Living Boldly for Christ: Daily Reflections on Faith, Prayer & Spiritual Life by David Hathaway
In today’s episode, based on the Book of James, chapter 2, David challenges you to live out your faith with purpose – to not just say, "I believe in God," but to understand that your faith has to be life-transforming.
Verse 14: "What does it profit, my brethren, though a man says he has faith, and he doesn't have the responding work? Can faith save him?"
What James is pointing out is that, in God's sight, He is not looking merely at our outward appearance; He is looking at our heart. God judges us by what we do. He says that those of us who are rich in faith are heirs of a kingdom that has been promised. This is a promise – not a fantasy dream of a rich uncle in America, but a factual, evidential promise of the reward we have in the kingdom if we fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture.
Based on the book of James chapter 1 and 2, David says that every good gift comes down from God, the Lord of glory, who shows no partiality. While the sun follows an orderly cycle of rising and setting, its light shifts and produces shadows; we cannot remain in its full brilliance twenty-four hours a day. God is not like that. He does not rise and set, nor does He wax and wane. His presence, character, and faithfulness remain constant 24/7.
Scripture plainly tells us that the one who perseveres under trial is blessed; having stood the test, they will receive the crown of life. While the Bible speaks of various crowns – such as the soul winner’s crown – the crown of life is reserved specifically for those who remain faithful to the very end without yielding to hardship.
For many of us, prayer begins with the model Jesus gave when His disciples asked, "Lord, teach us to pray." Yet the issue is that too many believers never move beyond that initial step of the Lord’s Prayer. It is profoundly important – God miraculously revealed its depth to me while I was in prison – but we are called to go further. We must actively combine our prayers with faith and true belief.
“Have faith in God.” Jesus said, “You say this and shall not doubt in your heart, but shall believe that those things which you have said shall happen, shall have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you will have them.”
While imprisoned for smuggling Bibles, David received a divine promise of miraculous release – a word confirmed through Psalm 35. Yet, seeing that promise fulfilled required persistent faith and prayer.
In Psalm 35:18, King David writes: “I will give You thanks in the great congregation.”
That was where faith truly came alive for me. Standing in that prison cell, I leapt to my feet and declared, “Lord, that’s the answer!” David spoke of giving thanks in a great congregation, and while it demanded immense faith to believe that for my own life, I embraced it wholeheartedly.
The miraculous healing I experienced from throat cancer built a foundation of faith for an even greater trial years later. When I was sentenced to ten years in a foreign prison—five for smuggling Bibles and five for preaching the Gospel with the underground church – I turned to God, praying for deliverance.
Answers to prayer are deeply intertwined with our faith. When Jesus descended from the Mount of Transfiguration, He found nine of His disciples unable to cast out a demon. When they asked why they had failed, Jesus pointed directly to their lack of faith, explaining that such breakthroughs require prayer and fasting. To see real answers to our prayers, we must maintain a positive posture of faith in both what we speak and how we pray.
During the greatest crises of my life, prayer was essential. In 1964, when I was diagnosed with throat cancer, I made the decision to refuse medical treatment and trust God for healing. After three months, the doctors examined me and insisted prayer had failed. The tumour had grown so large that without an immediate operation, I would soon choke to death.
Prayer is not merely about us speaking to God; it is about God speaking to us. Real communication is never one-sided. In any human relationship, silence or failing to respond creates distance – and the same principle applies to our walk with the Lord. Prayer is designed to be a dynamic, two-way conversation.
In any relationship, if there is no communication, the relationship ceases to truly exist. When a husband and wife stop talking to one another, the marriage struggles. The same principle applies to our walk with God: if we do not talk to Him, we do not have an active relationship with Him. Prayer is not a ritual; it is a living relationship, a genuine conversation, and a way of relating directly to the Father.
When I received the Holy Spirit, everything changed. From that moment, I understood that I was called to live and minister in the same way we see Peter, Paul, John, Philip, and the other apostles living and ministering in the Book of Acts. The work of God cannot be accomplished in human strength. We need the power of the Holy Spirit.
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