How Faith is Formed

Guest Post by C.A. Simonson

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

(James 5:16 – New Living Translation)

How is faith formed? “Little by little, line upon line, precept upon precept…”

My mother taught me how to pray and believe in faith. My mother began teaching me to play the piano at age four. At age six, my right ring finger was severed when the wind caught the steel door at my father’s gas station. It was sewed back on, but my parents were told I would never have any feeling nor a fingernail, and maybe not much mobility. Mother prayed. She refused that outcome; she was determined her daughter was going to play the piano. Someday she would be the church pianist.

As Mom aged, severe arthritis crippled her hands. She could no longer play the
piano she loved. One Sunday, she told me to take her place on the church piano. I was twelve years old.

Mom taught me how to serve my Lord by letting Him ‘play through my fingers’ with a fully-healed finger and no loss of mobility. That is when I learned the power of prayer.

How is faith formed? Little by little–experience by experience. Mother trusted God with a simple prayer of faith; she taught me to believe too.

Simple faith was called upon many times over the years. God always answered. His Word is solid and always proven true. A healed finger was only the beginning of learning the strength of prayer and the power of God.

PRAYER: Lord, Thank You for building my faith and for always being faithful. No matter what happens, I know I can count on You. AMEN.

(From God Help Me, an interactive devotional prayer journal by C.A. Simonson)

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C.A. (Candy) Simonson is a freelance writer and novelist. She began writing nonfiction articles in the 1980s with almost 800 articles published in multiple national or online magazines. Her award-winning stories are in seven anthologies, including Chicken Soup for the Soul. Her debut young adult novel, Love’s Journey Home, published in 2013 was followed by seven Christian YA novels and five nonfiction books. As a former IT computer trainer/teacher, she enjoys assisting other authors with book formatting, self-publishing, cover design, and sharing her technical and writing knowledge with writers’ groups. She serves the Springfield Writers’ Guild Board as the 2024 President and SWG webmaster. See more at CASIMONSON.COM