Week 25
Mark 11:24 “All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you receive them, and they will be granted to you.”
Sometimes God’s promises seem so incredible and stupendous that we can hardly bring ourselves to trust them. Such is the case with the promise Jesus gives here concerning prayer.
Jesus teaches His people that prayer is always in season. Prayer is relevant to “all things.” Here there is a great invitation to ask in prayer concerning all things. This hints at personal need and struggle. Where can we go when we have great need? We go to the Lord. What can we do when life feels like it is sagging and soon will break? We pray to the Lord. In praying to the Lord in the hour of our need, we ASK. Note that we do not DEMAND of the Lord, nor do we COMMAND the Lord. We are humble servants of Christ; we are weak and unworthy. But Jesus intimately and personally knows us, and He calls us to pray and ask in prayer for what we need.
But the most astounding aspect to this whole prayer business is the promise appended to this teaching. Jesus says, “believe that you receive them, and they will be granted to you.” Surely common sense and biblical teaching would hasten to warn us to not use such a great promise for anything that exalts our flesh and dishonors the Lord. The “all things” does not cover sin and dishonorable issues about which the Lord in Scripture warns us. But this promise does cover small things and large things alike. When all hope is gone, take it to the Lord, and believe.
What do we believe as we pray? We believe that the Lord hears our prayer. We believe that the Lord knows what is best. We believe that the Lord cares about our deepest pain and struggle. We believe that the Lord will answer our prayers in the best way possible. We believe that all things are in the providential hands of our Sovereign God. Thus, we believe that all things are well.
We must never give up our hope, faith, and joy. We are never out of God’s sight or out of His care. We look to Him always and evermore in prayer and faith. No matter what comes, no matter how dark the day looks, we will look to our precious Savior in prayer. He will hear us, He will accept our prayer, and He will respond to our prayer in such a way that His plan will be accomplished, and His glory will shine in our experience. And because of that, we rejoice!
So Christian friend, let us take everything to the Lord in prayer, believing, asking, and trusting in Him alone.
Prayer: Dear Lord, I come to You today in prayer as the only One who can help me. But Jesus says that I can come through Him to you. So, here I am. Even though my circumstances look very difficult, I pray that You will help me, and I pray that You will undertake in all things. I yield my situation to You, and I yield my life to You. Amen.