John 15:7:
“. . . ask whatever you wish, and it will be
given you.”
Mark 11:22-24: “‘Have faith in
God,’ Jesus answered. ‘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. Therefore I tell you,
whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will
be yours.’“
Verses like the ones above can make
prayer sound so neat and tidy, like a blank check or order form. Until you look deeper and at Scripture as a
whole. Because there is so much more to
prayer than “ask for what you want and you’ll get it, if you believe.”
First off, I think Mark 11:22-24
is best understood when we bring it all back to what Jesus said at the
beginning: “Have faith in God.” Our
problem (at least, my problem) is that oftentimes, we are putting our
faith not in God, but in our faith.
We put our faith in the idea that
our strong faith will get God to do what we want, instead of putting our faith
in God to lead us to do what He wants and to answer as He knows best. We try to manipulate Him with our “strong
faith,” like saying, “See how much I believe in You to do this? So now You can’t let me down.” We ask for what we want and feel like it’s
what God wants for us, too, and so He must answer the way we want. Because we are asking in faith.
But this is not “having faith in
God.” It’s faith in my faith. It’s faith in myself to get something
accomplished - based on what I do or don’t do, or believe or don’t believe. And this is misplaced faith! “Name it and claim it by the strength of your
faith” is not a godly way. It’s a
spiritual-sounding, super-subtle way of elevating ourselves over God, of
turning God into our errand boy. We act
like we are in control and that we get it done - by our prayers, beliefs, and
level of faith. But God is so much
bigger than that. And Jesus says, “Have
faith in God!”
Does our faith rest on our own
presumptuousness about how God should answer prayers or does it rest on Who God
is and His wisdom, strength, and timing?
In fact, sometimes God shows me what
a big God He is by not answering my prayers as I think He should.
We say, “I have faith in You that
You can do what I am asking You to do.”
But God might just be saying, “Yes, but will you still have faith in Me
if I don’t do what you’re asking Me
to do?”
I’m learning that I need to focus
less on my faith and if it’s “strong enough” to convince God to do things my
way, and I need to focus more on the God who is in control. I need to focus less on the answer that I want
and more on what God is doing, how He is leading, and what He is trying to
teach me through it all.
Genuine faith in God is not one that
says, “I asked for this and I believe that You can do it, so I’m claiming in
faith that You’ll do it.” (Unless it is
in reference to a clear biblical promise God has given us, like for
wisdom.) That’s presumption about what
God wants and about how He should answer.
Genuine faith in God is a faith that says, “I can’t see what’s ahead and I may not get what I want, but I still believe in You. I believe that You can do what I am asking. But if You don’t, I know that You are good and that You will work all things out for good. You are God and I am not!” This is putting our faith in God. This is humility. (And this is quite a journey, learning to get to this point of trust.)
It’s letting God be God, while we are the children at His feet. We can ask, but we have to let Him decide how to answer. We can desire and plan, but we have to include Him in the planning and be willing to let Him interrupt and change our desires and plans. And when He wills that a mountain moves, it will move when we pray. But in His time and in His way!
