Good morning!
Greetings in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22)
We all pray. Especially, we, believers, pray regularly to God. Some of us spend lots of time for prayer. Anna, a prophetess, prayed for her entire life in temple after her husband died, which was only into seven years’ marriage. Bible says: “Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer.” (Luke 2:37) After her life-long and earnest prayer was answer. She met Jesus who came with Mary and Joseph, at the very temple.
Hannah, who was barren, prayed earnestly before God in her sadness of not having a baby. Bible describes Hannah’s heart and her prayer: “Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD. And she made this vow: “O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, “ (1 Samuel 1:10-11a) She was so much into her prayer from the deepest part of her heart. Eli, who was the priest, thought that she had been drinking because her lips moving but hearing no sound from her mouth. However, Eli soon realized that she was pouring out her heart to God. Thus, he said “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.” She believed and went home joyfully. At home, she was no longer sad because she believed. Her prayer was answered by God. Year later, she bore a son, Samuel. She waited till he was weaned, and she dedicated him to God as she made the vow in her prayer. Samuel grown up in the temple later became one of the greatest prophets in Bible.
There are numerous prayer examples in Bible. Our lives are not that much different. Virtually every believer has testimonies of prayer, i.e., how our prayers are answered, even though they are not be as dramatic as those of the above prayers. However, it is also true that we often feel that our prayers simply disappear while not being answered. We puzzle why and even we are frustrated. Matthew 21:22 says: “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Bible tells that we have to believe. Then what does this really mean? Let’s find out answers from the Bible verses:
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mark 11:24)
Jesus was with thee disciples at a mountain, and they saw transfigured Jesus at the mountain. As they walking down to the mountain, a large crowd was waiting for them at the foot of the mountain. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”
Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.
Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?”
“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” (Matthew 17:20)
Yes, Jesus told that they needed to have faith even as small as a mustard seed.
As shown in the photo on left, a mustard seed is really small. It is so small that it is barely visible. This means that regardless the size of our faith, our prayer in faith is answered by God, which is the promise. Then the real question becomes whether we really have faith even of the size of a mustard seed.
Bibles also says: “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:6). When we pray, we must believe and not doubt. If so, the person’s faith is like a wave of the seas, which blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from God. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. Prayer without faith is like cloud without rain, having a form of godliness but denying the true power of prayer.
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13)
We also pray in Jesus name. Only through Jesus Christ, we are able to approach to God. We are sinful, but God is Holy. Sin and Holiness cannot coexist, as darkness and light do not. However, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are freed from our sins. We can approach to God without fear because our sins are completely forgiven by Jesus Christ. Thus, we can directly come to God, and talk to Him without fear in the name of Jesus Christ.
God also gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. God is full of mercy and grace to all people. Especially, to those who are faithful, God gives an undivided attention. He prepares all good things and provide them as needed to His people. God knows what we need even before we ask him. Many feel that we need to pray a lot to get His attention and His answer. It is not true. God exactly knows what we need. God prepare them and provide to us daily and even moment by moment.
Thus, somebody thinks if God knows everything and prepares everything why we should pray. Regardless we pray or not, God will provide. Yes, it is true. God will provide to us in His love. However, one critical thing is missing in this train of thought. God wants to have a relationship with us, and we are His children. As we really love to hear our children’s voice, God loves to hear His children’s voice that is our prayer. He eagerly waits for our prayer, because He loves to hear our voice. Our prayer in the name of Jesus Christ soars up to the throne of God, Our Father, and make Him greatly pleased. Then He, the Father, is glorified in Jesus and through our prayer.
Give thanks to God. He is always faithful to us. Therefore, Let’s approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)