“Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)
Prayer is not visualization. It is not a form of mental will-power, where we bring something we want into existence by sustained insistence that it IS, WILL, or MUST be.
Faith does not begin with our eyes, it begins with what God sees. God sees Isaac in Sarah’s dead womb. He calls that which is not as though it were. Why? Because baby Isaac is HIS will and He has the power to bring about His will. Abraham’s faith is one which gives the “AMEN” to what God has decreed. It has nothing to do with creating a reality he wants. Its focus is not the creative power of his own thoughts or words. Faith is submission to the will and word of God.
God will always put us in our place when we expect Him to be in submission to us. God will hear our prayers, but He does not live by every word that proceeds from our mouth. If what we desire is in keeping with what He desires, He will grant our request. If He imparts to us a vision of what He has decreed, though the vision tarry, we are to wait for it. If we become impatient in waiting for the blessing and move forward in our own mind, we get an Ishmael.
Even the father of faith had some lessons to learn about faith. Beware of presumption. Beware of mistaking your will for God’s will. Beware of believing God will bless your good ideas.