One of the gifts of the Spirit, mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8, is the gift of faith.
In my understanding this is not saving faith but a special gift of faith to pray for a miracle in a crisis situation.
I have experienced this in my life only twice, both times as a young Christian.
The first occasion was on a camp. A boy I had met on a previous camp (let’s call him ‘Matthew’) said to me, “My sister’s a Christian and I’m a Christian but my parents aren’t and they are getting divorced.”
I said, “Let’s pray.”
And I prayed that they would both become Christians and that the marriage would be saved.
Matthew came to me the next year and said, “When you prayed for my parents last year, I thought, ‘Well, that’s all very well for Michael, but I just don’t have that kind of faith. But I want to tell you that they have both become Christians and they’re still married!”
The second occasion concerned a lady who worked for me. She came to me one morning and said, “My husband has left me, he’s drinking and he’s having an affair.”
I said, “Come on, let’s pray!”
I prayed, “Lord, may he stop the drinking, stop the affair and come back to her.”
Three days later she said to me, “He’s stopped the drinking, stopped the affair and he’s come back to me!”
I was gob-smacked. (Shows how much faith I had!)
I said, “Lord, did my prayers do that!”
Silently in my mind came the words, “No! You are like a hosepipe. You do not provide the water. Your job is to stay connected to the water-supply (Me), stay clean so I can flow through you and let Me point you where I like.”
What a brilliant picture! I could never have made that up.
This gift of faith is exactly that – a gift. Not for our benefit, but for the benefit of someone else.
And all the glory belongs to God!