MARK 11:24 NKJ 24 "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Prayer is communication with God. It should be more than just asking for things. But that certainly is a valid part of prayer. In this passage in Mark 11:22-26 Jesus gave us instruction on praying to receive things. You can't expect to receive what you pray for unless you follow the Lord's directions.
So what can you expect to receive in answer to your prayer? Only what you believe you receive when you pray.
You don't have to believe you have your answer already in the physical realm. But you must believe that God has granted your request, that the answer belongs to you and is on its way into your life.
Too many people approach prayer just hoping that something might happen. But Jesus gave us clear instruction.
What did Jesus say you are to believe when you pray? He said you are to believe that you receive what you ask for.
Jesus did not say you are to believe that God is going to give you an answer sometime. You must believe God gives you the answer when you pray, and that the answer is yes.
Jesus told you to "believe you receive when you pray."
This may seem strange to you. But this is what God requires of us. It is called "faith in God."
What you believe will affect your attitude and your conduct. You can't make God do something by acting like you believe. But if you truly believe something, you will talk and act in line with that belief.
When you believe you receive the answer, you will quit talking and acting like you don't have the answer. You will begin to rejoice and be glad. You will quit asking others to pray for the answer. You will quit complaining about not having the answer.
You may wonder how you can believe you receive the answer if you are not sure it is God's will. You can't! This means that you should not be praying about things you are not already sure are the will of God.
So you need to go to God's written Word, the Bible, and find out His will before you pray. Then you can pray confidently knowing you are asking something that is God's will.
(Although the Bible does not provide specific details about things like which person you should marry or which job you should do, it does give guidelines so you can know God's will.)
1 JOHN 5:14-15 NKJ 14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
If you trusted me, and I told you I had deposited a large sum of money into your bank account, would you keep worrying about not having any money?
Even though you had not yet seen the money, you could believe that the money was yours. You could believe you had the answer to your problem even though your only proof was me telling you I had deposited money into your account.
God is utterly dependable -- more than any human. God has never lied, and never fails. So He expects you to trust Him.
Jesus said I must believe I receive the answer when I pray.
imo, Jesus deserves more upvotes don't you think?