“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” — Mark 11:24, NIV
Have you ever noticed how kids act around Christmas when they’re fully convinced Santa will bring them exactly what they asked for on their crayon-written list? They start making little plans before the present is even under the tree! They tell all their friends what they are getting, imagine all the things they’ll do with it, and talk about it as though it is already theirs. What confidence!
Let’s be real, adults do this too! We might honestly be worse…We ask for something, or someone promises us something, and we start planning around it before we’ve actually received it. We expect and trust the person will follow through, so we go ahead and buy ourselves a matching accessory. (Be honest, you’ve done it)
I’ve read and heard Mark 11:24 countless times, but for some reason, the wording really struck me differently in my most recent encounter. Jesus doesn’t say to pray and believe God might answer. He doesn’t even say to believe God will answer. He says, “believe that you have received it.” Basically, believe as if God has already answered.
There is that crazy confidence!
We are invited to approach the God of the universe with such confidence in his power, provision, and faithfulness that we believe he has heard and received our requests before we have any physical evidence of a possible answer. I think that is incredible.
Before we get too carried away and start praying for new cars to fall from the sky, we have to understand what Jesus is not saying. God is not Santa Claus or a wish-granting Genie, and Mark 11:24 is not a blank check promising that if we believe hard enough, God will give us whatever we want.
Scripture is clear that our prayers should be aligned with God’s will:
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15, NIV, emphasis added).
There it is again—have. Already have. The crazy confidence!
Our confidence in prayer isn’t rooted in our ability to believe strongly enough to make something happen. It is rooted in the character of the One who hears our prayers.
Psalm 84:11 reminds us that the Lord withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly. Romans 8:28 assures us that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (NIV).
But we must remember this important caveat: what we believe is good for us and what God knows is good for us are not always the same.
Sometimes we ask for things that seem wonderful, righteous, reasonable, or even necessary. We might pray for a relationship, a job, a healing, an opportunity, or a change in our dire circumstances. Sometimes God answers those exactly as we hope. Other times, he doesn’t.
Jesus himself prayed in the garden of Gethsemane for the cup of suffering to pass from him. There has likely never been a more valid request made in prayer. Yet he also prayed, “May your will be done” (Matthew 26:42, NIV).
If our perfect, sinless Savior submitted his requests to the Father’s will, how much more should we?
That is the beauty of this passage in Mark. We can pray with incredible confidence while remaining completely surrendered to God’s will. Those two things are not contradictory.
As we grow in our knowledge of God’s Word, understanding of his character, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit, our desires and prayers should increasingly reflect his will. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (ESV). He gives us the desires that align with his purposes. Romans 8:26-27 even reminds us that the Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us according to God’s will.
Prayer isn’t about presenting God with a list of things we want him to do. It is a place where our desires, motives, and understanding are shaped by our relationship with him. The more we know him, the more confidently we can trust him.
Think about how often we pray for something and then immediately begin worrying about whether God will actually come through. We ask him to provide, but continue carrying the burden as though everything still depends on us. We ask for direction, but become anxious and try to pivot when we can’t see the next step. We ask for his help, but struggle to believe he is already at work.
I know because I’ve done it all! Repeatedly…
But think again about that kid at Christmas. They are so confident in what they’ve asked for that their actions reflect the belief that they have already received it.
How incredible that Jesus calls us to approach our Heavenly Father with that kind of crazy confidence! To pray with such faith in his character, goodness, and provision that we can already rejoice and give thanks before we truly see the answer.
But here is a beautiful difference: that kid is confident they will receive exactly what they asked for. We can be confident that, even if we don’t receive what we asked for, our all-knowing Father will never withhold what is truly good for us. His wisdom is infinitely greater than ours, and his sovereign purposes extend far beyond what we can see or understand.
So we don’t have to wait for our prayers to be answered to rejoice. We can approach God with thanksgiving, believing that he has heard us and that his answer, whatever it may be, comes from the hands of the One who knows and loves us perfectly.
We can pray with crazy confidence that we have already received, because we know the goodness of the One we have asked.
bytaylormcgee
