Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Mark 11: 24 is one of the primary keys that Jesus gave His church for the work of prayer, “whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it!” Belief is the starting place of prayer! Is seeing believing or is believing seeing? Jesus makes it clear in this passage that the birthplace of experience is faith. When we believe the heavens open. When we believe there is a supernatural reaction to our faith!
In the preceding verses Jesus has invested a short teaching into the disciples concerning the authority that is theirs through faith within the context of the authoritative command. The contrast between these verses is an important part of our understanding. One of the clear principles separating our understanding of these two sections is that there is clearly a time to speak and a time to ask! There is a time for the bold declaration of faith that moves mountains and that is rooted in the delegated authority that we have been given. It is a declaration that is rooted in the knowledge of the power given to us. The contrasting expression of this principle is that there are times when we are to turn our eyes confidently towards the Father asking boldly for that which flows out of His throne and will rather than as an expression of the authority that has already been given.
Jesus spoke to the sick and saw them healed and yet at other times He prayed to the Father. In the case of Lazarus He first prayed to the Father, though He confessed that the primary motivation for that prayer was for the sake of His audience making the right theological connections concerning His actions, and then He turned to Lazarus and commanded Him to “come forth.” This model is replicated in Acts 9:40 where Peter first kneels in the corner and prays to the Father and then afterwards turns to the dead woman and commands her to “get up.” (An interesting side light is that in both of these two resurrections where the power of command was applied the one speaking addressed the dead person by name! Perhaps if a general command was issued too many people might have risen up!!)
Jesus commanded waves to be still. He spoke to blind eyes, lame feet and dead bodies. He spoke to the fig tree and it withered. And yet on other occasions the word tells us that He asked the Father to heal and at still other times He healed with a touch and no reference to a word being spoken at all is given. There is a simple principle in this concept, walk in the spirit! Jesus gave us the key to His extensive impact when He said in John 5:19 "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” NIV The power is not in a method but rather in a relationship. Jesus transfers this same key to our lives in John 15:5-8 where He calls us to an abiding place of intimacy by saying, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” KJV Fruitful and effective prayer flows out of an abiding relationship with Christ!
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