D. Scott Meadows

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive (Matt 21.22).

Jesus’ wonderful promise of answered prayer has been widely misunderstood and abused by many in recent times. Essentially, it is absurdly thought to guarantee that you can and will have anything at all that you want if you will only really believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that God will give it to you in answer to your prayer. While there may be a superficial plausibility for this interpretation of this one verse in isolation, such a notion is grossly inconsistent with the rest of Scripture, with sound reason, and with universal experience in the real world. The god which is conceived in this error has more in common with Aladdin’s fictional wish-granting genie than with the Lord in holy Scripture.

But the abuse of a thing does not invalidate its proper use. We must beware of letting such false teachers rob us of this biblical treasure. They would do that if we simply ignored or disbelieved it. Mark 11.24 is similar to it: “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

Let us deduce four of the most important spiritual truths from these texts for our spiritual edification and encouragement in prayer.

1. Prayer Is Our Blessed Opportunity

The Lord uttered these words just after withering a fig tree by His verbal command to the astonishment of His disciples. He took the occasion to encourage them about the amazing consequences of their effectual prayers. While there are many elements of biblical prayer, including praise, confession of sin, and giving thanks, the one in view here is asking. Prayer by its very nature is an act of worship and therefore should only be directed to God. Jesus assumes this in His counsel. Therefore, our gracious Lord is assuring us His disciples that asking God even for great things, and expecting to receive them in answer to our prayers, is our blessed opportunity. “Prayer is not an unalienable right of all people, like voting in America when you turn 18. Instead, prayer is a blood-bought privilege for those who trust and treasure Jesus.”¹

2. Prayer Is Properly Offered by Christians Together in Unity

The second-person plural pronoun “ye” (KJV), appearing repeatedly in both verses, reflects the grammatical plurals in the Greek text, and stresses that Christ’s disciples as a whole are being addressed. They are the ones to be found asking, and they are the ones who will be receiving.

Prayer offered in private by individual Christians is entirely proper and necessary, of course (Matt 6.6), but the prayers of the gathered church have a conspicuous place of primacy in Scripture (Isa 56.7; Acts 2.42; 12.12; 1 Tim 2.1, 8; cf. 3.15). Praying cooperatively together requires agreement in the things being asked (Amos 3.3; Matt 18.19). All this safeguards us from the temptation to ask for carnal, worldly, and foolish things. The discernment of Christ’s body as a whole is greater than any one of us alone. Only a fool doubts that! (Prov 11.14; 26.16; Acts 15.2, 6). Even by itself, this point, duly considered, exposes the wicked rantings of prosperity-gospel preachers, with their “name it and claim it” message belched from their insatiable bellies.

3. Prayer Is to Be the Fruit of Believing Desire and Earnest Faith

As unlimited and unqualified as the sayings of Jesus may appear at first glance, a closer look in the light of all Scripture corrects that mistaken impression. First of all, the Lord is urging all our prayer petitions to be offered in faith—“believing, ye shall receive them.” Such faith is not wishful thinking but has a solid foundation: God’s Word, that is, Scripture properly understood. Whatever God promises there, we can ask with all confidence that He will grant it (1 John 5.14, 15).

Second, our prayers should only be for things we sincerely and righteously desire—“What things soever ye desire.” The KJV highlights the feeling associated with the Greek verb for asking used here (“to ask for with urgency, even to the point of demanding—‘to ask for, to demand, to plead for,’” LN 33.163). Nothing stirs the heartfelt pleading with a sense of urgency from a holy congregation like the glory of God, the blessing of God’s people, and the salvation of the lost. The only petitions we ought to present to God are for things we justifiably crave according to His will and promise. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is prayer?” and answers with biblical wisdom and warrant, “Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies” (98). One of Bunyan’s dying sayings was, “When thou prayest, rather let thy hearts be without words, than thy words without a heart.”

4. Such Prayer Shall Receive All It Seeks from God

With all these godly perspectives in mind, the breadth of Christ’s promise is staggering. “All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” He deliberately uses language to promise things that exceed the astonishing miracle of the withered fig tree, and things that are comparable to hurled mountains (Matt 21.21). Robert Young translated it, “And all—as much as ye may ask in the prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (YLT). We are praying to “him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph 3.20), pleading that He will accomplish the full end of all His glorious promises. “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Num 23.19). The consummation of God’s plan shall demonstrate, magnificently and monumentally, that Jesus’ promises have been completely trustworthy. Therefore, brethren, pray! Ω

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¹https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/erik-raymond/dont-look-past-the-1 privilege-of-prayer/ (accessed 9/25/2019)