121 Days of Prayer

He Grew Strong in His Faith as He Gave Glory to God

The purposes of this prayer are: Salvation, Increased Faith and Justification.

Heavenly Father, when explaining to the Romans that salvation comes through having faith in Jesus, the Messiah, rather than in obedience to the Law of Moses, Paul used the example of Abraham and your promise to him that he would have more descendants, even though his wife Sarah was barren, than there were stars in the sky. Abraham trusted your promise to him by faith, and you credited his trust in you as righteousness: “For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’)- in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become ‘the father of many nations,’ according to what was said, ‘So numerous shall your descendants be.’ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith ‘was reckoned to him as righteousness.’ Now the words, ‘it was reckoned to him,’ were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.” Romans 4:16–25 (NRSV). Lord, Christians know that there is nothing that they can do to earn eternal salvation. Salvation is your gracious gift to all who place their unwavering faith in your Son, Jesus. We believe that Jesus died for our trespasses and was raised for our justification. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.