(Screenshot from esvstudybible.org)

I’m currently reading through the Gospel of Mark.  Mark, not unlike the other gospel writers, emphasizes that Jesus was always teaching people (Mark 10:1).  Jesus would use any and every circumstance possible as an opportunity to teach his followers the ways of his kingdom.

In Mark 11:20-25 Jesus uses the occasion of a cursed, fruitless fig tree to teach his disciples about prayer.  Among other things in this passage, he explains in vs. 24 (highlighted above) that whatever we ask for in prayer, so long as we believe that we’ll receive it, we’ll get it.

This is puzzling to me.  I understand that we’re to pray by faith—that is, by believing that God is real, that he’s powerful, that he hears us when we pray, that he’s concerned about our lives, etc.  I get that.  What I don’t get is how this verse squares with all the things that I’ve prayed for that have not come to pass.  I’ve prayed for them believing.  Yet many prayers were not answered when and how I had hoped and even ‘believed’ that they would be.

When we’re puzzled like this by something we read in the Scriptures the best place to look for help is in other Scriptures.  That’s exactly what I did and here’s what I’ve learned.

When praying we most definitely should pray believing.  Our belief can be said to be blind (II Cor. 5:7), but it shouldn’t be said that our belief is dumb, uninformed, or ignorant of God’s truth—not when we’ve go the Bible to go by.  So when you pray make sure to put the following three things into practice.

1. Check Your Motives (James 4:3)

We’re not to pray for things simply because we want them.  In fact, James 4:3 explains that sometimes we don’t get what we pray for specifically because we want them for the wrong reasons.  So check your motives when you pray.  Make sure that your ultimate aim is as Jesus’ when he prayed to the Father, “Not my will, by yours” (Luke 22:42).

2. Know the Word (I John 5:14-15)

If we pray for what we know God already wants how can we go wrong?  We can’t!  So pray God’s will.  How do we know what his will is?  Well, thankfully he’s written it down for us in something called the Bible.  So READ IT, and by it know God’s will, and then pray for that.

3. Remember the Spirit (Rom. 8:26)

Don’t lose heart!  Don’t be discouraged in your prayer life.  Remember that Rom. 8:26 teaches that God actually helps us pray as we’re praying.  Now that’s reassuring!  So when you pray, rely on that help.  Ask for it.  Look for it.  Pray with it and by it…in faith.

Let me ask you:

What other truths from God’s Word can you think of to shed light on the subject of prayer?  I’ve only listed three.  There are many more.  Help me out.  Click here to leave a comment.

A prayer to remember this morning as we go to the house of the Lord:

We are going to the house of prayer

pour upon us the spirit of grace and supplication;

We are going to the house of praise,

awaken in us every grateful and cheerful emotion;

We are going to the house of instruction,

give testimony to the Word preached,

and glorify it in the hearts of all who hear;

may it enlighten the ignorant,

awaken the careless, reclaim the wandering,

establish the weak, comfort the feeble-minded,

make ready a people for their Lord.

—Taken from the, “First Day Morning: Worship” in The Valley of Vision