How faith works

If faith no larger than a mustard seed can move a mountain (Matthew 17:20), you figure that your faith must be small indeed, because your prayers seem to go unanswered. That can be disheartening, I know, but it shouldn't stop you from asking Me for a miracle when you need one.
There are a couple of things you should know about faith: First, it's not something you can earn or muster up yourself, but it's a gift from your heavenly Father. Second, like a muscle, faith needs nourishment and exercise to grow. That spiritual nourishment comes from reading and absorbing God's Word. You exercise your faith by acting on it. So nourish and put your faith to work daily through your prayers and actions.
You don't have to wait till you feel you have strong faith to begin receiving My help, though. If you need results now but feel you don't have enough faith to warrant them, ask Me to increase your faith. Be like the man in the Bible who begged Me to heal his son, who could not hear or speak. The man had every reason to doubt that things could ever be different, and he did. He knew that his faith was weak, so when I asked him if he believed I could heal his son he replied, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief." The moment he confessed his inadequacy and asked for My help, he received both faith and the miracle—his son was instantly healed!

Prayer’s healing power

The human body is vulnerable to sickness and disease. That’s part of the human condition. There are some things you can do—some precautions you can take to help maintain good health, and some remedies you can use to facilitate the natural healing process—but none of these are cure-alls, none of them get permanent results, and sometimes they simply aren’t enough. Sometimes you need something more—spiritual help. That help is Mine to freely give, and I make it available to you through prayer. Your prayers for healing set in motion My spiritual power, which can then go to work on fixing your physical body.
You can’t see electricity, but you know it exists because you can see its effects. And because others have learned how to harness electricity’s power, you can put it to work for you. You flip the switch and the light comes on or the appliance does what it was made to do, and your life is better for it. Well, prayer is just as real, but far more wonderful. It’s the means for bringing heavenly spiritual power to your earthly plane—power that can do all sorts of marvelous things, including heal your body when needed.
But just as all the electricity in the world won’t do you a bit of good unless you tap into it, all that heavenly power to heal won’t do you a bit of good unless you avail yourself of it. Flip the switch, connect with Me, and My infinite resources are at your command.

No reason to hide

You are ashamed of some of the things you hold inside, but I see them all and I love you anyway. I see the beauty of your heart. I see what you can become, and I see what you are already becoming through your love for Me. Don’t think that you are unworthy in My sight. Don’t hide in shame, for I see it all and love you just the same.
My Spirit brings love and healing where hurt abounds. It brings understanding to the rejected. It brings life where there is despair.
I know your heart and I know what’s wrong, but I see beauty there as well. You love Me and you love others, and that’s what counts with Me.
Believe in My love for you. Treasure it even though you don’t understand how I can love you. I love to love you because I know your need for Me is great. Deep inside you long for Me to make you whole, and that makes Me treasure you all the more.

I understand everything

I am so in love with you that I overlook all your faults and failures. I am blind with love—love that sees beyond your shortcomings and mistakes, love that only sees the good and the possibilities that others do not recognize.
I do not have a great big stick standing by, ready to wallop you at your slightest failing. I do not stand ready and waiting for you to trip and fall that I may whack you back in line. How could I? For I, too, walked in your shoes. I, too, took on the cloak of human flesh that I might know and feel and understand everything about you. I know the frustrations you feel, your every longing, the incapability of your human flesh, and even your secret sins. I feel your humanness, and because of this, I have promised that I will have mercy upon you. My thoughts toward you are thoughts of peace, forgiveness, long-suffering and compassion.

I understand everything

I am so in love with you that I overlook all your faults and failures. I am blind with love—love that sees beyond your shortcomings and mistakes, love that only sees the good and the possibilities that others do not recognize.
I do not have a great big stick standing by, ready to wallop you at your slightest failing. I do not stand ready and waiting for you to trip and fall that I may whack you back in line. How could I? For I, too, walked in your shoes. I, too, took on the cloak of human flesh that I might know and feel and understand everything about you. I know the frustrations you feel, your every longing, the incapability of your human flesh, and even your secret sins. I feel your humanness, and because of this, I have promised that I will have mercy upon you. My thoughts toward you are thoughts of peace, forgiveness, long-suffering and compassion.