By Faith, Not Feelings
by Kenneth Copeland
God never intended for us to pray scattershot prayers. He never meant for us to just shoot a bunch of general requests heavenward, hoping maybe some of them would do some good. No, those kinds of hit-or-miss prayers don’t satisfy us or God, either one.
He wants us to pray effectively. To pray in a way that enables us to receive what we ask for—not just now and then, but every single time.
“Brother Copeland,” someone might say, “I think that’s unrealistic. It seems to me that although God always answers prayer, sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes it’s no.”
Not according to Jesus. He said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). He also said, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it;" and, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 14:14, 15:7, "New King James Version").
Nowhere in the Bible are we, as believers, ever told to expect God to say no to us when we pray. On the contrary! We’re told in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that in Jesus “all the promises of God…are Yes, and…Amen” ("NKJV").
Of course, you can’t just make stuff up on your own and expect to always get what you ask for. But if you go to God’s WORD and make sure you’re praying in line with it, you can know in advance that He will answer your prayer with a resounding yes. You can start shouting the victory before you even say amen.
This is how Jesus taught us to pray in Mark 11:22: “Have faith in God.” He said in verses 23-25:
"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. 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."
Did you notice when, according to those verses, you are to believe you receive? You’re not to wait until the answer to your prayer manifests. You’re to believe you receive when you pray. That’s when you release your faith. That’s when you begin to say, “It’s mine!”
What if you don’t feel like what you’ve asked for is yours yet? What if you still feel as sick as you did before you prayed for healing, or as broke as you did before you asked for financial supply? Don’t worry about it! As believers we “live by faith” (Romans 1:17), not by feelings.
BVOV : 5
