Receiving Coal

How strongly do you believe in your prayers?

So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses." - Mark 11:24-25

I blame it on Santa.

When I was a child and I made my Christmas list, I had high hopes that I would receive everything I asked for.

But the reality was I rarely got everything.  In most cases what I got was as close to what I wanted as my parents could afford.  Though I understood how that worked later on, as I got older, I think it left an impression on me.

My expectations were lowered.

To paraphrase The Rolling Stones, you get what you need sometimes, and not what you want.

So, what does this have to do with prayer?

I believe I approach prayer the same way I learned to approach Christmas.

I don't really expect what I pray for to come to me.

That's bad, because Jesus tells us we have to believe we already have what we ask God for, or we may not get it.

And there is another catch.  If we want to be blameless before God, we need to clear our debts with others first, forgiving those who wronged us before we seek our own forgiveness.

So, we have work to do, and we have high expectations that we must acquire.

It is not enough to ask in prayer.  We have to have no doubt it will be answered.

It is not the same as believing in Santa.  There, the outcome is not based on the degree of faith.

But with God, faith matters.  Unlike Santa, God will not give us coal, but He might not answer right away.

And that's when we need even more faith.

If it sounds like it is all up to us, it is.

He put the keys in our hands, and we have to open the door.

So, what will we pray for today?

More to come...