Do ya believe, really?

This week I wanna go at one of the hardest things for me in my prayer life…..belief. I am sure we have all been there a time or two…or fifty. Those times when you are in prayer, praying away, but not really wholeheartedly believing that what you are praying for will actually come to pass….maybe I’m the only one. But, I have learned how this can really hinder your prayer life.

See, after we plead our case, so to speak, we are to believe. Asking in itself does not cause you to receive. In Mark 11:22-24 Jesus says, “22"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. He didn’t say will receive but receiv“ed”. When you ask, you should believe right then and there that you have already received it. In the book of Daniel you can read that Daniel prayed and that, the same day he prayed, the answer was on its way. However; Daniel did not know that. But, what did he do? He kept praying, and after 21 days an angel arrived with his answer. The point is Daniel didn’t give up after five or ten days. No, see Daniel believ“ed” that what he prayed was going to be manifested.

Doubts play a huge role in every person’s life. It is inevitable, undeniable, and inescapable. In fact one of my preferred authors, John Ortberg wrote a very good book called “Faith and Doubt: the most important word may be the one in the middle. And John does a really good job at tacking this hard subject. But anyways back to my point. Doubt enters our lives in so many areas, but I believe the area we need to fight the most to keep it out of is prayer. James 1:5-7 says, “5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.”

I’ll end with this. Think back to when you were a child, and at about this time of year you are making out your Christmas list to santa. I do not know about you fellas but I know for a fact that I believed that I was going to receive every thing I wrote down on that list. Doubt actually never entered my mind. Now, did I get everything on my list(s), no, but when I penned them on paper I didn’t doubt that I would not obtain them. Now, I am not comparing prayer to a santa wish list (though some people think that prayer is like a Christmas list). I’m saying that we need that faith of a child when it comes to prayer. We believed that Santa was going to give us whatever we asked for, and yet we doubt sometimes that our Savior will give us anything less??

trying to die to myself

-tmart