Ditto

Matthew 7: 7 – 8          GW

Ask, and you will receive . . . Everyone who asks will receive.

Yesterday I wrote about speaking the result you desire when you pray. That is a very important part of prayer. No sooner had the email gone out than did God prove his word to me and to a grandmother who relied on her profession of faith for her grandchild.

My friend, Ann, wrote that her son sent her a message that his newborn was having digestion issues. Ann says she began praying that the child’s digestive system works perfectly and commanded his digestive tract to behave properly. She didn’t stop there though. She says she closed her eyes and pictured her grandchild exhibiting healthy characteristics. She said, “I just thanked God and knew.” Her son texted her 30 minutes later with the good news. It witnessed to her son as well and is a testimony to all of us that what was in the Word of the Day yesterday works. What is funny about this is that the encounter with Ann’s son and grandson was happening at the time I was writing the Word of the Day. Do you think God knew what He was doing? Was He bringing a point home for us?

Look at these components again. Ann spoke the end result. She didn’t beg and plead. She knew God’s will that we all be healthy so she could begin to speak, with confidence, what she knew to be God’s will. She visualized. Remember how God gave Abraham visual images related to his promise? Ann saw her grandchild exhibiting all the signs of a healthy baby with a healthy digestive system. She didn’t stop there though. She also thanked God. In her mind’s eye she saw the baby healthy and whole and thanked God for that result. She spoke it and thanked God for it before it “existed” because in her mind it was a done deal. She spoke health rather than complaining of sickness. She thanked God because she believed in the end result. Thirty minutes it took for that particular miracle. Thirty minutes, and her son called her with the good news!

There is one more component here that may not be obvious but is very much present. Look at this scripture, “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive,” (Matthew 21: 22). Did you see it, the extra ingredient? Ann is a believer. She believes the Word of God; she believes God will do what He has promised, and she sees it fulfilled.

Get your promise from God. Just go to the Bible and pick one. Try the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy if you don’t have a verse you are focusing on. Imagine what it would look like if that promise was fulfilled. See your child healed, your finances whole, your home blessed. Picture what your life will look like when that prayer is answered. Then, open your mouth with a positive profession of faith. “I am the father of many, legs work as you were designed, etc.” Speak to that mountain and command it to obey the Word of God. Talk about the problem in the resolved state rather than in the broken state. “I am healthy and strong.” Then believe it. If you really do believe it, then gratitude to God will naturally come out of your mouth. If you don’t believe it, hibernate on that picture and God’s Word until you know that Yahweh is a god of His word.

Get the promise, get a picture, believe, speak the end result, command obedience to the Word, praise God. And, keep speaking the end result rather than the symptoms until the result you believe for is fully manifested. Don’t talk about the brokenness; speak the answer. See things fixed, not broken and let the words of your mouth reflect that picture.