Miracles for Today Series
Sixth in a series on God’s miraculous healing power for today.
Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you (Mark 11:24).
I admit, if understanding prayer is like a doctoral degree, then I’m still in kindergarten. Yet I’m convinced this acknowledgment is crucial to praying the way Jesus commanded. Perhaps the most common mistake in prayer is to determine how, why, when, and if God will answer, all before we even ask. We talk ourselves out of really wanting anything. “God may not answer this request, so I need to pray in a way that hedges this whole difficult situation. I don’t want to get my hopes up, or anyone else’s hopes up.” Then we proceed to pray in a manner that strips a key component from our prayers – faith.
Yet according to Jesus, there is only one way to pray – with faith. He said, “All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them.” Note that Jesus does not hedge on the difficulty of our requests. He commands us to pray with faith every time we ask, whether our requests are large or small. In fact in the previous verses, He concluded we could move mountains with faith. After making our requests, we should simply follow His command, and believe we have already received our request.
This is what it means to pray with faith, and this is “the only way to pray.” In James 1:5-8, James seems to confirm this interpretation of praying with faith. In this passage, wisdom from God is the prayer request.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (James 1:5-8).
Do you always pray with faith as Jesus commands? Successful sports teams are made up of personnel who fill various roles. As each player performs their role at the direction of their coach, the team succeeds. The same is true in following our Coach in our role in prayer. We should do our part and pray with faith, believing we already have our request. We don’t need to understand everything about prayer. We should be childlike and just believe. God will figure out the rest. Amen? Responses and comments are welcomed.
Lord, help us to simply follow your ways, and not seek to figure everything out beforehand.
