After The ‘Prayer of Faith’ What Do You Do Afterward?

by Victoria Thornton

What goes through your mind after you’ve petitioned God in prayer asking Him to do something, yet the circumstance (from your perspective) remains unchanged?

There were times after praying, my mind would go into overdrive.  Like a machine gun, thoughts would begin to overwhelm me. I wondered what was happening, did I really pray in faith?  Did I really get it? When will it be manifested etc?

One day while meditating on the scripture in Matthew 7, God gave me a vision of what petition prayer was like. In the vision, I saw an assembly line like you would see at food production company.  When a request was made, immediately whatever the person was praying for was placed on that assembly line for the person to be sent out. What amazed me was how quickly it appeared there after the request was made. The request would come in and the thing prayed for would immediately be put there to be shipped out. There was no waiting. None.

Daniel experienced this also while petitioning God. The angel told him from the first day he set his heart to understand, 1) his words were heard 2) he was sent to answer him.

Dan 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

Abraham’ servant experienced the same thing, when Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac. His servant prayed a prayer in Genesis 34-12-14. In verse Genesis 34:15 states “that before he had done speaking that Rebekah came out”.

Notice that God sent an angel with Daniel’s answer immediately. And God sent the answer to Abraham’s servant immediately.  Just like Daniel and Abraham’s servant, God answers us immediately too.  God is faithful.  He answered our prayer if we asked in faith.  In petition prayer, when we ask for anything He gives it to us.  From His perspective it is done but from ours, it might not appear so.

So what do we do? What we do after our prayer is important.  It will determine if the answer ever reaches us or not.

So what do we do after we ‘believe we receive’.  After we pray a prayer in faith, yet the circumstance remains unchanged, what do we do next?
Know that whether you see it or not and the condition of your circumstances does not factor in on whether God gave or not.  We believe God gave based on the integrity of his Word.  In fact if you are looking for your circumstance to tell you whether you have received or not, you are not in faith.  We don’t ignore the circumstances but we do let the circumstance tell us if we received or not.

But if you are in faith below are a list of things I’m sure you have heard before but it bears repeating.

GIVE THANKS
First, we give God thanksgiving and praise. What better way to end the prayer than to say ‘thank you’. You are not just mouthing empty words or doing it because you have been taught to do so.  No, your thanksgiving is a way to let God know that you have, in fact, received and letting him know it.  Thanksgiving is worshiping by faith.  Many see thanksgiving as a form of faith because you are thanking him that you received something when you have no physical evidence.

Jesus thought giving thanks was important. In Luke 17:11-19, ten lepers approached him to be healed but only one returned to give thanks.  Jesus asked where were the other nine? If Jesus thinks it is important to give thanks then it something we must do with all our heart

Luke 17:12-19 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God. And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

TAKE ACTION
Second, you have to take some form of action.  Action is another way you show you believe God.  It is a normal reaction to believing God.  If you study the epistles, after each encounter Jesus had the people he ministered to, take some form of action to show they believed they received.

Be a doer of the word. A person who says they believe and does nothing about what he believes is fooling themselves.  Faith simply won't work without and expression of action. Did you know it doesn't matter how much faith you have, if you don't put your faith into action there won't be any results?

James 1:23-24 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.


CONFESSION
Third, confession. Confess out loud what God has done for you.  Confess and confess often.  Confession brings what you are believing God for into the world we live in.  God says, I create the fruit of the lips. You’ll have to confess it in order to bring God’s Will in heaven to bear upon the circumstances on earth.

Also, your confession keeps it before you.  If you are confessing it throughout your day, you are not likely to let it grow cold.  If you are believing God for a mate, God won't send him or her from heaven.  The person is already here on earth.  God already knows where he or she is and what they are doing.  When you pray God begins working in each of your lives to bring you together.  So confess it as often as possible.

HAVE A TENDER HEART
Fourth, have a tender heart towards God so you can hear Him if He needs you to do something.  Put yourself in a position to receive God’s wisdom.  There may be something you need to know before the manifestation can arrive.  By having a heart that is tender towards God you position yourself to be able to hear Him and obey quickly if you are to do any thing.

Here are a few other things to remember to stay away from as you go through this process.

RESIST THE DEVIL.  Don’t accept any careless thoughts that the enemy will try and throw your way. Guard your heart with all diligence. Sometimes he catches us off guard when he uses well-meaning people.

DON’T BE DOUBLE MINDED. Stand guard in what you hear. A double-mind person will receive nothing from the Lord.  Stay single minded. Don’t believe one thing in the morning and by the afternoon believe something totally different.  Always agree with the Word even if it is not demonstrated in your life yet.

James 1:6-8 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

REFUSE TO DOUBT.  Don’t allow doubt to reside in your heart.  Resist it, cast it out.  Doubt is sin. The children of Israel engaged in doubt and spent 40 extra years in the wilderness. (Num 14:26-35)  See doubt as a inroad of the enemy to rob you of your faith.

CONTROL YOUR TONGUE.   Watch what you say out of your own mouth when you are angry or frustrated because in those times you could say the wrong things and negate your prayer.

It’s okay to get angry but don’t sin. The enemy can badger us sometimes so long and hard and out of frustration we say things against what we are believing.  And I’ve learn words spoken with such power behind them can really do damage if they are not in line with the Word.

I recall one time as I believed for my mate and I could tell I was close.  I could tell that my faith was bringing it into being but out of frustration because I had been waiting so long I made a cavalier statement that was negative and it zapped my faith and it was gone.   The months it had taken to build my faith and build the anointing was gone in an instant because I let my anger and frustration get the best of me.  I spoke negative words that negated what I was believing for.  I believe my faith was zapped in an instant because those words mixed with such anger carried a lot of negative power and overcame my growing faith.  So in times of frustration and anger, watch what you say.  The enemy knows a big part of manifesting your prayers is confession and he uses your own words to rob you of your faith.

In closing, Jesus made faith easy but we complicate it with all the baggage and the sin nature we have in us. Therefore be open to God to help you so you can see the answers to your prayers and manifestations you desire.†

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