Mark 11:24-25

Mark 11:24-25: “24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.””

Prayer is effective in positioning us to desire the will of God instead of our own wants. It reveals our frailty and His strength. Only a praying person can truly know this.

After Jesus said His Father’s house was to be a house of prayer, He went on to speak of the power of prayer. A day earlier, Jesus had cursed a fig tree, and when He and His disciples passed by the next day, it had withered. The disciples marveled at this, and Jesus taught them to have faith in God and to pray with believing and forgiving hearts. It all starts with a heart aligned with God through prayer.

Are you praying with faith and forgiveness? You’ve heard it said, “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:2–3). God wants us to come and petition Him by faith, but faith alone does not determine the outcome. Our prayers must be according to God’s will, and prayer helps align our hearts with His. Effective prayer is the result of continual prayer. In the words of Leonard Ravenhill, “No man is greater than his prayer life.”

Father, align our hearts with Yours so we can pray powerful prayers by faith and according to Your will. Let us also forgive as we have been forgiven. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.