22 And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 24 Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. 25 Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26 [But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”] ~ Mark 11:22-26 (NASB)
It’s easy to take this passage out of context and think God’s Word is saying that anything we pray for and believe we will receive is ours. But we can’t ignore other Scriptures that tell us our prayers have to be in God’s will. He’s not a celestial puppet to Whom we pray and magically get what we want. He is the Creator, God Almighty, the High and Mighty Ruler of the Universe. He will always do what He knows is best for us, not what we think is best. If our will aligns with His, we may see our prayers being answered the way we desire. God has healed me in answer to prayer on several occasions. But if our wills doesn’t align with His, His answer is different. Perhaps healing will not come until we’re in Heaven. Perhaps He will give us something that we never imagined that turns out to be better than what we desired. Perhaps He will allow us to go through a trial or experience a loss or a failure so that we grow in the knowledge and love of Him. And perhaps we have not forgiven someone who has caused us hurt. Right after saying He will answer our prayers, He tells us that if we don’t forgive others, He won’t forgive us. In order for our prayers to be answered, our wills have to be in alignment with His.
Lord, order my will so it perfectly matches Yours. Help me to forgive those who hurt me, as I desperately need Your forgiveness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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