Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Hopefully you all know by now that our eternal salvation was completely accomplished by Jesus Christ on the Cross, when He took the punishment for ALL our sins. I want to focus on what it is we bring to the equation. It’s simply FAITH.

What happens to grace when you add your own human works to it?

Romans 11:6

6 But if it is by grace, (and it is by grace) it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

We don’t add anything to the work of salvation, only faith. If salvation is accomplished by simply believing, or having faith, what makes you think that the Christian way of life is any different? The main place we all (myself included) need to apply this principle is to the concept of prayer.

Who answers prayer? Does God only “help those who help themselves?” What did Jesus promise us?

John 14:12-14

12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

13 "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

So who is the one fulfilling our prayers? It’s Jesus Christ, seated at the right hand of God the Father. You have probably all heard this verse before, but DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE IT? How much do you trust Him to do what He said He would do? If this were the only place He promised us this, we might be able to explain it away. But it’s not:

Matthew 21:20-22

20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, "How did the fig tree wither all at once?" (Jesus had commanded the fig tree to wither, and of course, it did!)

21 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, "Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen.

22 "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

So what’s the key to having your prayers answered? It’s FAITH! Just like salvation is completely accomplished by God, answers to prayers are completely accomplished by God. Just like we simply add faith for salvation, we simply add faith for answers to prayers.

There is no question that God does answer prayers. Look at all the examples in the Word of God. Yesterday we saw the prayer that Moses made, and God answered:

Deuteronomy 9:19

19 "For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was wrathful against you in order to destroy you, but the LORD listened to me that time also.

There are many examples in the Bible of God answering prayer. If the same wasn’t available to us, why would He give us so many examples, and make us so many promises regarding prayer?

Here’s what it comes down to: How can you believe what the Bible says related to your salvation, and not believe what it says regarding answers to your prayers? We can trust Him for our eternal salvation, but we don’t trust Him to answer our prayers?

Faith in your prayer life will accomplish great things. Trust God to do what He said He would do. If you want to see what faith can do for you, just read Hebrews 11, but especially this verse:

Hebrews 11:6

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.