Only A Prayer Away

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mr 11:24 AV)

 

We have to be careful with this verse lest we think lack of faith is the only hindrance to answered prayer.  Simply because we believe God will do something if we ask does not make it so.  There are other factors involved.  The most important is the will of God.  I may ask the LORD for a miracle, but if it is not in His will, then the answer will be no.  The context of this promise is the effectual spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the personal forgiveness of sins.  Both, we know, are in the perfect will of God.  But this promise is not limited to the context only.  Anything that is with the perfect will of God can be claimed.  Our personal sanctification can be claimed.  Church growth can be claimed.  Boldness to share the gospel can be claimed.  The opportunity to share our testimony can be claimed.  The host of items within the perfect will of God is much.  We simply have to believe God will honor His word.

My parents were pretty predictable.  Nothing really changed with them.  Their values, rules, and patterns of life pretty much remained consistent the entire time I lived under their roof.  What was the norm when my oldest brother was born was pretty much how it was twenty years later when the baby of the family was born.  There were several rites of passage.  At age eleven, we received a watch for our birthday.  When we turned thirteen, we were allowed to purchase our own ten-speed bicycle.  Our very first ten-speed was almost always bought from a police auction and not straight from the dealer.  We had to use our own money which we saved up from delivering newspapers.  I can still remember when it was my turn.  It was a Saturday morning and my sister Mary and I were going to the auction.  We asked my father and he loaded us up in his little Datsun pickup and off we went.  There were not too many bikes from which to choose.  The one I picked out was an orange Schwinn that was too big for me.  It was one of the only ones that would work.  My Dad did the bidding for me.  I knew if He did the bidding for me, we would certainly win that bicycle.  Sure enough, it was loaded into the back of his truck!  My dad decided that bike was for me.  So, he got that bike for me.  I asked and he granted it.  The request was according to pre-established rules and it was my turn.  Guaranteed, that bicycle was mine.

When we contemplate the condition of our prayer life, the word anemic comes to mind.  For most saints, our prayer life is very scant, bordering on nonexistent.  There are untold blessings in the storehouses of heaven waiting to be dispersed.  They sit there, gathering dust, so to speak, because we do not ask.  Heaven only knows what our life and ministry might be like if we spent more time in heartfelt prayer.  Perhaps our churches will begin to grow again if we pray more.  Perhaps we would be better at sharing our faith if we were to pray more.  Perhaps church strife would cease if we prayed more.  Perhaps we would be filled with joy if we were to pray more.  Perhaps we would get more out of our bible reading or preaching if we were to pray more.  The largest reason our lives and churches, and even our nation is the way it is might be directly related to the sorry state of our prayer lives.  If we could simply devote a good chunk of our spiritual time and energy to the necessary discipline of talking with God, we just might see Him move as never before.