How To Have Faith and Gain Results

Christ outlined what steps constitute having faith in the following scripture:

Mark 11

22 Have faith in God," Jesus answered.
23 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

To have faith, someone must say what he wants and believe that he will receive it, or ask God for what he wants and believe that he will receive it. In response to this fact, someone might ask the question, "How can I practically make (having) faith work for me?"

The following scripture indicates that different things require different amounts of faith to see them realized. While the disciples had faith large enough to perform certain miracles (which Christ gave to them in Matthew 10), it was not enough to drive the demon out of the boy. Christ then indicated to them, that for them to do what they wanted, and other great things using faith, they needed to increase their faith by doing a lot of praying.

Matthew 17

14 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying,
15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
16 "I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him."
17 And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me."
18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?"
20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
21 ["But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."]

Another important point about having faith, and deriving results from it, is that a person needs to persist at having faith until he receives what he asks for. This is supported by Matthew 15:21-28, where a Canaanite woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter, and kept on asking Christ until He finally granted her her wish - proclaiming that she had great faith. The following scripture also supports this fact:

Genesis 32

24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
25 When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
26 Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
27 So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob."
28 He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed."
29 Then Jacob asked him and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved."

Also see here.

Yet another important point about having faith, is someone asking God for the things he wants in a straightforward manner.

Matthew 6

6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Also, notice when Christ had faith in the following scripture, He simply said what He wanted and believed that it would happen - the same as the instructions He gave in Mark 11:23:

Mark 11

12 On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry.
13 Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
14 He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening.

The final point about having faith has to do with increasing it or doing great things with it. For someone to significantly increase his faith, he may pray in the manner outlined here – which includes a lot of praying. This is consistent with Matthew 17:19-21 and other scriptures, in which Christ effectively said that if you pray a lot, you can increase your faith and do great things with it.

Taking into consideration all of the above, when someone has faith, it is important that he does the following:

1) He must say what he wants and believe he will receive it, or ask God for what he wants and believe he will receive it (consistent with Christ's instructions in Mark 11:22-24 on how to have faith.)

2) He should pray in a straightforward manner (Matthew 6:6-8), and he must persist at it (Matthew 15:21-28, Genesis 32:24-32) until God grants him what he wants. (Actually the more someone prays over a matter, the more faith that person generates over the matter, until that person’s faith is enough to 'pay' for the thing he is asking God for. This is consistent with Matthew 17:21 and Revelation 3:18.)

Note: in general, someone may have to do a great, great deal of praying to see his request come true if it is very large. Note also, in many cases, when someone prays for something, that person will actually see what he is praying for come true more and more, gradually. (This often happens for example, when someone has a cold, and he prays for it to get better. It is an amazing thing to see!)

One important thing someone may also consider while praying / having faith - and it is highly recommended that that person do this, and make it a cornerstone of his praying: is repeating one or more sentences containing a request. (Note: when someone has faith by repeating one or more sentences containing his request, it makes his prayers many, many more times effective, and also helps ensure that he meets the minimum threshold for having faith, required to keep his relationship with God sound.) Therefore if someone would like to pray for something, that person may repeat one or more sentences specifying the thing or things he would like. For example, if someone were to repeat the sentence, "I will get a new job." (or alternately, "Father, let me get a new job.") for several minutes as a prayer, that person will find it to be extremely, extremely effective, as a means of obtaining what he wants.

Please read here for very important information regarding praising God, or someone doing things other than saying what he wants and believing that it will happen, or asking God for what he wants, and believing he will receive it, while practicing having faith.

Please read here for how you can further maximize the effectiveness of your prayers.

The above provides a very important foundation for being able to tangibly accomplish things by (having) faith. Remember, having faith effectively, is all about asking God for things while believing that you will receive them (Mark 11:22, 24), up to the point where you actually receive them. If you don't generate enough faith to 'pay' for the things you want, you unfortunately won't actually see them. That is why it is important to persist while praying for something (Matthew 17:21). You should note however, that there will be times when God will put you in situations that exceed your ordinary capacity to get out of them via faith - even after considerably long periods of praying. In those situations, you should still persist at praying in an attempt to get yourself out of them - until God eventually shows you a way out (if what you are praying for is extremely important to you). Remember, a relationship with God is all about having faith (Galatians 3:11). So no matter what happens, remember to always have faith - even if it does not seem you will be able to generate enough faith to obtain the things you want the most. (This is what God means when He says you should always be faithful [Revelation 2:10].)

Finally, when you practice having faith (the more you do it, the better, as far as you and God are concerned) you will notice strange side effects. People will start saying that you are nice, and you will scratch your head wondering why. As far as you are concerned, you are just acting normally. This is what Romans 9:30 means when it indicates that (having) faith leads to righteousness being seen in you. (You may use this link to see practical steps you may take, while having faith correctly.)