Therefore I tell you, all the things you pray and ask for—believe that you have received them, and you will have them.

Mark 11:24 (HCSB)

Before we get too excited and start praying our hearts out for new cars or millions of dollars, there’s a little more to this verse than we first see. Okay, a lot more. First of all, God doesn’t work like a genie, and He doesn’t do or give anything that is outside of His will. Our prayers must be in harmony with His nature and His Word. Secondly, Jesus didn’t teach His disciples to pray for more stuff, for girlfriends, or for career advancements. He taught them to pray for spiritual growth—to get rid of all the tendencies of their sinful natures. Rather than praying for the accumulation of worldly goods, He taught them to pray against that very thing.

We so often pray according to our culture rather than praying according to God’s will. We pray for things to go our way: for the job to be offered, the test to be passed, the team to win, and the car of our dreams to appear in our driveway. But if we are connecting with God on a daily basis in prayer, that list of desires doesn’t grow, it begins to disappear. It doesn’t get more selfish, it gets more sacrificial. Because when we connect with God’s heart, our hearts begins to beat like His, our character begins to look like His, and our selfish desires start to look a lot more selfless! 

Perfection doesn’t move God. Rule-following doesn’t move God. Perfectly-worded prayers don’t move Him, either. Faith moves God! Having “faith in God” means believing that as you stay in Him and He in you (John 15:4), He will grow you spiritually and transform your selfish heart into His image. The more you pray, the more your desires will change from selfish to godly, from wanting more stuff to wanting more of Him. So start believing in what you pray for, and start praying for faith like Jesus—faith that opens heaven! You are loved!