“Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mk 11: 24). If I gave you a check today for a thousand dollars, would you withhold thanks until you knew it wouldn’t bounce? Anyone who knows Me would think: “This is a pretty good guy. I can trust that He has enough in His account to cover it so I will thank him right now.” You would thank me first and then you would take the check to the bank. God’s promises are better than any of our promises. Before you ever receive what He has promised, you can say, “Thank you, God I know that what you promised will happen.”
The people of Israel were going into the Promised Land where the powerful city of Jericho was located. God promised He was going to let the Israelites into the city and then gave them His plan. It went something like this. “I want you to go and march around Jericho for seven days . Then on the 7th day, I want you to march around the city seven times, thanking Me for the victory that’s going to come.” And when they did that, the walls just fell. God did what He would promise! I have often thought, “What if I would been one of those people marching around the walls for seven days?” Some of them must have been looking at the walls, getting more and more worried and wondering how God could ever bring the walls down. But a lot of those people had faith instead. And every day they looked at the wall and thought about what God could do and thanked Him in advance. This is the kind of life that God wants you to live, the thanking-God-in-advance kind of faith. Jesus talked about it in the above Scripture.
When you ask God for something, why even ask if you don’t believe? It’s an empty exercise. Jesus said that if you pray and ask God for something, you should believe He’s going to do it. Thank Him in advance for what only he can do. And then look for how he answers your prayer.
