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)
The Lord Jesus Himself here gave us the key to getting what we ask for. Whatever things you ask when you pray believe that you receive and you will have them.
Most people want to believe after they have physically got, seen or felt what they prayed for. It doesn’t work like that and that’s the number one reason people get discouraged and frustrated in prayer, concluding it’s hard and doesn’t work for them.
To believe is to be totally convinced in our heart that something is true or real. This is so even if we may not be physically, mentally, emotionally aware of it. This kind of believing in the heart comes by and is only possible when we hear the Word of God-see Romans 10:17.
The Word of God is the source of a kind of knowledge called revelation knowledge that gives us proof of things not yet revealed to the senses. For example we know and are sure of the existence of God in our lives through His Word – hearing it and trusting in it.
The Word of God is the source of true heart believing. Therefore the best way to believe when you pray is to first get God’s Word for what you’re praying for.
It is so easy and automatic to believe for what God has already said in His Word.
For example because the Word already said “I will never leave you nor forsake you” Hebrews 13:5, in a situation where we feel all alone we can pray believing we are not on our own but rather God is with us no matter what.
We first believe we are healed before we see, or feel it. We first believe we are blessed before we see things working out.
Believe when you pray not after you’ve got what you prayed for. When we pray, it’s already done or given even though we haven’t physically seen or felt it. That’s why we believe. Believing is seeing the unseen. It is spiritual sight.