Answered Prayer – Mark 11:24-25
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. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.
Do you want to see the mountains of unbelief in your loved ones removed, so they might share Paradise with you? Do you want to see the insoluble problems in your relationships, job, or church resolved, so loving-kindness and peace prevail? Do you want to see revival in your life, family, and our country, so our Lord is high and lifted up among the people?
Such miracles are possible. The eyes of those who set their hope in the Lord God Almighty will see the miraculous, for the Lord promises that He will not only hear the prayers we raise to heaven but also will answer them. He tells us to pray, to ask anything according to His will, and to believe that He will give us the things we request of Him.[1] He calls us to pray unceasingly, persistently asking Him to grant us the desires of our hearts.[2] He instructs us to give thanks in everything[3] as we pray without wavering, for as long as it takes, believing He is faithful to do that which He has promised.
Then Jesus tells us one more thing we must do to have our prayers answered. We must forgive. If we have anything against anyone, we must forgive as our Father in heaven has forgiven us. We must humble ourselves before the Lord, confessing the hardness of our hearts, praying for His cleansing and restoration as we forgive whatsoever things we have against any person. We need to scrape the calluses off our sin-encrusted hearts and commit to keeping them clean and tender before our Holy God as we refuse to harbor anger. For only as we accept the purifying grace that follows our forgiveness of others, can we expect the Lord to respond to our prayers, forgive our sins, and uphold our cause.
Stand in faith and hope, refusing
to become discouraged, waiting for the Lord’s answer to your
supplications. Remain constant in
prayer, refusing to hold back forgiveness from anyone, and seek the Lord’s
perfect will. Believe that out of His
love for you, He will respond to your faithfulness to call upon His name, and
in the timing established in heaven, you will see Him work profoundly on your
behalf as mountains are taken up and cast into the sea.[4]
[1] 1 John 5:14-15
[2] Romans 1:9, Luke 11:5-10
[3] 1 Thessalonians 5:18
[4] Mark 11:23
