Standing on God’s Will: Faith That Receives

For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it].

Mark 11:24, AMPC

Several years ago, I felt the Lord directing me to ask and believe Him for a large sum of money. At that time, I was working on a ministry project in a foreign country and naturally thought the money was to be directed towards the project. I asked, believed, and received in my heart (according to Mark 11:22-25) and trusted God to bring it to pass. However, we never received that kind of money during my leadership over the project. In fact, I nearly forgot about the whole thing until just not long ago when I received word that I had been awarded a lucrative scholarship for my education goals – that totaled exactly the amount of money God spoke to me about (to the penny!).

I’ve learned that God oftentimes likes to give us prophetic vision far in advance of the actual event in order to prepare us and give us time to develop and build our faith and trust in Him. We must learn to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in order to discern the proper time and season of His prophetic provisions! Today’s blog introduces the concept of asking God for something that He has promised us, and how we begin the process of receiving in faith.

God Prepares Us to Receive His Promises Through Prophecy

One of the reasons prophecy is so powerful is that it gives us a context and a direction in which to believe God’s promises. In my story above, I had mistakenly thought His direction regarding the money was for the present moment when the Holy Spirit was actually preparing me for a personal financial provision that He had set up for me in the next season.

He was giving me lead time – just like when a quarterback (in American football) throws the ball to the spot on the field where the receiver will be; not where the receiver currently is. In this way, the receiver must move towards that location in order to catch the ball. God often ‘throws the ball’ to a location ahead of us and we must trust Him and move in faith to that spot in order to receive the promise. Isn’t that amazing?

Are you ready to learn something brand new from the Word of God? Take a moment and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart. Let Him speak to you as you read these words. Let Him solidify the Word of God in your heart, and faith will rise.

Standing on God’s Will – The First Step of Faith that Receives

In Mark 11:24, Jesus tells us that what things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them. (KJV)

When I felt an impression in my spirit to believe God for this large amount of money, at first I was stunned. I wondered if it was God speaking to me or if I was being selfish. This is why it is imperative that we cultivate an intimate, working relationship with our Heavenly Father – I immediately got into prayer and connection with the Lord, and the Holy Spirit made it quite clear that my desire to ask for this large sum of money was from God. And so I moved in that direction.

You are not ready to ‘ask in faith’ until you are fully convinced about God’s will in a matter.

This, again, is why it is essential that we know and understand the Word of God – especially in these last days where the uncompromising truths of God’s Word are being watered down from many leaders and even churches.

It is critical that God’s last days Church seeks His face and knows His Word as we begin to march through the culminating moments of this age.

If we don’t know God’s Word, which is His simple written will, we will have nothing on which to hang our faith. This is one reason why many people don’t receive what they are asking for in prayer. If you aren’t completely convinced that God is willing to heal you, for instance, you will never ask in faith – and, according to James 1:6-8, without faith you won’t receive anything from the Lord. (Seriously, look those verses up and read them in context. This truth blew my mind.)

Let’s look for a moment at James 1. This is such a foundational truth that I want you to see it for yourself right now.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

James 1:6-8, KJV

Let him ask in faith…. how do you do that?

Mark 11:24 tells us how to ask in faith. “…whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe you receive them, and you shall have them.“

You will always waver like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed when you aren’t completely convinced that what you are asking for is within the bounds of God’s will for your life.

A Practical Example

Let’s say you desire a better paying job with better hours. What’s the first thing you do? Pray?

No!

We are often too quick to rattle off prayers. Yes, we ought to pray without ceasing, but we are talking about asking in faith according to God’s will. We need to spend time meditating and internalizing God’s Word in our hearts before we start spouting off prayer requests.

The first thing you do is find out whether or not the thing you desire lines up with God’s will.

Question One: Does My Desire Line up with Scripture?

This is usually easily determined. In the case of the ‘new job’ request, let’s turn to Proverbs 10.

The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.

Proverbs 10:22, NKJV

Now, this is where many people don’t let the Bible get in the way of what they already believe. In other words, they see the word ‘rich’ and immediately think that money is the root of all evil (is it?) so you must avoid it at all costs.

Let’s just read the Bible and let it interpret itself. This is always a good policy – especially when dealing with hot topics such as prosperity, healing, abortion, and even homosexuality.

The Hebrew word translated rich is the word `ashar, and means to prosper; to be happy; especially to be rich; to enrich or to become rich. This is not a word used for spiritual riches, as in eternal salvation (as some teach), but is directly related to physical, material, and financial riches.

This is the same word translated rich in Genesis 14:23, where it is unmistakably used in regards to physical prosperity.

When interpreting the Bible we must always filter everything through ‘two or three witnesses’ that agree. (Deut. 17:6; 19:15, Matt. 18:16)

For the second witness, let’s read 2 Corinthians 8:9.

You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

In the Greek, the word translated rich is plouteō. You can read its definition here.

Plouteō means to be rich and to have abundance; to be richly supplied, or to be affluent in resources so that he can give blessings of salvation to all.

Ah ha! So riches are not selfish, but are to be used for giving the blessings of salvation to others! Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 9:8 goes on to explain that the believer is to have “all sufficiency in all things, that we may have an abundance for every good work.”

So we see that it is God’s will for us to be financially prosperous, not under slavery of debt; so that we may have an abundance in order to share the blessings of salvation to others on every occasion.

Secondly, in Proverbs 10:22 we see that …He adds no sorrow with it. This is a direct reference to painful, laborious toil (long, painful hours). See also Psalm 127:2 for a clear reference to long hours. So our hypothetical desire for a “better paying job with better hours” passes the first test.

Question 2: Does the Holy Spirit bear witness with this desire?

This is where intimacy comes in. If you delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart (Proverbs 37:4). In a lifestyle of delight and intimacy with God, your spirit will confirm rather quickly that the desire you have originated from God, not yourself, because …He will give you the desires of your heart.

Here’s a practical test: once you have applied the first test, i.e., The Word Test, spend as much time as is required to get into intimate quiet time with the Lord. Don’t spend all your time with Him focused on this one subject. Follow the outline of the “Lord’s Prayer”: Praise, ask, Praise.

As you spend time in His presence – spending most of your time in praise, thanksgiving, and communion with God, you will perceive in your spirit (not your head!) either a towards or away ‘feeling’. I hesitate to use the word feeling because it carries the idea of emotion or physical sensation. which things are completely separate from your spirit.

In the above case, your spirit will quickly confirm that the desire is of the Lord because the scripture is crystal clear on the subject. Now you are ready to pray in faith according to James 1 and Mark 11.

When the scripture isn’t crystal clear, for instance, if your question was instead, Should I take Job A or Job B, then you will likely need to spend more time communing with the Lord and listening to the Holy Spirit, but only after you have applied the Word Test.

Final Thoughts

I pray that these practical steps have helped to de-mystify some of the aspects of how faith works. In fact, all we did today was introduce the subject. We will get into the deeper things in subsequent blogs, but we must first have a deep foundation for asking in faith before we start spouting off prayers.

It’s vital that we have a firm grasp on God’s will before we attempt to ask for anything. Notice the language of 1 John 5:14-15 and the conviction of James 5:16, for instance. God is serious about teaching us to ask Him regarding His promises with care, wisdom, and boldness.

Please comment on this blog or send me an email with your thoughts or prayer requests! We would love to partner with you and join our faith with yours in prayer regarding what you need.

Photo by Michael Bomke on Unsplash