO, BEFORE THEY WERE THROUGH WITH IT, WERE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER. they found that god meant just what a plain, comon sense man would understand Him to mean.
I ADVISE YOU TO TRY IT.
YOU HAVE BIBLES.
LOOK THEM OVER AND WHENEVER YOU FIND A PROMISE YOU CAN USE,
PLANT IT IN YOUR MIND BEFORE YOU GO ON.
you will not get through the Book without finding out that God's promises mean just what they say.

GIVING UP TOO SOON
you must persevere.
you are not to pray for a thing once, then cease and call that the prayer of faith.
look to daniel.
he prayed 21 days and did not stop until he obtained the blessing.
he set his heart and face toward the lord to seek His answer by prayer and supplication.
234  he held on three weeks and then the answer came. and why did it not come before? God sent an archangel with the message, but the devil hindered him. (daniel 10.11-4) see what Christ said in the parable of the unjust judge and the parable of the loaves. what did He teach us by them? He taught
..GOD WILL GRANT ANSWERS TO PRAYER WHEN PRAYER IS PERSISTENT.
'shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him?' luke 18.7

PREVAILING PRINCE OF PRAYER
once a good man said to me, 'Oh, I am dying of a lack of strength to pray! my body is crushed; the world is on me; how can i continue praying?'  i have known that man to go to bed absolutely sick because of weakness and faintness under the pressure. and i have know him to pray as if HE WOULD DO VIOLENCE TO HEAVEN  and then i have seen the blessing come as plainly in answer to his prayer as if it were revealed. no person would doubt it any more than if god spoke from heaven.
this is how he died. he prayed more and more. he sued to take the map of the world, look over the different countries and pray for them until he collapsed in his room. Blessed man! ...

'but, you ask, for whom are we to pray this prayer? we want to know which cases, which people, which places and at what times we are to pray the prayer of faith'. i answer, as i have already answered, 'when you have evidence -from providences, promises, prophecies, or the leadings of the spirit - that Go will do the things for which you pray.

GOD'S PROMISE TO PARENTS
'did you not say there was a promise that christian parents may apply to their children? why is it, then, that so many faithful
235  parents have had impenitent children who died in their sins?' this is often the case, but it proves a point , especially in view of romans 3.4, 'let God be true but every man a liar'.  will we believe that god has not kept His promise of that these parents did not do their duty/ perhaps they did not believe the promise of did not believe there was any such thing as the prayer of faith. wherever you find a believer who does not believe in any such prayer, you find in general that he has children yet in their sins.

UNDERSTANDING THE PRAYER OF FAITH
people who have not known by experience what the prayer of faith is have good reason to doubt their own piety. this statement is by no means unkind. let them examine themselves. it is likely that they understand prayer as little as Nicodemus understood the new birth. john 3.19
they have not walked with God.
you cannot accurately describe the walk to them any more than you can describe a beautiful painting to a blind man...
236  ..i knew a father who was a good man, but who had misconceptions about the prayer of faith. his whole family of children were grown up, without one of them being converted. one day his son grew ill and seemed ready to die. the father prayed, but the son grew worse and was sinking into the grave without hope. the father prayed until his anguish was unutterable. he finally prayed (there seemed no prospect of his son surviving), pouring out his soul AS IF HE WOULD NOT BE DENIED.

later, he got an assurance that his son would not only live, but also be converted. God also assured him that not only this one, but also his whole family would be converted to God. he came into the house and told his family his son would not die. they were astonished at him. 'i tell you, he said, he will not die. and no child of mine will ever die in his sins'. that man's children were all converted years ago...
THE GOOD BOOK
finally, notice the efforts to dispose of the Bible completely. the unsaved are in favor of doing away with the warnings of the Bible, ans the church wants to do away with the promises. what does that
237  leave? without these the Bible would be an empty book. i ask in love, 'what is our Bible good for if we do not take hold of its precious promises and use them as the ground of our faith when we pray for the blessing of God?