Therefore......And.....(Empower Me! Prayer Series 11 of 15)

"Therefore....."

"When you see a 'therefore' in the bible, stop and see what it is there for."  Kenneth Hagin

For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.  Mark 11:23-24  

When you pray believe that you have what you prayed for.  Notice this says, right at the moment that you are praying, BELIEVE that you received what you have prayed for.  

"But I don't see it, I don't have it.  I need to keep praying for it." you may think.  We walk by faith, not by sight.  God's Word says to BELIEVE you have received WHEN you are praying for it, at that moment.  

When you pray, and when you believe that you have received as you pray, faith begins to work.  If you believe you have the answer you do not ask for it again.  Rather, thank Him for giving you the answer to your prayer.

He continued on to say "AND"...

Jesus did not stop with verse 24 in Mark 11.  He continued on to say "AND"...

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.  Mark 11:24-25 

Why?  Because prayer and your faith will not work in unforgiveness.  Unforgiveness allows the devil to enter in and play with your mind, even causing guilt and condemnation that draws you away from your Heavenly Father.  

Unforgiving is defined as "Not willing to gorgive or excuse people's faults or wrongdoings."  This means forgiveness is a choice. We make a conscious choice to forgive others.  

"But, you don't know what they did, I can't forgive that."  According to the definition and according to God's Word, you can forgive them.  It is as much of a choice as it is to choose to love someone.  

Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.  Col 3:13

Why is this so important in prayer?

His Word is clear.  To be in willing obedience to God, we must make the decision to forgive, otherwise we are not forgiven of our sins.  

"If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land."  Isaiah 1:19

According to Isaiah choosing not to forgive (being unwilling and disobedient) prevents us from receiving "the good of the land."  This prevents us from receiving the desires of our hearts that we pray.

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.  Mark 11:24-25