"Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask (desire), when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them." Mark 11:24
This verse does instruct us to "believe that we have received it". When you pray, believe. That means at the very time you are praying, you must believe it was answered. Sometimes we don't see the answer right away, does that mean it wasn't answered? No. It was answered, it was answered first in the spiritual realm. We need to hold firm in our faith without wavering, and we "will have them" future tense. Don't give up too soon! Matthew 7:8 "Everyone who asks, receives". God delivers on His promises. Always! We must remain unmoved by what we see in the physical realm.
Now, If you believe that you received your request when you prayed, the least you can do is thank Him for it, right?
Let me give you a tip...something I picked up from a combination of sources. I encourage you to take scripture promises and write them into statements. For example:
- Isaiah 30:21 NIV. “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Write this... Thank you Lord that my ears hear Your Word (voice) telling me "this is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left."
my faith is strengthened, I get encouraged
- 1 Thessalonians 3:12. "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love toward another and toward all men, even as we do toward you." Write this.... You, Lord, have made our family members increase and abound in love one toward another.
This is warfare!
- John 10:27-28. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Write this..."thank you Jesus, that I am Your sheep, and I hear Your voice, and You know me and I follow You and no one is able to snatch me out of Your hand."
I don't know about you, but when I say prayers like these, my faith is strengthened. I get encouraged. Scripture is so powerful because it is God's Word to me. It is His promise to me. He always does what He says He will do. So I just remind Him of what He has already said! I claim it for myself.
I think God likes it better too! He's probably thinking, "finally someone believes what I've been telling them!"
This is a great way to do warfare. Satan shrinks away and has no argument when we are praying Scripture because, think about it, if we are praying what God has already promised, we can be assured we are praying in accordance with His will.
- "So shall my word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11 NKJV
