Between the Rains - Part 1

 What are the sort of verses you struggle with in scripture? For me, I have always had a hard time going over the verses that have to do with prayer and faith.
 "He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” "
Matthew 17:19-21
 ¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
 ¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
(from James 5)

Nothing impossible?? Healing will be given?? How much faith exactly and how do I know if I have enough?? For most of my life I have felt awkward with the verses that mention being given what we ask for, as if we could demand things from God because we think they are "good" or the "right thing". I know He doesn't operate that way but is sovereign and all-knowing. I also know He doesn't always choose to heal when or how we want; even to the point of death. Plus, I don't see any Elijahs walking around keeping it from raining for three years, etc.  dream interpretation?(Joseph) Fire from heaven? (Elijah) These are the sort of drastic things that seem to be alluded to in the NT as possibilities. Of course I realize that God deals differently in us today (e.g. the conviction of the Holy Spirit - I hope I never need fire from heaven to get my attention)  Okay so this leaves me somewhere in the middle. I believe in healing. I don't believe I will ever move a mountain. Sometimes I think we should switch "faith" with "assurance". For example in James 1 when it says we should ask for wisdom in "faith" I feel like it is saying ask with the assurance of your heart that it will be given. It doesn't say what that will look like. Just that it will be given. I feel a similar interpretation could be made in the above scripture "the prayer offered with "faith" (I would sub "assurance of God's action") will make the person well". Again it doesn't say when or even how. Perhaps it is a new level of spiritual well-being and not even physical. The other day when Isaac had a fever I prayed over him that God would ease it but I also knew that it would go away with time anyway; I just felt bad for him so I prayed that he would be relieved of it sooner than just medicine could do. Now, I guess in my heart I didn't believe his fever would disappear at that exact moment. Is that a lack of faith? If I use the assurance synonym I have been going with then I feel more like my prayer in that moment proves that I trust God will hear and act on my behalf. I feel "assured" *note the below definitions

as·sur·ance

noun

1.a positive declaration intended to give confidence: He received assurances of support for the project.

2.promise or pledge; guaranty; surety: He gave his assurance that the job would be done.

3.full confidence; freedom from doubt; certainty: to act in the assurance of success.

4.freedom from timidity; self-confidence; belief in one's abilities: She acted with speed and assurance.

5.presumptuous boldness; impudence.

of His love and intervention in whatever form it may be, whether or not Isaac's fever immediately disappears. To me this is faith. In James 1 when He says that if we ask for wisdom we must do it in faith. Does that mean that if we aren't faithful enough we won't receive it? or more like if we ask for it "with full confidence -freedom from doubt / ASSURANCE" then it will be given. We believe it will be given though we don't know when or how.  I don't think the immediacy of the answer has anything to do with whether or not I have faith. and that is a hard lesson for me to learn. Believe it or not this is ALL to open the door to my next post which actually has something to do with the title of the post. I hope I am able to tie the two subjects together coherently. It may be a few more days of contemplation. Please remember these are opinions only and I base this not in any doctrine or theology or even a good understanding of the words "faith" and "assurance". Sometimes I just need to get my thoughts out onto a place I can see them, maybe from a new angle.