Can you pray for more Faith?
Asking God for more faith does not increase our faith because this is not the way that God told us, through His word, how we can receive and grow faith.
There is a very important part that prayer plays in the growing of our faith, but asking for more faith is not its part. We’ll cover more on this later in the article.
Many people make the assumption that since Jesus promised us that everything we pray for in His name we will receive, that this therefore means that we can pray for an increase of faith. [Related article: Can God increase our Faith? (Biblical Answer)].
Although, it is true that we will receive all that we ask for if we ask in faith and in His name, it is also true that prayers are only answered in accordance to His will.
Now you may say, “isn’t it God’s will that I be a person of great faith?”
Of course it is! But He already revealed to us how we are supposed to get faith.
How faith comes (according to the Bible)
The Bible reveals that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
The only way to get faith is to receive the Word of God, whether that is hearing or reading it. The Bible also reveals that the word of God is a seed that we are to plant into our hearts through receiving it, understanding it, and then acting on it. [Related article: How to get/receive faith (Explained)].
And as we do this, the seed grows in our hearts and becomes a great mustard tree that grows bigger than all the trees in the garden.
So, if you are someone who is asking God for more faith, everytime you ask Him He is pointing to His word.
God literally placed the ability to grow in faith in our hands so that the level of faith that we want is solely up to us. How awesome is that!
What does prayer do to faith?
Prayer deepens the soil of our heart so that the seed of faith (a.k.a the Word of God) can take root in us so that we can endure every trial that comes against the Word, and in turn we will be able to bear much fruit.
Mark 4, Matthew 13, and Luke 8 give detailed descriptions of what happens when the word is planted in our hearts and it goes in detail about the different heart conditions of the people that either bear fruit (or grow in faith) and those that don’t.
I have multiple articles on this topic and I cover it extensively. See What a Mustard Seed of Faith Means (And How to Have it), How to get/receive faith (Explained), and How to Grow in Faith.
But right now, we are only talking about prayer and prayer is the antidote for one of these heart conditions.
The second heart issue mentioned in these passages is a heart that has “no depth of earth” and that every time a trial, persecution, or temptation comes the word of God is scorched from this person’s life and they are unable to bear fruit.
In these passages, we do not see the antidote, but later we see what the Lord Jesus said to His disciples about how they can overcome temptation and intense trials.
Right before Jesus was taken to be crucified, He was praying late into the night and His disciples kept falling asleep.
“Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:40-41)
Notice, Jesus said, “pray lest you enter into temptation.” Which means that if they would have prayed they probably wouldn’t have scattered and denied Jesus.
But, of course, they did and they fulfilled the scripture which says, “I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered” (Zechariah 13:7)
So we see that a huge hindrance to growing in faith is the word of God being hindered by trials.
Everytime a situation arises that causes stress, persecution, or some form of testing from the world and the enemy, this person with this heart condition stumbles in their walk.
Jesus called this a person with “no root in himself”.
So if we combine these two passages we see that the fix to this is prayer. We have the same issue the disciples had “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Related article: 7 Tips to Develop and Maintain a Consistent Prayer Life)
As we submit our flesh through prayer, our flesh comes under agreement with our spirit man and then our spirit man begins to reign which causes us to overcome any trial. (Note: fasting also causes the flesh to submit to the spirit).
In short, consume the word of God. Plant it into your heart. Spend quality and quantity time in prayer so that you can begin to let the word of God take root in your heart and so that the flesh gets submitted. Once you have done these things you are that much closer to attaining mighty faith!
I hope you enjoyed this article and that it helped you in your walk with God.
God bless you all!
