Mark 11:20-33

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:24, NKJV)

Some things sound too good to be true, and often they prove to be false. How many billions of dollars are scammed off unsuspecting victims each year? But when Jesus tells us something, we can be sure that it is true, for He is Truth. Jesus wanted His followers to believe Him for greater things. If they had faith, and did not doubt in their hearts, then they could move mountains and cast them into the sea! Faith is essential for effective prayer.

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus told His disciples that if their brother sinned against them seven times in one day, and seven times said, “I repent”, then they must forgive him. At this point they said, “Increase our faith!”

“So the Lord said, ‘If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.’” (Luke 17:6, NKJV)

Now I have never uprooted a tree and cast it into the sea, so this makes me wonder, just how much faith do I have? I conclude that Jesus wanted His disciples to know the power of the prayer of faith. It is sort of like nuclear power: a small amount accomplishes much. But we must satisfy the conditions.

First, we must know the will of God. We are promised that if we ask anything according to God’s will, then He hears us, and we know that we have what we have asked for (1 John 5:14-15). So, how do we know God’s will? We must know the Scriptures and pray for revelation.

Second, we must ask God. Knowing that prayer is effective, you would think we would pray before doing anything else, but often we pray only after we have exhausted our own resources.

Third, we must believe that we have what we have requested. I think this is the hardest part. There is a nagging sense that we are not worthy, or that perhaps this isn’t God’s will. Such thoughts undermine our faith. But if we would see God move mountains of difficulty or uproot trees of well-established sins or roots of bitterness, then we must believe that we are praying the will of God, and that we have what we have asked for.

This is the secret of effective prayer.

So, what mountains need to be moved, or trees need to be uprooted? Begin praying the will of God today, believing that it will happen. And don’t stop until it does happen!