“All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them.”– Mar_11:24 (R.V.).
IT IS not enough to pray and ask; we must believe that we have received. We can only do this when we know that we have asked according to God’s Will (1Jo_5:14-15). This can be determined by referring to His Word, which teems with great and precious promises, like so many banknotes or cheques waiting to be cashed.
In prayer, it is well to be deliberate, to consider what we are about to ask, to discover some promise under which we can make our request; and then, having asked, to wait while the soul, so to speak, takes or appropriates what it needs. It may be that the time is not ripe for it to be actually bestowed, but the request is granted, and the coveted gift is already set aside in God’s storehouse, labelled with the name of the petitioner, just as we sometimes get our Christmas presents ready and put them aside, and at the right moment they shall be dispatched.
PRAYER
We thank Thee, O God, for the daily gifts of Thy Providence, but above all for the gift of Thyself in Jesus our Lord, in whom all good and perfect gifts are contained. AMEN.