They stayed; and for a year or two longer, nothing change. Then one day a friend in England sent word to the Moffats that she wanted to mail them a gift and asked what they would like. Mrs. Moffat replied, "Send us a communion set; I am sure it will soon be needed." She acted in faith. And the Holy Spirit moved upon the hearts of the villagers, and soon a little group of six converts formed the first Christian church in Botswana. The communion set from England was delayed in the mail; but on the day before the first communion service in Botswana, the set arrived.” -Unknown.
One of the hardest things I think is to see faith as real and actual. It’s not easy, when like the Moffats, we don’t see results. In the face of a dry desert of what looks like failure, can we keep believing?
We have this odd category as Americans, when we hear a spiritual truth, as if it’s somehow kind of true, but we put it into this category of 'that’s nice, but it’s not really real.' We place it in this category almost like it’s a nice myth. And I want to encourage us today, to throw out that category. It doesn’t exist. Can you truly believe in your inner most heart, that every word God says is really true, for you, today?
Today we examine the prayer of faith, and here we get to the very heart of what prayer is. Here is a definition I want to give you for intercessory prayer: Prayer is a request that we believe God for.
Sometimes I catch myself praying, but not really believing that God is going to answer. You ever do that? You’ve asked it so many times, that you just assume as soon as you start praying, it won’t actually happen. Again, we need to reject that form of prayer, because it is useless.
Faith is the key requirement for any prayer. And what is faith? Believing God will make it happen. Even more so, believing God has already made it happen.
Jesus said, "Believe you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24).
That is not believing God can, but believing God already has.
Where is the power in this scenario? The power comes entirely from God. We do not have power in ourselves. But the door through which the power arrives is our faith. Our trust in God and confidence in Him, from that, the power flows through the open door.
We’re going to learn all about the prayer of faith today. And I think it’s going to come from a somewhat surprising source.
We’re in Luke chapter 7 today, in an incident where Jesus receives a request to heal someone.
Jesus had been teaching, giving the sermon on the mount in fact, and then after, we see Jesus moving to visit the city of Capernaum.
It says in Luke 7:1-2, “ When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.”
Jesus is going about his work, preaching and teaching, and then a problem occurs. There is a situation that takes place, a centurion’s servant is sick and about to die.
What does this have to do with prayer for us today?
We often are living our lives as Christians and we discover that someone we love is sick or injured, and in need of God’s help.
Like the centurion’s servant, who was highly favored by his master, this person we know, who we’re praying for, is valued highly by God. Yet, they are in danger. And so we move toward an action based in love, we move to prayer.
One thing to note: It is impossible to hate someone that you are actively praying for. Try it. I always tell people if you have a resentment toward someone, pray for them for two weeks, that God would bless them with every good thing you want in life. And watch what God does in your heart during those two weeks.
We prayer warriors, and all Christians should be prayer warriors, know that our loved one is highly favored by the Lord, and we begin to pray. We lift them up to the Lord, crying out for mercy for them. And so begins a battle of prayer.
Verse 3 says, “The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.”
The centurion knew Jesus was near, and sends word to him, asking him to come and heal his precious servant. Just like the centurion sends word to Jesus, we send word to Jesus for our loved ones.
The centurion believed something in his heart: Jesus has the power to help my servant.
Do you believe the same about Jesus? That Jesus has power to do anything you need? That Jesus has power to heal you? That Jesus has power to save you?
We may say we believe it, in our mind, but does our heart believe that? The mind is good. But the heart, that’s where the power comes. Because, if our heart really did believe it, 100%, then we’d probably never stop praying. But maybe our heart is kind of like what we talked about at the beginning, it’s true but it is, but it’s not, but it kind of is. This is double-minded thinking. We can overcome that, to believe entirely, that Jesus does in fact have the power.
I remember in 2011 and 2012 when I was a non-believer, I was reading the Bible my grandfather gave me, studying Jacob’s ladder, watching the gospel of John movie over and over. But my heart did not believe that Jesus had power. I did not believe Jesus was really real. I did not believe he could change my life.
But, as I watched that movie over and over and read the word, one night it came to me, that if I cried out to Jesus, Jesus could help me.
When we pray, it comes from a heart belief that Jesus really can help whatever situation we’re facing.
Next we see the friends of the centurion speaking to Jesus.
One of the hardest things I think is to see faith as real and actual. It’s not easy, when like the Moffats, we don’t see results. In the face of a dry desert of what looks like failure, can we keep believing?
We have this odd category as Americans, when we hear a spiritual truth, as if it’s somehow kind of true, but we put it into this category of 'that’s nice, but it’s not really real.' We place it in this category almost like it’s a nice myth. And I want to encourage us today, to throw out that category. It doesn’t exist. Can you truly believe in your inner most heart, that every word God says is really true, for you, today?
Today we examine the prayer of faith, and here we get to the very heart of what prayer is. Here is a definition I want to give you for intercessory prayer: Prayer is a request that we believe God for.
Sometimes I catch myself praying, but not really believing that God is going to answer. You ever do that? You’ve asked it so many times, that you just assume as soon as you start praying, it won’t actually happen. Again, we need to reject that form of prayer, because it is useless.
Faith is the key requirement for any prayer. And what is faith? Believing God will make it happen. Even more so, believing God has already made it happen.
Jesus said, "Believe you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24).
That is not believing God can, but believing God already has.
Where is the power in this scenario? The power comes entirely from God. We do not have power in ourselves. But the door through which the power arrives is our faith. Our trust in God and confidence in Him, from that, the power flows through the open door.
We’re going to learn all about the prayer of faith today. And I think it’s going to come from a somewhat surprising source.
We’re in Luke chapter 7 today, in an incident where Jesus receives a request to heal someone.
Jesus had been teaching, giving the sermon on the mount in fact, and then after, we see Jesus moving to visit the city of Capernaum.
It says in Luke 7:1-2, “ When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.”
Jesus is going about his work, preaching and teaching, and then a problem occurs. There is a situation that takes place, a centurion’s servant is sick and about to die.
What does this have to do with prayer for us today?
We often are living our lives as Christians and we discover that someone we love is sick or injured, and in need of God’s help.
Like the centurion’s servant, who was highly favored by his master, this person we know, who we’re praying for, is valued highly by God. Yet, they are in danger. And so we move toward an action based in love, we move to prayer.
One thing to note: It is impossible to hate someone that you are actively praying for. Try it. I always tell people if you have a resentment toward someone, pray for them for two weeks, that God would bless them with every good thing you want in life. And watch what God does in your heart during those two weeks.
We prayer warriors, and all Christians should be prayer warriors, know that our loved one is highly favored by the Lord, and we begin to pray. We lift them up to the Lord, crying out for mercy for them. And so begins a battle of prayer.
Verse 3 says, “The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.”
The centurion knew Jesus was near, and sends word to him, asking him to come and heal his precious servant. Just like the centurion sends word to Jesus, we send word to Jesus for our loved ones.
The centurion believed something in his heart: Jesus has the power to help my servant.
Do you believe the same about Jesus? That Jesus has power to do anything you need? That Jesus has power to heal you? That Jesus has power to save you?
We may say we believe it, in our mind, but does our heart believe that? The mind is good. But the heart, that’s where the power comes. Because, if our heart really did believe it, 100%, then we’d probably never stop praying. But maybe our heart is kind of like what we talked about at the beginning, it’s true but it is, but it’s not, but it kind of is. This is double-minded thinking. We can overcome that, to believe entirely, that Jesus does in fact have the power.
I remember in 2011 and 2012 when I was a non-believer, I was reading the Bible my grandfather gave me, studying Jacob’s ladder, watching the gospel of John movie over and over. But my heart did not believe that Jesus had power. I did not believe Jesus was really real. I did not believe he could change my life.
But, as I watched that movie over and over and read the word, one night it came to me, that if I cried out to Jesus, Jesus could help me.
When we pray, it comes from a heart belief that Jesus really can help whatever situation we’re facing.
Next we see the friends of the centurion speaking to Jesus.
Verses 4-5, “When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”
When we pray, we also come to Jesus, and we plead earnestly with Him for the person we’re praying for. I think it’s always wise to make a case for them, 'Lord show mercy they’ve been through so much, God they love you dearly, build a case in your prayer, plead with the Master.'
The men tell Jesus, he’s worthy to have this done for him, he loves our nation and built our synagogue. This is an honorable man. I think it can affect how our prayers our answered, if we’re living an impure life, or mistreating others, we’re less likely to have our prayers answered.
Men are told in the word of God, don’t mistreat your wives, so your prayers aren’t hindered. So clearly our conduct can affect whether our prayers will be answered (1 Peter 3:7)
Verse 6 says, “So Jesus went with them…”
Every prayer we pray, we pray with the ending statement, 'in Jesus name, amen.' That's a statement of authority.
Jesus didn’t do anything in his own authority when he was on earth, it says in John 14:10-13 “The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”
Jesus did everything by the authority of the Father, who dwelled within Him. And Jesus gives us a similar instruction. Just as Jesus did everything by the authority of the Father, we are commanded to pray in the authority of Jesus Christ, and we are told, you will receive what you ask for.
Jesus told his disciples, when they met in the upper room, right before he would be crucified… “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.”
Just as Jesus honored the Father, so we also by praying in Jesus name, bring glory to the Father as well. Jesus is seated with the Father in heaven right now, so he is able to receive our prayers, and answer them.
That’s why we pray in Jesus name, its shocking but what we’re saying is, 'on behalf of Jesus, I ask for this. In Jesus’ authority, this will happen, Amen.'
It’s like Jesus goes with us, and we act in His name and authority, which is shocking.
Second portion of verse 6, “He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.”
The centurion sends word to Jesus as he gets closer, don’t even bother coming under my roof. He hasn’t even seen Jesus, and yet he believes so completely.
We face the same challenge, in that we don’t see God directly. We weren’t alive when Jesus walked the Earth. We weren’t one of his twelve disciples. We didn’t watch God create the Earth. We didn’t see Moses lead millions through the wilderness. We didn’t watch David’s battle with Goliath. But we have seen God at work in our lives in mighty ways.
And to be honest, we have the creation. I was watching a Facebook reel recently, it was of the famous atheist Christopher Hitchens, and he was being asked what was the best argument Christians had that God is really real. And he said the fine tuning of everything. That when we look at the universe, stars, systems, nature, DNA, animals, it all looks designed by a creative intelligence.
We have creation, but we can’t see God physically. We can sense His presence, we can see evidence of His works in changed lives, but we can’t see Him.
And that is why Jesus is so impressed by the faith of the centurion. For at the end of verse 7 he utters this amazing phrase that has stood the test of time…
“But say the word, and my servant will be healed.”
After Jesus had been crucified, the disciples were in hiding. Some of them claimed to have seen Jesus alive and walking around. But Thomas said, I will not believe unless I put my hand in the scars in his hands and feet and put my hand into his side where he was pierced.
And then Jesus walked into the room, and came right up to Thomas, and said, "Stop doubting and believe." And maybe some of us need that same reminder today, stop doubting and simply believe. It’s really true. Take it to the bank! Jesus is real and he’s alive.
But what Jesus says next is amazing: You believe because you see me, blessed are those who believe without seeing me.
That’s you and me. We don’t see Jesus physically. We can’t put our hands into his wounds. But we know he’s alive. We know he’s God. We know he’s able to do anything. And so did the centurion.
He knew Jesus has all power. He told Jesus, just speak the word, and my servant will be healed. That is amazing faith!
Speak the word… Who is the word? In John 1, we discover that Jesus is the living word of God.
When God speaks, it means power.
It’s fascinating if you study the power of sound, and music. In cymatics, when music is played at certain frequencies, sand on a flat plate with rearrange into complex geographic shapes. The vibrations from music will actually affect the layout of matter. That’s why it’s important you be cautious what music you listen to, it’s affecting your flesh.
There is incredible power in the spoken word. God spoke and the universe was made. Jesus is called the word of God. And when Jesus speaks, everything changes.
Next, verse 8, the centurion shares this explanation with Jesus:
“For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
We come to the concept of authority. This man served as a Roman centurion, which meant he commanded about 100 soldiers. He understood authority.
And he explains it well, he as a centurion was under authority, the authority over the centurion was the Roman empire. Yet he also had about 100 men under his authority. And he was able to issue orders to them, and they would obey, because they trusted the authority of their commander.
The centurion understood that Jesus was one with authority and also under authority as well. God the Father was the authority over Jesus while he was on Earth. Wielding that authority in the Father’s will, Jesus was able to do amazing miracles. But the people receiving the miracle would exercise trust in Jesus, so that was a factor as well, faith.
Let’s relate this to ourselves. We are under the authority of God the Father through Jesus. But we also exercise authority, the authority given to us by Jesus. And when we pray in Jesus name, in God the Father’s will and purposes, amazing miracles and healings happen. Again, also contingent on our faith.
The centurion trusts Jesus’ authority completely. He says your kind of like me ordering my soldiers around, you are able to order sickness to be healed and it happens.
We can trust Jesus’ authority too. We can trust that we are able to carry His authority by speaking in the name of Jesus. And then amazing prayers are answered by God. And the whole world changes. Lives change. Miracles happen. People are healed. People get saved. All because we prayed in faith, in the name of Jesus, and in that authority, we called on heaven to change the world system to conform to God’s will. But understand that God chooses to work through people, so if we don’t pray and believe, nothing changes.
So we must pray with a bold confidence in our heart, that Jesus hears our prayer, is answering our prayer, and has indeed already given us what we’ve asked for.
Verse 9: "When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”
There are only two times in scripture where it says Jesus was amazed. One of them is when Jesus was amazed at the faith of the centurion here. And the other is when Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith of those in his hometown.
I’m sure for all of us, there are times when Jesus looks at us and is amazed by our great faith, and there are other times when he looks at us and is amazed by our lack of faith.
The centurion had great faith, mighty faith, large faith. And this faith expressed itself in trust that Jesus could heal, even from a distance. And that’s just the kind of faith we need in prayer.
Verse 10: “Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.”
The result of the faith of the centurion was that the servant who was near death was suddenly found to be well. Jesus healed Him. And we can say the same thing today, when God heals someone: Jesus did this.
Now it’s your turn. Believe in the one who has all authority. Walk by the leading of His Holy Spirit within you. Then you’ll receive an unction, a sense from the Lord, to pray for certain people, and then you’ll exercise your authority, by praying in Jesus name, and then you’ll do your part which is to believe Jesus has done it, and then, your prayer will be answered.
Think back to the opening illustration, the Moffats, they never gave up, even after years of seeing no results. It seemed so bleak, but then… everything changed. The real challenge is when we see that loved one who has absolutely no interest in faith in God. Or that friend who appears so sick. Or that situation that seems so unchanging. It seems so dry, so unthinkably hopeless, but can we in that dry moment see the future hope, that God is able to completely change everything? The pray of faith is a heroic act, in the face of the complete opposite of what we hope! In the face of that we dare to believe: 'God it’s already new. You’ve already moved. The whole world is changed.'
Pray with passion.
Pray with excitement.
Pray with boldness.
Pray by the Spirit.
Pray with faith.
Pray believing in Jesus’ authority.
Pray by the authority you have in Him.
And your prayers will change this world forever, by the prayer of faith.
When we pray, we also come to Jesus, and we plead earnestly with Him for the person we’re praying for. I think it’s always wise to make a case for them, 'Lord show mercy they’ve been through so much, God they love you dearly, build a case in your prayer, plead with the Master.'
The men tell Jesus, he’s worthy to have this done for him, he loves our nation and built our synagogue. This is an honorable man. I think it can affect how our prayers our answered, if we’re living an impure life, or mistreating others, we’re less likely to have our prayers answered.
Men are told in the word of God, don’t mistreat your wives, so your prayers aren’t hindered. So clearly our conduct can affect whether our prayers will be answered (1 Peter 3:7)
Verse 6 says, “So Jesus went with them…”
Every prayer we pray, we pray with the ending statement, 'in Jesus name, amen.' That's a statement of authority.
Jesus didn’t do anything in his own authority when he was on earth, it says in John 14:10-13 “The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”
Jesus did everything by the authority of the Father, who dwelled within Him. And Jesus gives us a similar instruction. Just as Jesus did everything by the authority of the Father, we are commanded to pray in the authority of Jesus Christ, and we are told, you will receive what you ask for.
Jesus told his disciples, when they met in the upper room, right before he would be crucified… “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.”
Just as Jesus honored the Father, so we also by praying in Jesus name, bring glory to the Father as well. Jesus is seated with the Father in heaven right now, so he is able to receive our prayers, and answer them.
That’s why we pray in Jesus name, its shocking but what we’re saying is, 'on behalf of Jesus, I ask for this. In Jesus’ authority, this will happen, Amen.'
It’s like Jesus goes with us, and we act in His name and authority, which is shocking.
Second portion of verse 6, “He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.”
The centurion sends word to Jesus as he gets closer, don’t even bother coming under my roof. He hasn’t even seen Jesus, and yet he believes so completely.
We face the same challenge, in that we don’t see God directly. We weren’t alive when Jesus walked the Earth. We weren’t one of his twelve disciples. We didn’t watch God create the Earth. We didn’t see Moses lead millions through the wilderness. We didn’t watch David’s battle with Goliath. But we have seen God at work in our lives in mighty ways.
And to be honest, we have the creation. I was watching a Facebook reel recently, it was of the famous atheist Christopher Hitchens, and he was being asked what was the best argument Christians had that God is really real. And he said the fine tuning of everything. That when we look at the universe, stars, systems, nature, DNA, animals, it all looks designed by a creative intelligence.
We have creation, but we can’t see God physically. We can sense His presence, we can see evidence of His works in changed lives, but we can’t see Him.
And that is why Jesus is so impressed by the faith of the centurion. For at the end of verse 7 he utters this amazing phrase that has stood the test of time…
“But say the word, and my servant will be healed.”
After Jesus had been crucified, the disciples were in hiding. Some of them claimed to have seen Jesus alive and walking around. But Thomas said, I will not believe unless I put my hand in the scars in his hands and feet and put my hand into his side where he was pierced.
And then Jesus walked into the room, and came right up to Thomas, and said, "Stop doubting and believe." And maybe some of us need that same reminder today, stop doubting and simply believe. It’s really true. Take it to the bank! Jesus is real and he’s alive.
But what Jesus says next is amazing: You believe because you see me, blessed are those who believe without seeing me.
That’s you and me. We don’t see Jesus physically. We can’t put our hands into his wounds. But we know he’s alive. We know he’s God. We know he’s able to do anything. And so did the centurion.
He knew Jesus has all power. He told Jesus, just speak the word, and my servant will be healed. That is amazing faith!
Speak the word… Who is the word? In John 1, we discover that Jesus is the living word of God.
When God speaks, it means power.
It’s fascinating if you study the power of sound, and music. In cymatics, when music is played at certain frequencies, sand on a flat plate with rearrange into complex geographic shapes. The vibrations from music will actually affect the layout of matter. That’s why it’s important you be cautious what music you listen to, it’s affecting your flesh.
There is incredible power in the spoken word. God spoke and the universe was made. Jesus is called the word of God. And when Jesus speaks, everything changes.
Next, verse 8, the centurion shares this explanation with Jesus:
“For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
We come to the concept of authority. This man served as a Roman centurion, which meant he commanded about 100 soldiers. He understood authority.
And he explains it well, he as a centurion was under authority, the authority over the centurion was the Roman empire. Yet he also had about 100 men under his authority. And he was able to issue orders to them, and they would obey, because they trusted the authority of their commander.
The centurion understood that Jesus was one with authority and also under authority as well. God the Father was the authority over Jesus while he was on Earth. Wielding that authority in the Father’s will, Jesus was able to do amazing miracles. But the people receiving the miracle would exercise trust in Jesus, so that was a factor as well, faith.
Let’s relate this to ourselves. We are under the authority of God the Father through Jesus. But we also exercise authority, the authority given to us by Jesus. And when we pray in Jesus name, in God the Father’s will and purposes, amazing miracles and healings happen. Again, also contingent on our faith.
The centurion trusts Jesus’ authority completely. He says your kind of like me ordering my soldiers around, you are able to order sickness to be healed and it happens.
We can trust Jesus’ authority too. We can trust that we are able to carry His authority by speaking in the name of Jesus. And then amazing prayers are answered by God. And the whole world changes. Lives change. Miracles happen. People are healed. People get saved. All because we prayed in faith, in the name of Jesus, and in that authority, we called on heaven to change the world system to conform to God’s will. But understand that God chooses to work through people, so if we don’t pray and believe, nothing changes.
So we must pray with a bold confidence in our heart, that Jesus hears our prayer, is answering our prayer, and has indeed already given us what we’ve asked for.
Verse 9: "When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”
There are only two times in scripture where it says Jesus was amazed. One of them is when Jesus was amazed at the faith of the centurion here. And the other is when Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith of those in his hometown.
I’m sure for all of us, there are times when Jesus looks at us and is amazed by our great faith, and there are other times when he looks at us and is amazed by our lack of faith.
The centurion had great faith, mighty faith, large faith. And this faith expressed itself in trust that Jesus could heal, even from a distance. And that’s just the kind of faith we need in prayer.
Verse 10: “Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.”
The result of the faith of the centurion was that the servant who was near death was suddenly found to be well. Jesus healed Him. And we can say the same thing today, when God heals someone: Jesus did this.
Now it’s your turn. Believe in the one who has all authority. Walk by the leading of His Holy Spirit within you. Then you’ll receive an unction, a sense from the Lord, to pray for certain people, and then you’ll exercise your authority, by praying in Jesus name, and then you’ll do your part which is to believe Jesus has done it, and then, your prayer will be answered.
Think back to the opening illustration, the Moffats, they never gave up, even after years of seeing no results. It seemed so bleak, but then… everything changed. The real challenge is when we see that loved one who has absolutely no interest in faith in God. Or that friend who appears so sick. Or that situation that seems so unchanging. It seems so dry, so unthinkably hopeless, but can we in that dry moment see the future hope, that God is able to completely change everything? The pray of faith is a heroic act, in the face of the complete opposite of what we hope! In the face of that we dare to believe: 'God it’s already new. You’ve already moved. The whole world is changed.'
Pray with passion.
Pray with excitement.
Pray with boldness.
Pray by the Spirit.
Pray with faith.
Pray believing in Jesus’ authority.
Pray by the authority you have in Him.
And your prayers will change this world forever, by the prayer of faith.
