Believe in the Almighty God Who Wants to Give You Good Things
Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. (Mark 11:23-24)
One day, Jesus’ disciples accompanying Him heard their Teacher say to a fruitless fig tree, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you!” When they saw that the tree had withered to its roots, the disciples were amazed and inquired Jesus. In reply He told them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen.”(Matthew 21:21).
Jesus also promised us, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14), and “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” (John 15:7-8).
In short, because God the Creator is the Father of those who have accepted Jesus Christ, they can have the desires of their heart answered when they believe in and obey God’s Word. In Matthew 17:20 Jesus tells us, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”
Why, then, do so many people fail to receive God’s answers and give glory to Him despite countless hours of prayer? Let us examine how we can give glory to God as we receive everything for which we pray and ask.
1. Believe in the Almighty God Who Wants to Give You Good Things
For a man to sustain his life from the moment of his birth, he would require such necessary items as food, clothing, shelter and the like. Yet, the most integral element to sustaining life is breathing; it allows life’s existence possible and makes living worthwhile. While the children of God who have accepted Jesus Christ and have been reborn also require many things in life, the most fundamental of all in their lives is prayer.
Prayer is the channel of dialogue with God who is Spirit as well as breathing for our spirit. Moreover, for prayer is also a means to ask God and receive His answers, the most significant aspect in praying is the heart with which we believe in the almighty God. Depending on the degree of one’s belief in God as he prays, he will feel the certainty of God’s answers and will receive the answers according to his faith.
Now, who is this God in whom we place our faith?
In describing Himself in Revelation 1:8, God said “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” God featured in the Old Testament is the Creator of everything in the universe (Genesis 1:1-31) and divided the Red Sea and then allowed the Israelites who had left Egypt to cross it (Exodus 14:21-29). When the Israelites obeyed God’s command and marched around the city of Jericho for seven days and gave a loud shout, the seemingly indestructible walls of Jericho came crumbling down (Joshua 6:1-21). When Joshua prayed to God in the middle of the battle against the Amorites, God had the sun stand still, and the moon stop (Joshua 10:12-14).
In the New Testament, Jesus, the Son of the almighty God, raised the dead from the grave (John 11:17-44), healed every disease and sickness (Matthew 4:23-24), opened the eyes of the blind (John 9:6-11), and had the crippled stand up and walk again (Acts 3:1-10). He also drove away at once the force of the enemy devil and evil spirits by His Word (Mark 5:1-20) and with five loaves of bread and two fish, He provided enough food for 5,000 men to eat and be satisfied (Mark 6:34-44). Moreover, by calming wind and waves, He showed us firsthand that He is the Governor of all things in the universe (Mark 4:35-39).
Therefore, we must believe in the almighty God who gives us good gifts in His abundant love. Jesus told us in Matthew 7:9-11, “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” The God of love wants to give us His children the best gifts.
In His overflowing love God gave us His one and only Son. What more would He not give us? Isaiah 53:5-6 tell us, “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” Through Jesus Christ God prepared for us, we have received life from death, and we can enjoy peace and be healed.
If God’s children serve the almighty and living God as their Father and believe that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and answers those crying out to Him, they must not worry or become anxious in times of temptation and affliction, but instead give thanks, rejoice, and pray.
This is to “believe in God” and He is pleased to see such display of one’s faith. God also answers us according to our faith and by showing us the evidence of His existence, God allows us to give glory to Him.
2. Ask in Faith and Do Not Doubt
God the Creator of the heavens, the earth, and mankind allowed man to record the Bible so that His will and providence would be made known to all. At all times, God also shows Himself to those who believe in and obey His Word, and proves to us that He is alive and almighty through manifestations of miraculous signs and wonders.
We can believe in the living God merely by looking at the creation (Romans 1:20) and give glory to God by receiving His answers with our prayer accompanied by our faith in Him.
There are “fleshly faith” by which we can believe because our knowledge or thought is congruent with God’s Word and “spiritual faith,” the kind of faith by which we can receive His answers. While what the Word of God tells us is implausible when measured against man’s knowledge and thought, when we ask Him by faith in Him, God gives us faith and a sense of certainty. These elements crystallize into an answer and this is spiritual faith.
Therefore, James 1:6-8 tell us, “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
Doubting originates from man’s knowledge, thought, arguments, and pretension, and is brought to us by the enemy devil. A doubting heart is double-minded and cunning, and God detests it the most. How tragic would it be if your children could not believe but instead doubted whether you were their biological father or mother? By the same token, how could God answer the prayers of His children if they are unable to believe Him to be their Father, although He bore and nurtured them?
We are thus reminded that “The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8), and urged to “destroy speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
When our faith is transformed into spiritual faith and we do not doubt even a bit, God is thoroughly pleased and will give us anything for which we ask. When neither Moses nor Joshua doubted but only acted by faith, they could part the Red Sea, cross the Jordan River, and destroy the walls of Jericho. In the same manner, when you say to a mountain, “Be taken up and cast into the sea” and do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you.
Suppose you said to Mount Everest, “Go throw yourself into the Indian Ocean.” Would you receive the answer to your prayer? It is self-evident that a global chaos will follow if Mount Everest were actually thrown into the Indian Ocean. For this could not be and is not God’s will, such prayer will go unanswered no matter how much you pray because He will not give you spiritual faith by which you can believe in Him.
If you are praying to accomplish something that is against God’s will, the kind of faith by which you can believe in your heart will not come to you. You may believe at first your prayer may be answered but as time passes, doubts will begin to grow. Only when we pray and ask in accordance with the will of God without doubting even a little do we receive His answers. Therefore, if your prayer has not yet been answered, you must realize that it is because you have asked for something that stands against the will of God or that you are at fault for doubting or having doubted His Word.
1 John 3:21-22 remind us, “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”
People obeying God’s commands and doing what pleases Him do not ask for things running counter to God’s will. We can receive anything we ask as long as our prayer is in accordance with His will. God tells us, “All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”
Therefore, in order to receive God’s answers, you must receive first from Him the spiritual faith which He gives you when you act and live by His Word. As you destroy all the arguments and speculations raised up against the knowledge of God, the doubts will disappear and you will come to possess spiritual faith, thereby receiving anything you ask.
3. Whatever You Have Asked, Believe that You Have Received it
Numbers 23:19 reminds us, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” If you truly believe in God, ask by faith, and do not doubt even a little, you must believe that you have received everything for which you asked and prayed. God is almighty and faithful, and He promises to answer us.
Why, then, do so many people say they failed to receive His answers despite their prayer by faith? Is this because God did not answer them? No. God has surely answered their prayer but it is taking time because they have not prepared themselves as vessels worthy of containing His answers.
When a farmer sows seeds, he believes he will reap fruit but cannot gather the fruit immediately. After seeds have been sown, they bud, flower, and bear fruit. Some seeds take longer in bearing fruit than others. Likewise, the process of receiving God’s answers requires such sowing and nurturing procedures.
Suppose some student prayed, “Allow me to enter and study at Harvard University.” If he prayed by the faith in His power, God will surely answer the student’s prayer. However, the answer to his prayer may not come to him right away. God prepares the student to grow to be a vessel proper for His answers and at a later time He will answer the prayer. God will give him the heart to study hard and diligently so that he may excel at school. As the student keeps on praying, God will remove from his mind any worldly thoughts and give him wisdom and enlighten him to study more effectively. According to the student’s deeds, God will manage every affair in his life to go favorably and equip the student with qualifications to enter Harvard and when the time arrives, God will allow him to enter Harvard.
The same rule applies to people stricken by disease. As they learn through God’s Word why diseases come about and how they can be healed, when they pray by faith they can receive healing. They must discover the wall of sin that stands between themselves and God and get to the bottom of the source of the disease. If the disease came about because of hatred, they must cast off hatred and transform their heart to that of love. If the disease was brought forth by overeating, they must receive from God the power to self-control and fix their harmful habit. Only through such processes does God give people faith by which they can believe and prepare them to be proper vessels to receive His answers.
Praying for prosperity at one’s business is no different from cases above. If you pray to receive blessings through your business, God will first put you to the test to become a vessel worthy of His blessing. He will give you wisdom and power so that your ability to run the business becomes distinguished, so that your business will grow larger, and so that you will be led to an excellent situation in which to run the business. He will lead you to trustworthy individuals, gradually increase your income, and cultivate your business. When the time of His choosing comes, He will respond just as you prayed.
Through these sowing and nurturing processes, God will lead your soul to prosper and put you to the test to make you into a vessel worthy of receiving whatever you ask Him. Therefore, you must never grow impatient based on your own thought. Instead, you ought to adjust yourselves on God’s timeframe and wait for His time, believing that you have already received His answers.
The almighty God, according to the laws of the spiritual realm, answers His children in His justice and is pleased when they ask Him by faith. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
May you please God by possessing the kind of faith by which you believe you have already received everything you asked for in prayer and give great glory to Him by receiving everything for which you ask, in the name of our Lord I pray!
4. Remember the Lesson of the Persistent Widow
When Jesus taught God’s Word to the crowds, He did not speak to them without a parable (Mark 4:33-34). “The Parable of the Persistent Widow” on which this Chapter is based enlightens us on the importance of persistent prayer, how we are to pray always, and how we are not to give up.
How persistently do you pray to receive God’s answers? Are you taking a break from praying or have you given up because God has yet to answer your prayer?
In life there are countless problems and issues both big and small. When we evangelize people and tell them of the living God, some seeking God begin attending church to solve their problems and others come to merely find comfort in their heart.
Regardless of the reasons for which people began attending church, as they worship God and accept Jesus Christ, they learn that they, as children of God, can receive anything they ask for and be transformed into men of prayer.
Thus, all children of God must learn through His Word the kind of prayer with which He is pleased, pray in accordance with the essentials to prayer, and possess faith to persevere and pray until they receive the fruit of God’s answers. This is why people with faith are aware of the importance of prayer and pray habitually. They do not commit the sin of failing to pray even if they do not receive an answer right away. Instead of giving up, they pray even more fervently.
Only by such faith can people receive God’s answers and give glory to Him. Yet, even though many people profess to believe, it is difficult to find people with such great faith as this. This is why our Lord laments and asks, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
In a certain town was an immoral judge to whom a widow kept coming and begged, “Give me legal protection from my opponent.” This corrupt judge expected a bribe but the poor widow could not even afford a small token of appreciation to give the judge. Yet, the widow kept going to the judge and begged him and the judge kept refusing the widow’s request. Then one day, he had a change of heart. Do you know why? Listen to what this immoral judge said to himself: “Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out!” (Luke 18:4-5)
For the widow never gave up and kept going to him with her request, even this wicked judge could only succumb to the wishes of the widow who kept bothering him.
At the end of this parable which Jesus used to give us the key to receiving God’s answers, He concluded, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly.”
If an immoral judge listened to the plea of a widow, why would the righteous God not answer when His children call out to Him? If they vow to receive an answer for a specific problem, fast, stay up all night, and wrestle in prayer, how could God not answer them quickly? I am sure many of you have heard of instances in which people received His answers during a period of vowed prayer.
In Psalm 50:15 God tells us, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.” In other words, God intends for us to honor Him by answering our prayer. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 7:11, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” How could God, who has without reservation given us His one and only Son to die for us, not answer the prayer of His beloved children? God desires to give quick answers to His children who love Him.
Yet, why do so many people say they are without His answers even though they pray? God’s Word specifically tells us in Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” That’s why it is impossible for our prayer to go unanswered. Yet, God is unable to answer our prayer because of a wall standing in our way to Him, because we have not prayed enough, or because the time has not yet arrived for us to receive His answers.
We are to pray always without giving up because when we persevere and keep praying by faith, the Holy Spirit tears down the wall that stands between God and us and opens the way to God’s answers through repentance. When the amount of our prayer seems sufficient in God’s eyes, He will surely answer us.
In Luke 11:5-8, Jesus teaches us again on perseverance and importunity. It reads, Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him”; and from inside he answers and says, “Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”
Jesus teaches us that God does not refuse but answers His children’s importunities. When we pray to God, we must pray boldly and with perseverance. It is not to say you just demand but pray and ask with a sense of certainty by faith. The Bible frequently mentions many forefathers of faith who received answers with such prayer.
After Jacob wrestled with an angel by the Jabbok River till daybreak, he earnestly prayed and made a strong demand for blessing, saying, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26), and God permitted blessings for Jacob. From that point on, Jacob was called “Israel” and became the forefather of the Israelites.
In Matthew 15, a Canaanite woman whose daughter was suffering from demon-possession first came up to Jesus and called out to Him, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” But, Jesus did not say a word (Matthew 15:22-23). When the woman came the second time, knelt before Him, and begged Him, Jesus simply said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and refused the woman’s request (Matthew 15:25-26). When the woman importuned Jesus once more, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table,” Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish”(Matthew 15:27-28).
Similarly, we have to follow the footsteps of our forefathers of faith in accordance with God’s Word and always pray. And we ought to pray by faith, with a sense of certainty, and with a fervent heart. By faith in our God who allows us to reap at the proper time, we must become true followers of Christ in our prayer life without giving up.
5. Pray Always
Just as man is unable to sustain life without breathing, the children of God who have received the Holy Spirit cannot arrive at eternal life without praying. Prayer is a dialogue with the living God and our spirit’s breath. If God’s children who have received the Holy Spirit do not communicate with Him, they will put out the Holy Spirit’s fire and thus will no longer be able to walk on the path of life but rather go astray onto the path of death, and in the end fail to reach salvation.
Yet, for prayer establishes communication with God, we will arrive at salvation as we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and learn and live by the will of God. Even if trouble comes our way, God will give us a way to avoid it. He will also work for our good in all things. By prayer we will also experience the power of the almighty God who strengthens us to confront and overcome the enemy devil, thereby giving glory to Him with our steadfast faith that can make what was impossible, possible.
Thus, the Bible commands us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and this is “God’s will” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Jesus set for us a proper example of prayer by praying continually according to God’s will irrespective of time and place. He prayed in the desert, on a mountain, and many other places, and prayed at dawn and nighttime.
By praying continually, our forefathers of faith lived by God’s will. Prophet Samuel tells us, “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way” (1 Samuel 12:23). Prayer is God’s will and His commandment; Samuel tells us that failing to pray constitutes a sin.
When we do not pray or take a break from our prayer life, worldly thoughts infiltrate our mind and prevent us from living by God’s will and we come to face difficult problems for we are without God’s protection. Thus, when people fall into temptation they grumble against God or go astray from His ways even more.
For this reason 1 Peter 5:8-9 remind us, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” and urge us to pray always. Let us pray not only when there are problems but always, so that we will be God’s blessed children whose every affair in life goes well.
6. Believe that You Will Reap a Harvest at the Proper Time
Galatians 6:9 reads, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” It is the same with prayer. When we pray always according to God’s will without giving up and the proper time comes, we will reap a harvest.
If a farmer grows impatient soon after planting a seed and digs up the seed from the ground, or if he fails to care for the sprout and wait, what would be the point of trying to reap a harvest? Until we receive answers to our prayer, dedication and perseverance are necessary.
Moreover, the time of harvest varies according to the kind of the seeds planted. Some seeds bear fruit in a few months while others can take years. Vegetables and grain are harvested more easily than apples or such rare herbs as ginseng. For more precious and expensive crops, more time and dedication need to be invested.
You must realize that more prayer is required for bigger and more serious problems for which you pray. When Prophet Daniel saw a vision regarding the future of Israel, mourned for three weeks, and prayed, God heard Daniel’s prayer the first day and sent an angel to make sure the prophet was aware of this (Daniel 10:12). However, as the prince of the power of the air resisted the angel for twenty-one days, the angel could come to Daniel on the last day, and only then did Daniel come to know for sure (Daniel 10:13-14).
What would have happened if Daniel had given up and stopped praying? Even though he became distressed and lost strength after seeing the vision, Daniel pressed on in prayer and in the end received God’s answer.
When we persevere by faith and pray until we receive His answers, God gives us a helper and leads us to His answers. That is why the angel who brought God’s answers to Daniel told the prophet, “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future” (Daniel 10:13-14).
For what kinds of problems do you pray? Is your prayer the kind that reaches God’s throne? In order to understand the vision God had shown him, Daniel decided to humble himself as he did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter his mouth, nor did he use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed (Daniel 10:3). As Daniel humbled himself for those three weeks in vowed prayer, God heard his prayer and answered him on the first day.
Here, pay attention to the fact that while God heard Daniel’s prayer and answered the prophet the first day, it took three weeks for His answers to reach Daniel. Many people, upon facing a serious problem, try praying for a day or two and are quick to give up. Such practice attests to their little faith.
What we need the most in our generation today is the heart with which we believe only in our God who surely answers us, persevere, and pray, regardless of the time of the arrival of God’s answer. How can we expect to receive God’s answers without perseverance?
God gives rain in its season, both the autumn rain and the spring rain, and sets the time of harvest (Jeremiah 5:24). That is why Jesus told us, “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you” (Mark 11:24). For Daniel believed in God who answers prayer, he persevered and did not take a break from praying until he received God’s answer.
The Bible tells us, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). If anyone has given up praying because he has not yet received God’s answer, he must not think he has faith or that he will receive God’s answers. If he has true faith, he will not dwell in the present circumstances but instead pray continually without giving up. That’s because he believes that God, who allows us to reap what we sow and repays us for what we have done, will surely answer him.
As Ephesians 5:7-8 read, “Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light,” may each of you possess true faith, persevere in prayer to the almighty God, and receive everything you ask for in prayer, and lead a life full of God’s blessing, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray!