Marcos 11

Marcos 11

Pink - Prayer “What things soever ye desire when ye pray believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11:24) BY THE words “believe that ye receive them:” we understand, expect God to give them to you. But it is at this point that so many of God’s people fail oftenest in their prayer lives. There are three chief things to be attended to in prayer. First, make sure that you are asking for something that is in accordance with God’s Word: see 1 John 5:14. But right here, the devil will foil you unless you are upon your guard. He will come as an angel of light and preach a sermon to you on God’s holy will. O yes, the devil is quite capable even of that! It is our privilege and duty to know what God’s will is! “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17). It is the revealed will of God which is in view in these passages, for with His “secret” will, we have nothing to do; that is none of our business.God’s revealed will is made known in His Word. Fix this in your mind; never allow Satan inject a thought (Eph. 4:27) to shake you thereon, that everything God has commanded you to do, every precept and exhortation addressed to you, is “God’s will” for you, and is to be turned into prayer for enabling grace. It is God’s will that you should be “sanctified” (1 Thess. 4:2), that you should “rejoice” (Phil. 4:4), that you should “make your calling and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:10), that you should “grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord” (2 Pet. 3:18). Second, having made sure that what you are praying for is according to God’s revealed will, then plead His promises, such as Matthew 7:7, Philippians 4:19, etc. Plead them in the name of Christ, asking God to give you the “desires of thine heart” (Ps. 37:4) for Christ’s sake, that He may be honored in and by a Godly walk from you, and that His people may be helped and encouraged by your example. Those are pleas which God cannot deny. Third, and this is what we would earnestly and lovingly press upon the Christian reader: Expect God to do what you have asked. Unless there is an expectancy, faith is not fully in exercise. It is this expecting from Him which honours and pleases God, and which always draws down from Him answers of peace. There may be some difficulty, problem, trial, looming ahead of you, which assumes the proportions of a mountain. Never mind that: do not let it depress, discourage, or dismay you. Praise God it stands written in the eternal Word of Truth, “Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith and doubt not … ye shall say unto this mountain be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; It shall be done” (Matthew 21:21). Notice carefully, it is not “If thou doubt not and have faith,” but “if ye have faith” and then (while you are awaiting God’s answer) “doubt not,” but continue the fulfillment of His promise. When you first get down on your knees, beg God in the name of Christ and for His own glory’s sake, to work in you by His Spirit that expectancy of faith which will not take “NO” from Him; which reverently, but confidently says, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me” (Gen. 32:26). That is what honours God, that is what pleases Him, that is what obtains answers from Him. “A friend at court!” No doubt that expression is more or less familiar to the older readers, but it has almost dropped out of use in this generation. It denoted that one had a friend possessing influence with another in authority, and using it on my behalf. How unspeakably blessed to know that the Christian has a friend at court, the Court of Heaven; “A friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” He has the ear of God, for on earth He declared “Thou hearest me always” (John 11:42). Then, make use of Him, and ask Him to present them to His Father and your Father, accompanied by His own all-prevailing merits; and, if they are for God’s glory and thy (real) good, be fully assured that they shall be granted. Thus will Christ be honored and your faith strengthened. Mark 11:24 - R. A. Torrey was troubled about the grammar of that verse for a while (Mark 11:24) . . . "Believe you have it and you will have it," but he decided to quit worrying about the grammar and started trusting the Word! (Vance Havner) Bite-Size Requests Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. — Mark 11:24 Today's Scripture: Mark 11:20-24 Lots of things are easier to do when they’re bite-size. If you have a major task to get done, for example, it helps to divide it into smaller units and tackle them one at a time. This is true whether you are redecorating the house, packing for a vacation, or directing a church project. Rosalind Rinker suggests that the same is true of prayer. She found that when she made very general, all-inclusive requests of God, it seemed that nothing happened. But when she began making specific, bite-size requests, she saw results. She recommends that we make our requests very specific, and ask for what we really believe is according to God’s will. Rinker adds that as we see God’s answers to relatively small requests, we will find that we are asking for bigger needs with a greater degree of faith. Have you been praying general, world-encompassing prayers without seeing results? It’s wiser to ask for something smaller and more specific and really believe that it will be answered. For example, if you’ve been asking God to destroy all the pornography in the world, it would be better to pray that the convenience store on the corner would stop selling it. Then ask God what you can do to help bring that about. Prayer Suggestion If you don't already have one, make a prayer list that includes several bite-size requests. Keep the list, and then record how God answers. Be specific in your prayers if you want specific answers. Mark 11:24 - "Believe that Ye Receive" - "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark 11:24 - Here is one of our commonest failings. We confess our sins according to 1 John 1:9 but, instead of receiving his forgiveness and believing we have it, we commit another sin by worrying about it for weeks. We should thank him for forgiveness and, forgetting the things behind, press on. We overlook the tremendously important fact that failing to believe we have what God has promised and what faith has received is also a sin. Any disobedience of the command of our Lord is sin. He has commanded us to pray for things we need and then by faith receive them. Next he plainly commands us to "believe that ye have received them." Therefore, if we do not believe that we have received, we sin for all unbelief is sin. In the verse before our text our Lord said, "Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." Doubt is plain disobedience and disobedience is sin. So, beware of this snare of Satan; live believing and receiving and believing that you are receiving! (Vance Havner) Mark 11:24 - Believe Your Beliefs - What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11:24. Believe that you have and you shall have—that is the grammar of faith! We are to ask for wisdom but we must ask in faith, nothing wavering (James 1:6). The believer already has all things in Christ, and by faith he lays hold of what is already his. We must not only believe that we receive, we must believe that we believe. We must believe our beliefs and doubt our doubts. Alas, we doubt our beliefs and believe our doubts! To be always examining our faith is to destroy it. There is a strange twist of mind that afflicts some harassed souls who can never be sure of anything. These are ever learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. We must give ourselves credit for such faith as we can muster. The father of the demonized boy said to our Lord, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." His faith was weak and mixed with unbelief and he knew it, but he knew that he had at least a little faith and that faith he asserted. Of course, our faith, like every other good and perfect gift, is of God, but God expects us to use it, affirm it, not doubt it. "If thou canst believe" implies that we can if we will. God would not ask us to believe if we could not. (Vance Havner) Mark 11:24 - Shouting at Jericho - Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city. Joshua 6:16. The people shouted before the walls fell. Anybody can shout after they fall. Faith anticipates victory and celebrates in advance. "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mk. 11:24). "Believe that ye receive them"—the walls are as good as down already when God says so. Faith takes His word for the deed and shouts now. "The Lord hath given you the city." He has given us all things freely with the gift of His Son. We already have it in Christ, though we may not actually have possessed our possessions. Faith is the land deed for our inheritance with God's signature. Jericho may loom big and ominous, but if, like Joshua, you have had a meeting with the Captain of the Lord's host, fear not. "Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city." Anticipate victory and shout in advance! Mark 11:25 "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. stand: Zec 3:1 Lu 18:11 Rev 11:4 forgive: Mt 6:12,14,15 18:23-35 Lu 6:37 Eph 4:32 Col 3:13 Jas 2:13 Mark 11 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Matthew 6:12; 14; 15+ ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors....14+ “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. FORGIVE BEFORE YOU PRAY Whenever you stand praying (frequent posture of prayer for Jews), forgive, if you have anything against anyone - Forgive is the same verb aphiemi used for "releasing a wife" (divorcing) and in secular Greek is found in a writing that says in effect "let the pot drop!" That's a great word picture of forgiveness. Let the pot drop or perhaps in modern colloquial speech "Bury the hatchet." (Just don't let the handle stick up to you can grab it again!) And here is the really difficult part - forgive is in the present imperative meaning do it and keep on doing it as your habitual practice! Now just try to do that with someone who has offended you or hurt your feelings unfairly! You cannot do it! It is IM-possible in our innate power. But it is HIM-possible in the Spirit's incomparable power. See discussion of our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey commands such as forgive.