If you believe
Jesus said “If you believe you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:22 Do believe this is true?
Some do not believe this is true. Others say they believe it is true, but the words don’t mean what they appear to mean.
I have spent hundreds of hours over the past five years studying this. I have come to the conclusion that it is definitely true. When my faith is strong, I see miracles happen. But I know, dear reader, that you have prayed for something in the past that you did not get right away, maybe still have not gotten. It is easy to say (like i used to do) that this is either not true, or it doesn’t mean what it appears to mean.
Remain in faith
John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
This verse emphasizes that fact that we have to remain in Jesus in order to recieve answers to prayer. To remain in Jesus-what does that mean? I believe it means to love Jesus unconditionally.
1 John 5:3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
God’s will is important
I guess most of us would agree that when we pray we should ask for things in God’s will. James 3 says if we ask selfishly we won’t get what we pray for. But the wonderful thing is that if you love God and remain in Him, your desires become the same as His desires. Your will becomes His will. We never obtain perfection, so our desires may not become 100% the same as His, but they can align very closely.
Renew your mind
The key is to renew your mind by changing the way you think.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Negative thinking kills faith. The fearsome foursome are negative thinking and some say all negative thinking falls into one of these categories.
FADS
F Fear
The Bible says fear God, but that means a healthy respect. I don’t find any place where it says to fear anything or anyone else. Jesus said don’t worry. Therefore worry is a sin.
A Anger
Jesus and God both got angry. Most of the time when we get angry it is selfish anger, not righteous indignation.
D Depression
Sadness is not bad, but depression is sadness without any joy. You can feel sad and have a foundation of joy in your life. When people have no joy they run the risk of a nervous breakdown.
S Shame
We know we are guilty, but after asking forgiveness, it is destructive to continue to feel shame.
Thinking about things you don’t like kills faith.Thinking only of things you love builds faith. Think only of people, places or things you like or love.
Check your feelings
If you pray for something and you don’t feel happy and grateful that you have already received it, you don’t really have faith. Therefore, if you want to know if you have faith, check your feelings. If your feelings are not happy and grateful, change them. It might be as simple as saying “I’m so happy and grateful I have…”
If you go to a restaurant and order a hamburger, you probably only order it once. You don’t order it again the next time the waitress passes by. If you did, it would show that you didn’t really believe she took the order the first time. It shows you don’t really believe you will get what you asked for. In the same way, ask for something once in prayer and then thank God often that he is giving you what you asked for. You asked for something in his will, right? So why wouldn’t he give it to you? The problem is, it might not come to you right away.
True love
One of the keys to living a life of faith is to truly love God. Do you love Him even if he doesn’t give you what you want right away?
Living a life of love for God is an amazing and joyful life. It works wonders for me, and i am sure it will for you too.
