In an earlier post, Believe You Receive, I wrote about the role of imagination in believing you receive when you pray. [Mark 11: 22-24]
If you remember, the day before, Jesus had 'cursed' a fig tree because it was fruitless. As a little girl, I thought He said 'cuss' words to it. But the Mark 11:14 says He cursed it by saying "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" He spoke negatively to it...
Then they continued to Jerusalem, went about their business and went back out for the evening. The next morning, as they were walking back to Jerusalem, Peter saw the fig tree dried up from the roots and said "...the fig tree which You cursed has withered.
I always wondered why this story is in the Bible. I knew that it must be important, because Jesus took the time to teach from this example
He Answered It
Young's literal translation says that Jesus '...answering said to it [the fig tree]...'
He answered the fig tree! The fig tree was speaking to Him, saying 'you might be hungry but too bad, you're getting nothing...' Of course, Jesus know that all things belonged to Him, so the fig tree was, from a spiritual point of view, being disobedient. Even though it wasn't the season for figs, if Jesus wanted a fig, it was the tree's job--it's calling--to be there for Him!
After cursing it, He turned and went His way. It was Peter who called attention to the dead tree the next morning.
What He said to them amazed me. "Have faith in God."
To me this means 1) Have faith that God's world behaves exactly as He told you it would...words create and destroy, bind and loose; and 2) have faith in God, and now I'm going to tell you how to exercise your faith in God...
He continued: "Truly I say to you whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you."
These are quantum verses! Believe that you have received [past tense] them...believe that what you say is going to happen!
One of the great things about this passage is that it is limitless. All things--not some things, or just a few, or not too much, or God may not want you to have [fill in the blank], or God gets glory from your poverty/sickness/tragedy...but all things.
'All things' is a pretty big theme for God...there are lots of 'all things' verses in the Bible...and I think it's because He is all things and we are one spirit with Him, the God of all things. All things are possible to him who believes...believes what? That all things are possible!
Back To The Topic
But I digress. The important points here are that we 1) believe that what we say is going to happen, and 2) that we believe we have received.
The power of our words is clear throughout the scriptures. But what I think is hard to grasp is that our words create things in the earth that already exist in the spiritual realm. Somehow, our words access the 'all things' freely given to us by God! [ref Keys of the Kingdom]
Remember the story of Hagar? God provided a well for her and her son in the desert because He had a covenant with Abraham concerning Ishmael. The Word doesn't say the well plopped down in front of her, it says she lifted up her eyes and saw it! Now, being desperate, I'm pretty sure she had already scoped out the area for water and didn't see any well...because she was looking with hopeless, natural eyes. Once God spoke comfort to her, she could see His miraculous provision! [You can read the story in Genesis 21] The supernatural was revealed--the world of the Spirit, where all things exist already.
Now, when you consider that God's works were finished from the foundation of the world, you can see that the well was there, in the Spirit, from the foundation of the world. So is all of His Word, accomplished, there for us.
The Fine Print
God is Love. He doesn't have love, He is Love! [1 John 4:8] Everything good that love is exists for us--every good and perfect gift. We are born of God [1 John 5:1] and are new creatures [2 Corinthians 5:17]--the love race, the Jesus race, the many brethren that He is Firstborn of [I know you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, but oh well...].
The miraculous 'all things' are things of love--good, perfect, wonderful things that spring from our covenant, our union, with Him. All the promise of God are 'yes' in Him...wisdom, joy, peace, health, wealth, protection, blessings for our children and spouses...all things! [2 Corinthians 1:20] And none of the curse...Jesus bore the curse so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him and receive the blessing of Abraham! [Galatians 3:13,14
We are one with Him, one with Love, Love children begotten by a Love God
The fine print is that we must ask out of love. Don't ask that someone die, or be fired, or get divorced so you can have them. Faith works by love [Galatians 5:6], and the 'all things' of Love are only good and lovely. The first thing you should believe you receive is the love of God having been poured into your heart [Romans 5:5].
Believe You Have Received
Whether you are speaking to physical things or praying and asking for something, the key is to have faith in God--believe that all things, including the thing you desire, already belong to you--believe you have received them already. Because He has already blessed you with every spiritual blessings in heavenly places...the places you can only see with your faith eyes! [Ephesians 1:3]
Granted, this may not be easy at first, but we need to retrain our thinking--renew our minds--to the spiritual realities of the New Birth. Who we really are, what our relationship to the Trinity really is, what we are really called to in the earth...to prove what the good and acceptable will of God is, to reign in life.
