Believe That You Receive

Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. -Matthew 11:24

I remember when I first got saved, I’d pray, “Oh Lord, I ask You to heal me in Jesus’ name. I ask You for healing. Amen.” Then when someone would ask, “Did you get anything?” I’d check and say, “Well, no, I don’t believe so.” And according to my faith it would be done to me. I’d pray and then I’d believe I wouldn’t get anything, so I wouldn’t get anything. My faith worked all the time!

Jesus did not say, “When you pray, believe you don’t receive anything, and you’ll have it.” It sounds funny, but a lot of us prayed that way for years. A lot of people still do. They pray and then check to see whether their bodies feel any better or whether the symptoms are gone. And if nothing is different, they don’t believe they received anything.

That’s not what Jesus said to do. If we want His results, we have to follow His instructions. He didn’t say, “When you pray, believe you didn’t receive anything.” He said, “When you pray, believe you receive.”

CONFESSION:

When I pray for healing, I don’t check to see if symptoms are gone or if anything in my body has changed. I believe I receive when I pray and God sees to it that my healing manifests.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999