Mark 11:24 NIV – Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
You’ve probably heard the old adage, “I’ll believe when I see it.” This worldly mindset prioritizes seeing before believing. This requires zero faith because what you now believe, is something you’ve already seen. Well, this verse, and today’s post, is here to set the record straight and change your prayer life.
I never really understood the magnitude of this verse until last year. It was May 2018 and I was listening to a sermon from Rick Warren about breakthrough prayer. He referenced this verse and reminded us, “You have to believe you have it before you get it.” The believing happens before anything you want to receive materializes. Before this, my prayers were begging God to get us pregnant and I wasn’t consistent with my request. After hearing this sermon, every day, three times a day, I said this prayer, “Thank you Lord for getting us pregnant this year.”
At first, I felt really silly thanking God for something I hadn’t received. I often chided myself because I felt like I was coming to God with too big and too impossible of a request. All of that was a lie the enemy was trying to tell me so I’d stop expectantly praying. As the days turned into months, that feeling entirely went away and I became more confident in my request and believed He would provide. By persistently thanking God in advance for my request, I silenced the devil who desperately wanted me to think the opposite.
Keep Believing
The key is this, keep believing. Be consistent and persistent and most importantly, believe you have it before you get it. We live in a world of Instapots and Instagram, but prayer doesn’t usually work that way. Yes, it may take days, months or years for that prayer to be answered. I know it’s easy to get discouraged because it’s taking longer than you want, but keep believing. Push past the doubt that God could really answer your prayer and believe you have received it.
One day you’ll find you’ve crossed over from tentatively leaning into this prayer, to wholeheartedly, no holding back, believing you have received before it’s placed in your life. When you get to that point, you’ll know because there will be a shift in how you think and feel about your wait. You’re trusting in the one who can provide which means you can focus on living life to the fullest, regardless of what you are waiting for. Putting this verse into practice helps you live in the wait.
If there is one thing, I can encourage you to do, it’s to put this verse on repeat and see God at work. I’ll get you started, “Thank you Lord for insert your heart’s desire and time frame.” Your prayers matter. When you speak to God, He listens.
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Please share with someone you know who could use some encouragement in the wait.
Great post today!
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Thank you! ❤️
Hi Melissa
Wow, this post is such an encouragement! Thank you so much. I will put your action step into practice right away…
Something just came to my mind that I’d like to share with you. I’m Swiss, and in (Swiss) German, we say that a woman is “of good hope” when she’s pregnant. That’s such a great image of what hope is, I think. She hasn’t seen her baby yet, but she knows it’s there and she knows it’s only a matter of time before she gets to hold it in her arms. So thanking God for your baby before you can see or hold it is exactly the right thing to do 🙂 Thank you for being such a blessing. I’ll be sure to follow your blog.
Take care, Seraina
Hi Seraina! Thank you for visiting and taking the time to post a comment! I’m glad this post resonated with you. WOW… thank you for sharing what your culture says of a woman when she’s pregnant. That is so beautiful and what you said is so true. Thank you for this!