The Present God in Our Prayers

Mark 11:24  For this reason I say to you, All things that you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and you will have them

From man’s point of view, prayer and petition are things of the present, and “you will have them” is a thing of the future. There is a gap of time between “pray and ask” and “you will have them.” When I pray to God for the healing of a disease, for the salvation of a sinner, or for the accomplishment of a work, I do not know when the disease will be healed, when the person will be saved, or when the work will be accomplished. In man’s eyes, answers to prayer belong to the future. But the Lord Jesus’ word here is very unusual. He is speaking of genuine faith. “All things that you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and you will have them.”

In our mind, we often misread the word “have” in the phrase “believe that you have received them.” We often change it to “believe that you will receive them, and you will have them,” or we change it to “believe that you can receive them…” or “believe that you are going to receive them…” But once you change it, that is no longer faith. Only one faith is genuine faith — the faith that believes that “God is.” The Lord’s Word does not say “going to receive” but “have received them.” I believe that I have received them now. I am not waiting for the future. Do we see this?