perfecting my faith

Last week during my marathon training my long run for the week, which I do early Saturday mornings, was a 7 mile run. I was shocked at the end of the 1 hour 10 min. run how well I did and that I even finished, better yet finished with out stopping, and maintained a 10 min. a mile pace. Well, today my training bumped me back to a 5 mile long run, and I thought it would be a piece of cake. Much to my surprise, I found it really difficult today and started complaining and dreading the thought of ever running a crazy 26 miles 15 weeks from now. As I was running and talking to my running partner (Jesus!) I started saying things like..."this is ridiculous...what was thinking?.....if I am this run down trying to do a 5 mile how will I ever do 26 miles?" Almost immediately I thought of something Jesus said in Mathew 8:26 ..."You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Why am I always so afraid?? Why am I always of so little faith. I spent the next mile or so thinking about my faith. How much faith do I really have?? Do I really believe that God can do anything?? Do I really trust Him to do the things that I can not do. Well, when I got home I looked up this verse.....Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mathew 11:24 I realized at that moment that part of the reason I am always so in doubt and lack confidence in God, is the way that I pray to Him. God does not say....ask and maybe you will receive.....He says ask, believe, and you WILL receive. So, I can't just ask, but I have to then also believe that He will do it. So in other words today when I was running, instead of praying....."Lord I can not to do this....it is too hard....I need you to help me because I am not capable of completing a marathon....." What I should be praying is....."Lord thank you that you are going to see me through this training...thank you that I CAN do this with your help, that I can do all things through You who strengthens me" Do you see the difference in those 2 prayers?? The first one is full of negatives, and in reality I don't really believe that God can do it for me, but I am praying in hopes that maybe He will. Do you really think God wants to hear that?? Do you think that maybe he is offended by my lack of faith in what He can do in me? In the second one, I am confident in God's promise. I am praising him for what I believe and know that he will do. I realized today that I need to work on my lack of true faith. So how do I do that?? How do I increase my faith??? At first I wasn't sure, and then once again the Lord gave me a scripture......Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,......Hebrews 12:2 He is the author and perfecter of my faith! All I have to do is ask and believe that he will perfect it.