Matthew 21:22 “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
If all that was required for us to receive from the Lord is to ask then we would all have it made. Unfortunately that is not the case however, for scripture plainly teaches us that we must ask in faith. In the passage of scripture quoted above Jesus taught us that whatever we ask in prayer “believing” we will receive. How many times have you heard the following statement? Let’s just hope and pray. Those who just hope and pray never receive anything from the Lord, for on its own, hope does not get the job done, faith does. Our Lord Jesus taught us that those who “believe” and pray receive. And so as we have already seen, the first step to receiving from the Lord is we must ask Him. The second step to receiving from the Lord is that we must ask in faith. In all four gospels, there is not one incident recorded of anyone receiving anything from the Lord Jesus other than by faith. I am not speaking about the incidents when our Lord initiated miracles through His own compassion and faith. Such as the incident when He raised the young man in the city of Nain from the dead. No one asked the Lord to do that. He did that out of His compassion for that woman. I am speaking about individuals asking the Lord to do something for them. They had to ask Him in faith in order to receive. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He has never and will never change. And so if no one received anything from Him when He was on the earth, except by faith, then no one will receive anything from Him now, except by faith. There is no other way that we can receive anything from God, except by faith. From the moment we come into the kingdom of God, everything we will ever receive from God; we will only receive by faith. In fact we cannot even come into His kingdom except by faith, for it is only by faith in Jesus Christ that we are saved (John 3:16).
Michael E.B. Maher
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