Faith

The Faith That Takes

Therefore I say to you, all things you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you will have them.” —Mark 11:24 (ASV)

What a promise! It’s so big, so divine, that our limited hearts can hardly comprehend it. We constantly try to shrink it down to what seems safe or likely. We don’t let it enter our lives the way God gave it—full of His power and energy. If we would let that promise shape our hearts, we would be ready to receive all that God’s love and power wants to do for us.

Faith is not just intellectual agreement with God’s Word or a logical conclusion. True faith is the work of the Holy Spirit in a heart prepared by God’s Word. When that happens, the answer is inevitable—because faith is the guarantee and preview of what’s coming.

“All things whatsoever you pray and ask for, believe that you receive.” Human reasoning wants to limit this with qualifiers like “if it’s God’s will” or “if it’s appropriate.” But that weakens the promise. Jesus meant what He said. He repeats “all things” often to stretch our hearts to believe more. He wants us to know how powerful faith is. The Father gives His power to the one who completely trusts Him. Faith is nourished and strengthened by the "all things" Christ promised. And when we weaken that promise, we weaken our faith.

The “whatsoever” is unconditional, except for the condition of believing. Before we can believe, we must know God’s will. Believing is the natural result of a heart surrendered to God’s Word and Spirit. Once we truly believe, nothing is impossible. So let’s pray with hearts that don’t limit Christ’s “all things” to only what seems possible.

When we pray and ask in faith, we will find the Spirit of faith helping us—most powerfully when we kneel at the throne of grace. Jesus said, “Believe that you receive them.” That means we are to believe we already have what we are asking for—even before we see it. This faith removes mountains.

There’s a kind of prayer where we lay all our requests before God and trust Him to decide what’s best. That kind of prayer gives us peace, because we rest in His will. But the prayer Jesus talks about in Mark 11:24 is different. It is bold. It believes God will do what He promised. It stands on the Spirit’s assurance and knows that it receives exactly what it asks.

When we don’t receive what we’ve asked for, we may not need more prayer—we may just need more praise. When we know the answer is on the way, we should praise God for what we’ve received, even if we haven’t seen it yet.

Sometimes, faith needs to grow through persistent prayer. Elijah knew God would send rain, but he still had to pray seven times. Faith and patience go hand in hand. Faith says, “I’ve received it.” Patience waits until the blessing is visible.

“Believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.” The key word is believe. Between the promise in heaven and its manifestation on earth, believing is the bridge. Praise and prayer are the link. And don’t forget—Jesus Himself said this.

Faith should define what we hope for. God’s Word is a seed; if we hold onto it, it will take root and bear fruit. “All things whatsoever you pray and ask for” are meant to be brought before God. The faith that asks is fed by prayer, and even more, grows through prayer. As we pray, we test our motives, surrender our desires, and grow in confidence. The Spirit helps us discern whether we’re asking rightly. Even when our faith is weak, God invites us to keep praying. Persevering prayer strengthens faith.

“Believe that you receive them.” That’s often misunderstood. It doesn’t mean you’ll see it right away. It means you accept it in prayer just as you accept Christ—by faith. It’s a spiritual action. When you ask God for something according to His Word, you believe it’s already yours. You thank Him as if you’ve already received it.

“And you shall have them.” The gift you held by faith becomes your experience. Once you know you’ve been heard, you don’t need to keep asking. You praise instead.

When we don’t receive what we ask for in faith, we should feel ashamed that we made so little use of the privilege. Maybe our faith is too weak to grasp what’s within reach. But there is hope: Jesus, who brought us this message from the Father, also lived by it. The disciples were amazed at what He did to the fig tree, and Jesus told them they could do the same—even move mountains.

Jesus is our life. He gives us everything He taught. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). The faith He gives is for every child of the Father. It’s within reach of anyone who is childlike, surrendered to the Father’s will and trusting in His Word and power.

So be encouraged! This word comes from Jesus, our Brother and God’s Son. Let’s respond by saying:

“Yes, blessed Lord, we do believe Your Word that we receive whatever we ask.”

Closing Prayer

Lord, teach us to pray.

Blessed Lord, the Father sent You to show us the depth of His love and all the treasures He wants to give. You’ve given us overwhelming promises about the freedom we have in prayer. But we confess—our hearts have accepted so little of it. It’s felt too great for us to believe.

Teach us to take, keep, and use Your powerful Word: “All things whatsoever you pray and ask for, believe that you receive them.” Jesus, our faith must be rooted in You. Your work has freed us from sin and opened the way to the Father. Your love draws us into full fellowship with the Father’s glory and power.

Your Spirit keeps pulling us into deeper faith. We believe that through Your teaching, we will learn to pray in faith. You’ll train us to pray so that we will truly believe we have received what we ask. Teach us to trust, love, and live in You. Through You, may all our prayers rise before the Father. May our souls rest in the assurance that we are heard.

Amen.

Attribution: Adapted from With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray. Public Domain. Modernized and formatted.

Reflection: Alone With God

Scripture

  • “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6)
  • “We know that we have the requests we asked of Him.” (1 John 5:15)
  • “He who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Teaching

Prayer is not about trying to convince God with many words or urgent pleading. He already knows what you need before you ask. Instead, prayer is about childlike trust in a Father who loves, sees, and cares.

When you pray, shut out distractions and enter the secret place with God. There the Father is waiting for you. Jesus Himself will teach you to pray in that quiet space. Being alone with God should be your greatest joy and strength.

God is not concerned with how little you bring Him, but with how much He longs to give to you. His heart is full of tender, caring love. Even when your heart feels cold, sinful, or dark, His presence brings light and warmth.

Encouragement

  • Prayer in secret cannot be wasted. God promises to reward it openly.
  • The blessing of prayer doesn’t depend on strong feelings, but on God’s power and love.
  • Faith grows as we trust that our Father sees, hears, and knows our needs.
  • Prayer is not forcing an unwilling God, but resting in a willing and faithful Father.

Application

  • Go often into your “inner chamber” — a place where you can be still with God.
  • Close the door, silence distractions, and simply look to the Father.
  • Trust Him to answer in His way and His time.
  • Let your prayer be less about many words and more about faith, quietness, and confidence.

Prayer

Father, You see me, You hear me, and You know what I need even before I ask. Teach me to treasure time with You in the secret place. Give me faith to trust that You will answer and reward what is done in secret. Let my greatest joy be to be alone with You and to know that You supply every need according to Your riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Attribution

Excerpt adapted from Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer (1885).

Do You Value What God Values?

From Paul David Tripp on life’s trials:

When hardship comes your way, will you tell yourself it’s a tool of God’s grace and a sign of his love, or will you give in to doubting his goodness?

If you are not on God’s redemptive agenda page, you will end up doubting his goodness. One of the most important questions you could ask is: “What is God doing in the here and now?” The follow-up question is also important: “How should I respond to it?” It is nearly impossible to think about life properly and to live appropriately if you are fundamentally confused about what God is doing. If someone were to ask you the first of those two questions, how would you respond? Are you tracking with God’s agenda? Are you after what God’s after? Are you living in a way that is consistent with what God is doing? Do you struggle with questions of God’s love, faithfulness, wisdom, and goodness? Do you ever envy the life of another? Do you sometimes feel alone? Do you fall into thinking that no one understands what you’re going through? Are you ever plagued by doubts as to whether Christianity is true after all? If you aren’t struggling with these things, are you near someone who is?

Here’s the bottom line. Right here, right now, God isn’t so much working to deliver to you your personal definition of happiness. He’s not committed to give you a predictable schedule, happy relationships, or comfortable surroundings. He hasn’t promised you a successful career, a nice place to live, and a community of people who appreciate you. What he has promised you is himself, and what he brings to you is the zeal of his transforming grace. No, he’s not first working on your happiness; he’s committed to your holiness. That doesn’t mean he is offering you less than you’ve hoped for, but much, much more. In grace, he is intent on delivering you from your greatest, deepest, and most long-term problem: sin. He offers you gifts of grace that transcend the moment, that literally are of eternal value. He has not unleashed his power in your life only to deliver to you things that quickly pass away and that have no capacity at all to satisfy your heart.

This means that often when you are tempted to think that God is loving you less because your life is hard, he is actually loving you more. The hardships that you are facing are the tool of his exposing, forgiving, liberating, and transforming grace. These hard moments aren’t in your life because God is distant and uncaring, but rather because he loves you so fully. These moments become moments of faith and not doubt when by grace you begin to value what God says is truly valuable. Do you value what God values?

Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014).

Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

James 1:12–18 (The Message)

How Are Faith, Works, and Salvation Related?

Regarding the relationship between faith, works, and salvation, Doriani offers this helpful explanation and diagram:

To put it schematically, there are four ways to view the relationship between salvation and works. The arrow means “produces” or “results in.”

  1. Works -› Salvation
  2. Faith + Works -> Salvation
  3. Faith -> Salvation
  4. Faith -> Salvation + Works

View 1 says if we do enough good works, they produce salvation by earning God’s favor. View 2 says that if we believe and perform works, we obtain salvation. View 3 says that faith results in salvation. View 4 says faith leads to salvation and works follow. No Christian adheres to view 1. Official, traditional Roman Catholic theology adheres to view 2, and many ordinary Catholics follow that teaching. Some evangelical Christians support view 3 because they think it is possible to confess faith in Christ, unto salvation, without accepting him as Lord. They believe it is good, but not absolutely necessary, to accept Christ as Lord. But the entire New Testament testifies that while we are saved by faith alone, real faith is never alone. Works are the necessary results of spiritual life (view 4).

James – Reformed Expository Commentary by Daniel M. Doriani, pp. 95-96