Believe and Receive

Chuckle: What’s the difference between a cat and a comma? A cat has its claws at the end of its paws; a comma is a pause at the end of a clause.

Quote: "If you are too busy to spend time alone with God, you are busier then God intends for you to be." --Unknown Author

BELIEVE AND RECEIVE

"When you ask, you must believe (have faith) and not doubt" (James 1:6 NIV). Jesus said, ". . . whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (have faith) that you have received it and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24 NIV).

Think back with me to yesterday. From the time you awoke until you went to bed last night, how many times did you feel inadequate and lacking in wisdom to deal with a situation you were facing? If, after careful reflection on this question, you answer "none," then you probably went through the day depending upon your own strength and wisdom to make decisions and deal with issues that arose. You see, even if we think we know the best answer to a problem, or the best way to handle a situation, we are settling for second best wisdom -- ours.

In our first passage, James is referring to prayer for wisdom. However, when we ask God for wisdom, or anything, we must believe and not doubt. From our two passages, we see that believing (having faith) is essential for God to answer our prayers and grant our requests. Faith is believing God and acting on that faith. "If God says it, I believe it, and I will ask him!" When you pray, do you do so with confidence that God will answer, or is prayer just one more possibility among other resources you depend upon to handle life situations? Maybe you pray something like this: "OK, Lord, I'm asking, but I don't really think you will answer my prayer." What kind of faith is that? A doubting Christian is one who says he trusts God, but really trusts himself or someone else more. He says he has faith but he really doesn't.

A doubting mind is not completely convinced that God's way is best. Such a person makes God's Word just like human advice and retains the option to disregard or disobey it. This kind of person vacillates between allegiance to his subjective feelings, the world's ideas, and God's commands. He is divided inside. God's Word says he is "double-minded." "That person (without faith) should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded person, unstable in all he does" (James 1:7-8 NIV).

A double-minded Christian is one who knows Christ as Savior and is going to heaven, but on a daily basis does not have the faith to trust God in all situations and depend upon His divine wisdom to guide his life. We can pray all night to no avail unless we believe God and take him at his word. "Without faith, it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6 NIV). A pastor said this: "True wisdom enables us to do the right thing in the face of moral dilemmas and to interpret life's experiences in light of eternal values." Only God can grant this true wisdom for living. If we pray with God's will uppermost in our minds, our prayers will be pleasing to him and we can express our desires to him with the expectation that he will answer.

Love, Jerry & Dotse