Prayer and faith

Matthew 21:22 (NLT)
22 You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”

The Disciples has just witnessed Jesus say to a fig tree, ““May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up. The Disciples were amazed and Jesus responded to their amazement by telling them anything was possible with faith.

In the movie Evan Almighty, Morgan Freeman’s character personifies God. There is a quote he uses in the movie that is valuable in teaching about prayer. Morgan Freeman said, “Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?” We pray sometimes thinking the results should be a certain way; yet God has His own plans for answering our prayers. We must have the faith and trust in God that He will answer our prayers appropriately. And it is through that faith that our prayers are answered.