THANKING HIM IN ADVANCE!
From Mark 11:24 we read from the lips of Jesus, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
THANKING HIM IN ADVANCE! If I gave you a check today for a hundred dollars, would you wait to say thank you until you knew it would clear the bank? I hope not. That would be very insulting to me. Anyone who knows me would think, “This is a pretty good guy (most would anyway😀). I can trust that he has enough in his account to cover it. I’ll go ahead and thank him right now.” You’d thank me first and then you’d take the check to the bank, right? It’s the same way with the Lord. Faith is simply acting like we believe what God says! God’s promises are better than any of our promises. Before you even receive what he has promised, you can say, “Thank you, Lord! I know that what you promised will happen! I’m very confident You’ll do what you say you will do! So I’m gonna start acting like it!” Amen?!
START MARCHING! There’s a great example of this in “God’s Faith Hall of Fame” in Hebrews 11. Remember how Joshua led the Israelites around Jericho, where the walls fell down? How did they fall down? When Joshua and the soldiers acted like they believed what God had promised! God gave the command and he and his soldiers started marching! Hebrews 11:30 says, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell, AFTER the army had marched around them for seven days.” Notice again, it says, “by faith.” The story goes like this…“And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.” And that’s exactly what happened. The Israelites followed God’s instructions, and the walls just fell. God did what he’d promised! I’ve often imagined, What if I’d been one of those people marching around the city for seven days? Some of them might have been looking at those walls, getting more and more worried, wondering how God could ever bring them down. But the Bible says, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell.” They thought about what God said He would do and let out a shout! What did they say when they shouted out? What words do you think they shouted? We’re not told. It had to have been words of praise! It was a shout of thanks. And when they thank the Lord those huge walls fell! They thanked the Lord in advance!
JESUS’ PROMISE TO YOU TODAY! This is the kind of life Jesus wants you to live, the thanking-God-in-advance kind of life. Jesus talked about it in our verse for today…”Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believeth that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” When you ask God for something, why even ask if you don’t believe? It’s a waste of time. Jesus said that if you pray and ask God for something, you should believe he’s going to do it. So, go ahead and thank him in advance for what only he can do. Start marching around your wall that’s before you! And then look for how He answers your prayer! When you do your part, there’s no worrying about Him doing His part!
HAS GOD CHANGED? No! The Bible says, “For I am the LORD, I change not…(Mal. 3:6)! “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). What promises from God are you claiming when you pray? What have you been asking God for? Do you believe He will keep his promises? Stop insulting the Lord by doubting Him! Stop waiting to take His check to heaven’s bank! Thank Him for it and cash it in today! God will always honor His Word because He’s “a God Who cannot lie” (Titus 1:2). Think it over…🙏