“Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for-believe that you have received it and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24 CSB
When I was in college, friends and I decided to ditch classes one Wednesday afternoon. We decided we would practice what our life would be like in the future. In the future when we had an established career we would take Wednesday afternoons off and go golfing. None of us golfed, we just thought that is what you did when you take an afternoon off from work. That was our perception of what our future would be like. It is ironic that Wednesday afternoons are the day I take off during the week, I never realized that until right now. We did it that day, we practiced for our future and skipped classes to go golfing (although we didn’t actually golf). We were believing in our future even though we didn’t know what it was
God answers your prayers. Every single one of them, there isn’t a single one He has missed, there isn’t one He hasn’t heard, there isn’t one He hasn’t answered. It might not be the answer you wanted. Maybe you haven’t recognized yet that He has actually answered it, you just weren’t paying attention. Maybe the answer is no and you’re having a hard time accepting it, or He said yes and that seems even more petrifying. I’ve prayed so many prayers in my life time, I can’t remember them all. He’s answering prayers I don’t even remember praying. But He’s answering all of them, yours, mine, everyone’s. It’s up to us to start believing it.
It’s up to us to do the practice round. It’s up to us to start acting like we believe our prayers will be answered one day. Just like I did in college, I still do today, except I do it much more prayerfully. Once I pray and give it to God, I act like He has answered. I don’t know how, but I know He has answered. I have no idea if it’s yes, no or wait, but I know He has answered. And I know He will carry me through no matter what His decision is. Paul says it best in his letter to the Hebrews:
“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1
We have faith that our prayers are answered. We have faith that if it’s not the answer we were hoping for God will get us through it. We have faith that God’s will is truly better than our will, God’s ways better than our ways. We have faith.