"... Mark 11:24 holds a prayer promise that has challenged me regarding the relationship of faith and prayer: "All the things you pray and ask for - believe that you have received them, and you will have them."
This verse is sometimes used to promote a name-it-and-claim-it theology. You decide what you want. You name that in your prayer, claim it, and it's yours. But that's a misguided and self-centered notion. Remember that only God takes the initiative. He gives you the desire to do His will (see Phil. 2:13) and His Holy Spirit guides you to pray according to God's will (see Rom. 8:26-28). In the God-centered approach, God leads you to pray according to His will and to believe that He will bring to pass what He has led you to pray. Then, continue praying in faith and watching for Him to keep His word.
Because an encounter with God entails a crisis of belief that may require major adjustments in your life, you need to learn how to pray. Even the prayer may be costly. You may need to let God wake you up in the middle of the night to pray. You may need to spend much time in prayer. Times may come when you pray late into the night or even all night. Becoming a person of prayer requires a major adjustment of your life to God. Prayer will always be a part of your obedience because it is in a prayer relationship that God gives you direction.
Another cost will come as you try to guide the people around you to pray. Most of our churches have not learned how to pray together. The greatest, untapped resource I know of is the united prayer of God's people. Jesus, quoting from Isaiah 56:7, said, "My house will be called a house of prayer" (Luke 19:46). To help your church become a praying church will be a rewarding experience."
Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, Claude King
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