Mark 11:22-24 (KJV)
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23 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.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Jesus gives us a clear understanding on how faith is to be released from our lives. Our faith is released once we speak the word of God. I have heard many believers state that they are trusting and believing the Lord for something in their lives, but have no scriptural promise for what they are believing Him for.
No promise can be received from God unless we have the scriptural basis for that promise. God is a God of His word. Unfortunately, in the lives of many believers, they do not know what God has promised them, thus, live defeated lives.
Jesus said that we could have any thing we desire. All we have to do is believe that we receive what we prayed for, and we will have it. In many cases, Christians are not really practicing this principle. They think that when they "think" their prayer that God hears them. Thinking your prayer is not the same as saying your prayer. Yes, I do agree that God can see our thoughts, but thoughts and prayer are two different things.
A thought is part of the process of your prayer, but you will never get results from just thinking what you desire from God.
Luke 11:1-2 (KJV)
1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Notice what Jesus said in verse 2, "When you pray, SAY..." we see here that Jesus is instructing the Disciples on how to pray. Praying is saying, not thinking. He did not say "when you pray, think", He said, "when you pray, SAY".
Let's look at another verse with the principle of prayer attached to saying your prayer and not thinking it.
Matthew 6:7-8 (KJV)
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Now, the only way that asking can be done is through verbalizing your request. By definition, asking is the verbal act of requesting. This is from a modern day dictionary, but from the Greek it means to call for. Would you agree that from these two scripture references that praying is saying something out loud from your mouth? God does know what we have need of, and technically, has already provided what we need, but, for us to access what He has already provided for us, we must ASK; which is an out loud verbal request, not an unspoken thought.
This concept is so important to understand because it is how our faith is released into this earth realm.
Nothing happens for us physically until we release our faith for what we desire from God.
I would like to qualify desire. Not every desire is in line with the word of God. This is why we must study our Bibles or Covenant so that we may know what the will of the Lord is for our lives. The Will of God is the Word of God, so if you know the Word of God, then you will know what His will consist of.
1 John 5:14-15 (KJV)
14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
John says that we can be confident to know that God hears any petition that is asked according to His will. If we are going to ask according to His will, then we must know what His will says. This will only take place when you commit to the study of your Covenant, which is, the Word of God. Gods Word is His Will and Testament to us; it is His Promises to His Covenant people.
Going back to Mark 11:22 Jesus said that we are to have the God kind of faith. This statement to the Disciples was more than a statement, it was actually a command. Jesus told His Disciples to Have the God kind of faith. One of the definitions of the word Have is Possess. Well, you cannot possess something unless it is given to you, and secondly, unless you take it or receive it. God has made those who are born again of the Spirit of God possessors of the God kind of faith.
Faith is what impacts this physical realm. If we hold back our faith by not speaking the Word of God regarding our desire, we will live short of our Kingdom benefits.
Psalm 68:19 (KJV)
19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.
We are honored and privileged to be joint heirs with Christ and workers together with our Heavenly Father.