Life-changing prayer is deeply rooted in the spiritual maturity of each Christian. The more we are in tune with the Spirit the easier for us to experience the depth and power of our prayers. Spiritual maturity will not come by years, but by understanding that our faith needs to be tended like a garden.
God gives each one of us a measure of faith at salvation.
In Romans 12:3
we read, "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure [metron] of faith [pistis] that God has given you."
The measure here is metron -- metron in Greek which literally translates as “limited portion.” As much as it is limited, it is more than enough for God to bring us to Jesus Christ, help us understand the Gospel message and receive salvation.
The Greek word for faith is pistis — pistis which means: "Conviction of the truth of anything, belief; (in NT) of a conviction or belief in respect to one's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervor born of faith and joined with it" (The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon)
Hebrews 11:1 provides further insight on the meaning of faith: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
Since God is the author, “perfecter” and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), God is the only one who can bring it to completion. Our faith, PISTIS grows as we read and meditate on the Word of God, as we live the Christian life in the daily grind, as we worship God individually and in community, as we fellowship with one another. We develop in the Spirit.
A.W. Tozer in his book -- We Travel an Appointed Way -- writes, “If we want to progress spiritually, we must separate ourselves unto the things of God and concentrate upon them to the exclusion of a thousand things the world considers important. We must cultivate God in the solitudes and silence; we must make the kingdom of God the sphere of our activity and labor in it like a farmer in his field, like a miner in the earth.”
If we are not actively seeking the Christ-filled life it is next to impossible to mature in the Spirit and experience God’s restoration of peace and joy in many areas of our lives. Romans 8:5 says, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit." And in Romans 12:1-2 we read, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect."
To be able to live according to the Spirit, we are to be transformed… And in order to be transformed we have to renew our minds. How do we renew our minds? We renew our minds according to God’s word — both logos and rhema — logos/rhema.
Romans 10:17 says, "
So faith [pistis] comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word [rhema] of Christ."
Strong's concordance defines logos as “a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea. Logos is often used to identify the written scriptures in the Bible; the collective revelation of both the Old and the New Testaments. Jesus completed this revelation as the literal embodiment of God's word, logos — John 1.
Rhema is the spoken word of God. Strong's concordance defines rhema as “that which is or has been uttered by the living voice.” Rhema carries a spiritual connotation that is different from logos. It applies specifically to our daily living as Christ’s disciples. There are times when a scripture verse speaks directly and exactly what we are experiencing; this is rhema.
The Scripture is the whole logos — the whole, complete word which reveals to us the living word, Jesus, the Logos of God. As God speaks the word — rhema of Christ that we need for our faith to grow the Spirit — Pneuma reveals the truth of this word. The Holy Spirit and the word — rhema agree with each other to reveal to us the Logos, Jesus Christ, who points to the Trinity.
As Jesus was talking with his disciples, and they made the following request in Luke 17:5, “The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" Jesus’ reply was, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.” (Luke 17:6)
Our faith does not appear out of nowhere and we simply do not add to our faith. It grows from something small into something large. The mustard plant starts from a tiny seed and grows to be about ten feet tall! It grows from the “measure” to which God has given us into “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
So faith comes by hearing the rhema of Christ.
In order to hear what God is saying to us, we must spend time with God in scripture reading, meditating, chewing on the Logos of God.
As we meditate on the Bible we begin to trust the promises of God. As we trust, we expect God to act in every area of our lives with conviction and assurance. Conviction and assurance bring boldness in prayer and witness.
