Mark 11:
23 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.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Isn’t that a great prayer promise? The Lord Jesus plainly promised His disciples that they would receive whatsoever they desired in prayer and the only condition was to believe that they would receive it. Matthew’s account of this promise (Matt. 21:22) puts it this way, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” They could ask for a great miracle and they would receive it if they believed (Mk. 11:23). In the context they had seen Him miraculously cause a fig tree to dry up from the roots overnight by just speaking the words. Jesus promised that they would do even greater miracles than what they had seen Him do (Jn. 14:12-14).
Have you ever asked God to do something that was very important to you and you believed with all your heart that He would do it, but He didn’t? Well, what’s the problem? Isn’t the Bible true? Doesn’t God keep His promises? Yes, the Bible is the word of God and God cannot lie or fail. He says what He means and means what He says! Most preachers will say that the problem is with us and it is usually due to one or more of several things: harbored sin, asking amiss, not according to will of God, or unbelief. It’s true that such things hinder our prayer life. But what about when we ask for a good thing with a believing and right heart and we still don’t receive what we ask? Another explanation that is usually offered is that God always answers our prayers but it is in one of three ways: yes, no, or wait. But Jesus simply promised these disciples that they would receive whatsoever they asked if they believed and He did not add any other qualifications, disclaimers, or stipulations. Do you see any fine print beneath these promises?
The real problem is that Jesus did not give these prayer promises to us. Yes, ALL of the Bible is for us (2 Tim. 3:16) but it was not all written directly to us (2 Tim. 2:15). Failure to understand this has caused many sincere Christians to become confused and discouraged concerning prayer. Many have been wrongly taught from a child that every promise in the Bible is for them to claim. This can only lead to disappointment if it is taken to heart. It is not right for us to go through the Bible lifting out of context the things that we like and pretending it was all written to us. For example, the Bible says in Ex. 16:4, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you”. If I claimed that promise and believed it with all my heart will I find manna on my lawn in the morning? No, because God did not make that promise to me. Let’s take a closer look at that verse. It says, “Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.” The apostle Paul instructed us to work for our own bread trusting God to provide (2 Thess. 3:10). God has truly given us some great promises (2 Cor. 1:20) but not every promise in the Bible is ours!
Miles Coverdale wrote in the introduction to his English translation of the Bible that was printed in 1535, “It shall greatly help ye to understand the Scriptures if thou mark not only what is spoken or written, but of whom and to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances, considering what goeth before and what followeth after.”
Let’s apply this to Mk. 11:24. To whom was Jesus speaking (“you”, “ye”)? He was speaking to His 12 apostles to whom, as we will see, He had also promised great authority in the kingdom (Mk. 11:11). All of the “whatsoever ye ask” promises in the gospels were given to the 12 (Jn. 15:16).
What does He say to the same people immediately after the promise?
Mark 11:
25 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.
26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
So, if v.24 was spoken to us then we also have to take v.25-26! But consider what the apostle Paul wrote by inspiration of God:
Ephesians 4:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
To whom was the apostle Paul writing? The church which is the body of Christ (Eph. 3:1-13). Are you one of the 12 apostles sent to the twelve tribes of Israel with the gospel of the kingdom or are you a member of the body of Christ?
What was the time context and circumstances in which Jesus gave the 12 apostles these prayer promises (read Mk. 11:7-10)? The earthly ministry of Christ was not about revealing and inaugurating a new program. He came in accordance with and in order to confirm the Old Testament promises made to the Jewish fathers (Rom. 15:8). God promised that they would be a kingdom of priests reigning in their own land over the Gentile nations (Ex. 19:5-6). Their Messiah would be not only the son of David but the Son of God (Emmanuel). Christ is to sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem reigning over the entire world. The kingdom of heaven is a literal and visible kingdom that is to be established on the earth (“thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”). John the Baptist, the forerunner of the King, announced to Israel that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matt. 3:1-2). When the King began His earthly ministry He too declared that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matt. 4:17, 23-24). He chose 12 apostles and sent them to preach that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matt. 10:1-10).
Instead of repenting, the leaders in Israel were rejecting Christ. At the end of His ministry Jesus began to prepare and instruct His disciples in light of His impending death, resurrection, and ascension back to heaven (Matt. 16:21). They did not understand the death and resurrection of Christ until after Christ rose from the dead, made appearance to them, and opened their understanding to the scriptures (Lk. 18:31-34). After showing them how that He had to suffer before the glory of the kingdom would come He sent them to preach the gospel of the kingdom among all nations, beginning in Jerusalem which will be the capitol of the kingdom (Lk. 24:44-49). Jesus promised that He would baptize them with the Holy Ghost for power to do the signs of the kingdom. He gave the apostles great authority to act in His stead while He away (Matt. 16:19; 18:18-19; 19:28). There had to be 12 apostles to renew the offer of the kingdom to Israel. They had the authority to replace Judas Iscariot and after they prayed about it God showed them that Matthias was to be the replacement, NOT Paul (Acts 1). On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) Christ baptized the apostles with the Holy Ghost for power in accordance with prophecy. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Their ministry and manner of life was a foretaste of the kingdom they were preaching. They called on Israel to repent and made a bona-fide offer of the kingdom (Acts 3:19-21).
In the early chapters of Acts we see the prayer promises that Christ gave the apostles being literally fulfilled. Whatever they bound on earth was bound in heaven and whatever they loosed on earth was loosed in heaven. The chief priests and elders began to persecute them and to command that they not preach in the name of Jesus. They prayed for boldness and power and God enabled them to do the greater works that Jesus promised (Acts 5:12-16). There is no record of them asking something in Jesus name and it not happening! They were filled with the Holy Ghost and so they had no harbored sin, they always asked in faith, they never asked amiss, and they always asked according to the will of God because Jesus promised the 12, “ye shall ask what YE WILL, and it shall be done unto you” (Jn. 15:7).
Israel, as a nation, had rejected God the Father in the OT, God the Son in the Gospels, and now God the Holy Spirit in Acts. They stoned Stephen to death (Acts 7), a man they knew was filled with the Holy Ghost, when he preached to them and indicted them for their stubborn unbelief. Jesus said that those who blasphemed the Holy Ghost would not be forgiven (Matt. 12:31-32). As they were about to kill Stephen he said that he saw Jesus STANDING at the right hand of the Father (implying that He was ready to come back in judgment). According to prophecy, it was due time for God to bring Israel through the tribulation period and pour out His wrath on the world.
Instead, He appeared to the leader of the persecution against His disciples and saved that blasphemer (he took part in the stoning of Stephen) by exceeding abundant grace (1 Tim. 1:13-16) under a new gospel that He directly revealed to him (Gal. 1:11-12). He began to set Israel aside through a transition (Acts 9-28) and reveal mysteries to Paul concerning a new dispensation that He planned before the world began but had kept secret from the prophets. Christ chose and sent Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles. He made him to be the pattern and the spokesman for the body of Christ to follow. He inspired him to write 13 books to the body of Christ (Romans-Philemon). Israel has been set aside, the kingdom has been postponed, and the signs have ceased. We are ambassadors of Christ in the present evil world with the message of reconciliation. God is not at war with the world. This mystery age will close with the mystery of the rapture and then God will resume His dealing with Israel, bring them through the tribulation, pour out His wrath on the world, and come again to save Israel and fulfill all His promises to them.
Does the apostle Paul teach us that we will receive whatsoever we ask if we pray in faith? Paul himself did not receive everything he asked for (2 Cor. 12:7-10)! We don't know what to pray for as we ought but the Holy Ghost and the Son of God makes intercession for us and on that basis we know that all things work together for good (Rom. 8:26-28). No, God will not always give us what we ask, but if we trust Him and pray with thanksgiving He will give us His peace that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:6-7). The carnal mind thinks, "What good is it to pray if I don't get what I ask?" Prayer is about relationship not ritual and requests. We call God "Abba" (Rom. 8:15) which is the same intimate term (Aramaic like our word "daddy") that Jesus used in prayer (Mk. 14:36). God accepts us as He does His beloved Son (Eph. 1:6). We have full and free access to God! Prayer is about communion with God. We pray to the Father in the name of the Son and in the Spirit (Eph. 3:14; 5:20; 6:18).
