DO CIRCUMSTANCES AND THINGS CHANGE OUR PRAYER?

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 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.” (Mark 11:22-24)

I am always astonished at the ways of women. They will go “window-shopping” all day long not expecting to buy anything; they merely go to “shop”. This is the way it is with many people. They pray and pray, but do not get anything; because they do not expect to get anything. Prayer that does not have a definite petition is not real prayer.

When I go out to buy something like shoes or a suit, I just walk down the line and pick out what I want and pay for it and leave. The whole thing only takes a few minutes. I do not shop. I buy. And that is what prayer is. Prayer is asking something definitely from god: “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” (Juan 14:14), “Ask, and it shall be given you… For every one that asketh receiveth” (Matthew 7:7-8).  

Modernists do not believe that prayer changes things. They do not accept the plain Bible teaching that prayer is asking and the answer is receiving. They believe that prayer is merely spiritual fellowship. That we do not really get things from God but that after we pray we feel stronger to get them for ourselves, or are perhaps resigned to do without them! In Hebrews 11:6 we learn that there are two things we must believe before our prayer is heard: first, we have to believe that there is a God and second we have to believe that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. That is, that God hears and answers prayer.

When it comes to prayer and trusting in God with our problems, we are either a thermometer or a thermostat. A thermometer is constantly changing depending on the circumstances. But a thermostat gets set and stays set. Instead of letting the weather control the temperature, the thermostat stays in control. When it comes to the temperature of the room, the thermostat has control. It doesn’t matter what the temperature, it stays constant. 

Sometimes in life, we face heat from other people. We often get hot under the collar, but if we are like a thermostat, then we are in control. The circumstances don't control us, we control the circumstances. Are you a thermometer, allowing the circumstances to control you, or are you a thermostat who always remains in control, in spite of the circumstances that surround you?

Do circumstances and things change our prayer? When you pray according to god’s will and with faith all things are possible. This is praying in the spirit, a prayer of faith.

When we pray in the flesh or our own understanding, the things around us began to change our prayer. Things start to look impossible to us.

Removing mountains was a Jewish figure of speech for getting rid of great difficulty. Not a real mountain. God does not busy himself doing silly, unnecessary things.

In verse twenty-four of Mark 11 the word “believe” literally means “keep on believing.” This is one of the main requirements for getting our prayers answered. Too often we get discouraged and quit believing before our prayer is answered.