Believing God is Easy

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God, for assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. -Matthew 11:22-24

Jesus gives His disciples some good instruction on the subject of faith here. He starts out by saying, Have faith in God.” Then in verse 23, Jesus gives the two foundational principles. Believe in your heart and say with your mouth.

Verse 24 starts with the word, therefore, which connects verse 24 with the previous two verses. That tells us Jesus is still teaching on the subject of having faith in God: “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them.”

I used to look at that verse and think, Lord, why did You make it so hard to receive from You? Why do we have to believe? Why can’t we just throw a prayer out in the atmosphere and see if You take it or leave it? I tried that method for years and it didn’t work, because I wasn’t praying the way He’d told me to pray.

“When you pray, believe.” But why did I have to believe? It all seemed so hard. Then one day I read that verse and realized, Lord, that’s not hard! It’s the easiest thing in the world!

You see, you’ve never prayed a prayer in your life without believing something. Believing is the easiest, most natural thing in the world. The question is, what do you believe?

And what does God want you to believe? “When you pray, believe that you receive.” Believe that your request is granted to you—and you shall have it!

CONFESSION:

God says He is the God who heals me. I ask Him right now to heal me according to His Word, and I believe I receive my request!

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