Believe When You Pray

PRAYER

February 1, 2017

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  Mark‬ ‭11:24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Is this the same as the power of positive thinking? I think it sounds more like a promise from God. 

Let's look at an example from Scripture. 

“When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭8:5-10, 13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The centurion KNEW Jesus could heal the servant. There was no question about that. The question was, would he?

You know, when Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, He asked God to spare Him from the awful ordeal which was to come. He, like the centurion, KNEW God could do that. But He also knew God's heart and that His own suffering and death was the only way to accomplish victory over Satan. So what did He say to His Father?

“...not my will, but yours be done.”  Luke‬ ‭22:42‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Once again, Jesus models for us how we are to pray. He poured His heart out to God, begging for mercy. But in the process He became resigned to the realization that deliverance was not to be His that day. Instead He was to be the Deliverer!

How different our lives would be if He hadn't yielded to God's will. 

So how does knowing God's will come into play with our original passage from Mark?

We'll, I don't know about you, but I'm not going to ask God to make my grey hair go away or to put a swimming pool in my back yard by daybreak. Why? Because both of these things are WANTS and not NEEDS and, therefore, aren't in His will. 

Instead, I should pray for things that are in line with His word, the Scripture, and His Word, Jesus. That means I had better KNOW the word and the Word. 

And...

I should yield willingly to His will and lay my will down. 

Father, I got a little long-winded today about this Scripture. Thank you for showing me these things so that I could share them with my friends. May we rightly perceive your will so that we can pray with expectation. And may your perfect will be done in our lives.