“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’re still talking about the prayer of faith – the kind of prayer that receives from God what legally belongs to you because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. When you pray, believing you receive, you shall have what you pray for.
I always thought the prayer of faith and receiving from God involved just one point in time. I thought, Well, you’re supposed to pray and then look to see if anything happened. If it didn’t, tough luck – try again later. See if you can catch God in a better mood. That was the way my prayer life operated for a long time.
But this Scripture shows us that the prayer of faith includes two points in time. Jesus said, “When you pray, believe you receive your answer” – present tense. Then He said, “And you shall have it” – future tense.
When will you have it? After you believe you receive it. When do you believe you receive it? Before you have it.
“Well, I can’t believe it then, because I don’t have it.” But you have to believe it before you have it. “But how can I believe I have it when I don’t?” You believe you receive when you pray, and you shall have your answer. “Yes, but I don’t have it.” But you have to believe you receive first.
Some people get hung up on this key point. They put the cart before the horse. They want to pray and receive their answer before they believe they received it. But Jesus said, “When you pray, believe you receive, and you shall have what you pray for.”
The first step is to pray and believe we receive the answer. Then we go through the period of time that the Bible calls “walking by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Then our second step is to actually see our answer come into full manifestation.
When I need healing in my body, I ask God for it, believing I receive what He said is mine. Then I stand in faith until the healing manifests in my body. My Father is pleased when I believe and act on His Word.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
For over 40 years, Pastors Mark and Janet Brazee have traveled throughout the world sharing the Word of God and the Spirit of God. Together they've shared the powerful truths of faith and healing in more than 50 nations.
Today Mark and Janet pastor World Outreach Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where they base their ongoing outreach to the world. The Brazees still travel as the Lord leads, and they are raising up a congregation who share their passion to reach Tulsa and the world.