While the little child soon learns the secret of asking and receiving, and the parents delight in meeting that child’s needs, it is obvious that things have to change as the child grows and develops. Long before the child becomes an adult, the parents start expecting some co-operation or action in bringing into reality the child’s list of wants.
The Christian life is somewhat similar, and God delights when His children grow out of the asking or begging stage of prayer, and start taking a part in the prayer of anticipation.
In Mark 11:24 Jesus made it quite plain that there was another way to pray, a new principle of prayer, as compared to the asking prayer of Matthew 7:7-8. Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:24 NKJV). We all have desires, and many of those desires concern “things” — food, clothing, shelter, and the host of other items that concern our everyday life.
In this verse, Jesus is saying that we should pray about the “things” which we desire. You never get a busy signal from God! And our rich, divine, loving, prospering Father is just as interested in the small “things” of our lives as He is in our job changes, our relocation of homes, our marriages. The statement is quite clear: if you have a need, talk to God about it. (And if you are having a problem with prayer, talk to God about that too!)
Jesus continues by teaching that prayer and believing go hand in hand. “When you pray, believe!” Yes, it is all too possible to pray and not believe. Thousands of Christians do that every day of the week and especially on Sundays. Prayer without believing is like a boat without a sail, a ship without a rudder. But prayer, linked with believing, can bring to pass the impossible in your life.
To believe is to make an assumption. To believe is to call those things which be not as though they were (Romans 4:17). Jesus said, “… believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” The word “receive” is actually in the past tense, and so we could read, “believe that you have received it, and you shall have it (in evidence)” (see ESV, NAS, CSB, etc.). What is your need? Then speak about it and act concerning it as if it were already existing in your wallet or pantry or house, and you will have it. In the epistles to the churches, written much later, the emphasis is on thanking God before you receive the answer, and that is perhaps the best way you can “believe that you have received it”.
Now can you can see that you have a part to play in the prayer of anticipation. You have grown enough in the Christian life to know that God has available to you all that you will ever need for everything you will ever run across. And He wants you to have it! And He wants you to co-operate with Him in showing it in manifestation by anticipation or expectation.
The prayer of anticipation is typical of the “youth” period of the Christian life. When we were teenagers we had a great anticipation of the future and our part in it. We enjoyed being part of the “action”; we had the strength and the nerve to break records and make a name for ourselves. At the close of every Olympic Games, the IOC president invites the youth of the world to gather again in four year’s time and participate in the next contest. A lot depends on how old you think you are: Australia’s oldest competitor in the Olympics was, I believe, 64, and one of our gold medal winners did so at the age of 60! Not bad for the “youth” of Australia! So again we see that the real illustration is that of youthfulness of mind and not necessarily of body. John wrote: “I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one” (I John 2:14).
Have a look at the first prayer after the Day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 4:24-30. “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (verses 29-30).They had no way of knowing their prayer would work unless they went back out and put it to the test — that’s anticipation!. And the result was great success for the apostles (verse 33). Pray, believe you already have it, and it is yours!
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