The Lord Jesus says in Mark 11:22-24, “Have faith in God.  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

It is important to interpret Scripture in the light of other Scripture.  As we read in 2 Peter 1:20, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”  Mark 11:22-24 are not saying that if we want something desperately enough and believe that we will receive it, that God will automatically give it to us.  The Lord’s instruction in verse 22 was to “have faith in God.”  We know from Romans 10:17 that “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”  When we study God’s Word, we will get to know God’s desires.  His desires will become our desires as we get to know and love Him more.  When we pray, we will ask for things that God wants.  If we are asking for what God wants, then we can be assured that we will receive those things.

However, many times we think that we know what God wants but we are wrong or it is not God’s time yet for our desires to be granted.  Our earnest desire should be to want God’s will in our lives.  The Lord Jesus Christ gave us a beautiful example of this attitude while He was in the garden of Gethsemane.  In Mark 14:36 the Lord Jesus said, “ Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee; take away this cup from me:  nevertheless not what I will, but what Thou wilt.”  As He faced the agony of the cross, the Lord Jesus still wanted to do the Father’s will above all else.  Is this our same heartfelt longing?  When our desires are the same as God’s desires, we can be certain that we will receive our requests.  (212.3)  (DJ)