Imperial Valley Christian Center

In part one we saw that Jesus guarantees the dependability, the reliability, the certainty of prayer. There are no stronger words Jesus could use to guarantee that we would receive what we ask for when we pray than, “…you shall have them…,” but at the same time he lets us know that we have a part to play.

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (Mark 11:24)

We must believe that we received the thing when we prayed.  Believing that you received isn’t just something you do for 5 seconds at the moment of prayer and then forget, it’s a process. That’s why I like to compare it to growing a garden. Sometimes this process happens so quickly you don’t even realize a process is involved, but other times the process may take place over weeks, or months and often years, just like growing a garden. If we want to receive we need to learn to stick with the process until the answer comes. This process involves believing before, during and after our prayer.

Before you pray, believe you will receive.
Before we pray, as we come before God to ask for something, we must believe that we will receive. We must expect God’s answer to be yes. We must be confident that God will give us what we ask. Can you see how that would make it easier to believe that you receive the thing when you pray?
Most people think the key to prayer is figuring out how to convince God to give us the thing.  So we cry, or bargain, or nag, or get a million people to help us beg hoping that somehow we’ll hit on the combination that unlocks God’s penny-pinching, tight wad fist. But Jesus taught that God wants to answer our prayers. Jesus taught that God’s “Yes.” to our prayer is preordained and that as a result we should be overflowing with confidence when we pray.  Jesus said,