Receive When You Believe

We can believe God for something, yet not receive it.  Many times we find that we have the head knowledge, yet have not received it in our heart.  True faith which is believing in the heart = receiving. 

There have been many times when it troubled me that I wasn't receiving what I'd asked for, thinking, ..."well, I believed!"  But did I?  Did I truly believe to the point that I received it in my heart or was it just mental assent = head knowledge?   That is the question that we have to ask ourselves.  Maybe you believe that God will do it, but do you believe He will do it for YOU?  If you have a hard time having faith to believe it for YOU, then it's because you doubt His Love for you. But that's a whole other lesson.

Here is the lesson  that really inspired me to receive when I believe.  Don't just "believe it" (have head knowledge) but also receive it in your heart to stay (true faith). It's done...the minute you ask.  

After I read this lesson, God lead me to go tear off the leaf of the tree in our backyard. So I did.  Did the leaf look dead? No. But I took the leaf inside and set it up on my desk and watched it daily. It took several days for it to completely dry up and crumble into pieces in the palm of my hand.   Detaching that leaf from the tree, killed it. But it was not noticeable until it completely dried up after being detached for some time,  because it was no longer being nourished from the tree.

The Lesson:
Matthew 21:19 "And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away."

The Greek word for presently means "instantly; immediately; soon." However, the disciples didn't realize that the fig tree had died until the next day. If the tree died instantly, why didn't they notice it until the next morning? The answer to this question is found in Mark 11:20. The tree was dead from the roots up. The tree did die instantly just as the Word declared, but what had happened to the roots wasn't visible until the next morning.

There is a spiritual lesson here that applies to us receiving things from God. When we ask, we do receive, but it may take a period of time before we perceive it in the natural realm. God's answer comes before we see the manifestation of what we have believed the Lord for when we prayed. Just as with this fig tree, the answer lies beneath the surface, and therefore we don't "see" what God is doing until the answer manifests.

Not all answers to prayer are manifested instantly. Satan can hinder God's power even after it has been released. In Daniel 10:1-13, God answered Daniel's prayer instantly, yet it took 21 days for Daniel to see God's answer manifest, because the prince of Persia (a demonic power) withheld the manifestation.

Prayer that meets the requirements outlined in God's Word is always answered.

We can be the cause of our own unanswered prayer.  Maybe we are harboring unforgiveness in our hearts concerning somebody or a situation.   That can be a hindrance in one receiving a healing.  Forgiveness is a powerful thing.  It brings freedom within.

Many times we don't perceive the answer because it always comes in the spiritual realm first then is manifested in the physical realm. If we waver from our confident faith, then we abort the manifestation of our answer to prayer. But God did answer. Everyone that asks receives. 

What is hindering your answers to prayer? What could be the cause of your detachment from the Source of Life? 

Connie J. Schmoll