Believe That You Have Received
Study Scripture:
24 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
A Story From Church History:
P.C. Nelson was once holding a meeting in Arkansas for the Baptists and was praying for the sick. A pastor of another Baptist church in the state who had gone to seminary with Dad Nelson heard that he was in the area, so he decided to go and hear this new “doctrine” of healing by Rev. Nelson. The Baptist pastor talked about it at home and aroused the curiosity of his family. They had never heard anything like it, so he took the family to Nelson’s meeting, including his mother, who was living with them.
The next morning at the breakfast table, this Baptist family was again discussing what Dad Nelson was teaching about healing. This pastor thought it was all right to pray for someone, but he thought it shouldn’t be done publicly. He didn’t think they should have a healing line, and if they did pray, they should just pray that the will of the Lord be done. His wife and some of the older children agreed with him. But his mother said that she wouldn’t criticize what Rev. Nelson was teaching.
Finally, the five-year-old son, who was the baby of the family, spoke up and said, “Well, Dad, the only difference I can see is that we pray in our church on Sunday mornings, ‘Lord, bless the sick’, and don’t expect anything, but that man prays for them in front of everyone and expects God to heal them right then.”
The Power Of The Word:
Jesus promised us that we could ask for anything, “and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” You know, I take great encouragement from this. Many religious folks struggle with passages like this, and they come up with all the reasons why they feel like this Scripture isn’t valid. “Well, don’t you know, God only promises to take care of your needs, God its’t a genie, don’t expect to receive.” And the list goes on and on. You know what, they are right! When you don’t expect God to show up, you have no right to expect results either.
Jesus told us the condition for receiving answered prayers. “If you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” When you pray, you need to settle the matter in your heart that it is done. I may not see the healing now, the finances may not have lined up yet in the natural, and the relationship might still be broken. But praise God anyway, He hears my prayers and He answers them! Believe that you have already received what you have asked for! That is the ticket to answered prayer.
Receiving answers to prayers is no different than praying a prayer of salvation. I can’t see that im saved, I haven’t received my new body in heaven yet. But I trust by faith that when I call on the name of the Lord, I will be saved. (Romans 10:13) The same faith it took for you to call on the Lord for salvation is the same faith that is required for answered prayer. God, I trust you, and the matter is done. Stand on the Word, not your feelings or your circumstances. We walk by faith and not by sight…(2 Cor 5:7)
What Do I do In The Waiting?
Remind God of His promises. Isaiah 43:26 “Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou, mayest be justified.” If God wants me to remind him of His Word, then who am I to question God? You see, whatever you’re asking God or believing God for, you need to find it first within His Word. Because if you can find it written, you have a promise to stand on. Charles Finney, a great evangelist, had this to say
“I was constrained to pray without ceasing. I could not rest in the house and was obliged to retire to the barn frequently through the day, where I would unburden my soul and pour out my heart to God in prayer. I had wonderful faith given to me at that time, and had some experiences that alarmed me. When alone, I would wrestle and struggle, and my faith would rise till I would say to God that He had made a promise to answer prayer, and that I could not, and would not, be denied. I could be so burdened as to use such strong language to God in prayer. I felt so certain that He would hear me, and that faithfulness to His promises, and to himself, rendered it impossible that He should not hear and answer, that I frequently I found myself saying to Him, “I hope Thou dost not think that I can be denied. I come with Thy faithful promises in my hand, and I cannot be denied.”
If you don’t know what God’s Word says about a situation, then you can’t put Him in remembrance! He’s asked us to do so, so let’s do it.