BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED
I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. (Mark 11:24, NLT)
This promise is so large that our hearts cannot even conceive its possibilities. Our minds will naturally seek to limit it to what we think is safe or manageable or realistic or probable. Instead of allowing it to enter in and enlarge our hearts to the measure of what God's love and power are really ready to do in us, we tend to shrink this promise to a more manageable size. Yet Jesus’ promise remains unfettered by our small imaginations.
Jesus says “You can pray for anything.” Our wisdom asks, “Can this possibly be true?” Yet this is not the only time Jesus said something like this. He said to His disciples. “Humanly speaking it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.' (Mt 19:26) He also said, “Anything is possible if a person believes.” (Mk 9:23)
Andrew Murray writes at this point, "The tendency is for human reason to interpose here, and with certain qualifying clauses, 'if expedient,' 'if according to God's will,' to break the force of a statement which appears dangerous. O let us beware of dealing thus with the Master's words. His promise is most literally true. He wants His oft-repeated ALL THINGS to enter into our hearts and reveal to us how mighty the power of faith is, how truly the Head calls the members to share with Him in His power, how wholly the Father places His power at the disposal of the child that wholly trusts Him."
Jesus says, “You can pray for anything.” It is through prayer that all of these things that we seek are brought before the Father and into His presence. It is only as we humble ourselves and bow our hearts before the Father that we ultimately receive what we ask for. When we take the time to humble ourselves before the mighty and powerful hand of God, and we come to Him, bringing our need before Him, we will receive what we have asked for.
Jesus says, “If you believe that you have received it, it will be yours.” This is the central item of importance. Believe that you have received it, even now, while you are still praying and asking the Father. It may be months, or years, or decades before you receive what you have asked for in actual experience, but for now, without seeing, you believe that you have received it.
A similar example is the experience of salvation. We ask for it. We pray to receive it. We believe that we have received it, even though the ultimate proof of that reward lies in heaven, we still believe that we have received it. In the same way, when I come to the Father, asking for any special gift I believe that I have it. I hold on to it by faith. I thank God that it is mine.
In my own experience, there are seasons where I have brought before the Lord a specific request. I have poured out my heart to the Lord in prayer. Every day, or every week, being faithful to pray, and ask. Then, at a certain point, I no longer feel the need to pray for it, or about it. There is a sense in my spirit that seems to say, “The Father has heard your request.” It is already a “yes” in heaven. It will be a “yes”, at some point in time, in my life here on earth. And then I have watched as the Lord answers. Sometimes years after I prayed, He answers, and gives to me what I asked for.
You can pray for anything, and if you believe you've received it, it will be yours. Too often our understanding of this verse is hindered by our sense of time. We say, “I asked and didn't receive, therefore the promise isn't true.” But the Lord says, “The promise is still true, You only need to wait for it. It will come to be.”
You can pray for anything, and if you believe you've received it, it will be yours. This is Jesus promise to us. Let us not diminish it with our own clarifications, but let us lean into it and allow the promise to enlarge our hearts and increase our faith.
What is God saying to me today?
My Prayer List:
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Personal Prayer:
Father, I come before You today with my need. You have said that if I pray for anything, and believe that I have received it, it will be mine. This promise is beyond my ability to understand. Yet still I come to You with this need. [Name your need] Lord I choose to believe that You have heard this prayer and that You will answer. In my heart I believe that I have received it. And I thank You O Lord my God, for hearing and answering the cry of my heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.