The Ability of God---Prayer is a Key ! ! !

THE ABILITY OF GOD---PRAYER IS A KEY: Whatsoever; Now for another witness list go to (Mark 11:23--24). Here Jesus is teaching the greatest faith principle or the kingdom principle the world has ever known. It will absolutely transform your life; it has already transformed my life ! "Whosoever shall [Say] unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he [saith] shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he [saith]." He didn't say he would have what he believed God for. He didn't say he would have what he hoped for. He said he would have whatsoever he saith. Then he connects that verse of Scripture to the next one by saying it will also work in prayer. Verse 23 is not a prayer Scripture. It is the faith principle or kingdom principle. It is a spiritual law. Just as the law of gravity will work, so will this law work when it is applied correctly. Verse 24 is the prayer Scripture. Therefore it will work in prayer. "Therefore I say unto you, what things so ever you Desire. . . Notice the words you desire. It doesn't say what God desires, does it ? No. Now let's put it in our language. He said, "what ever you desire when you pray, you believe that you receive, and you shall have it." Someone has said, "oh That, but if it's not God's will, you can't have it. So go ahead and pray for it; and if it's God's will, you will receive. If it isn't, you won't receive it anyway. I have had people to tell me that it has to be God's will or you will not receive what you're asking for or that God has to get you ready for it. I beg your pardon ! The Bible says you will. People are deceived in this area. Israel wanted a king. It wasn't God's will for them to have one, because he was there king of kings, but they receive they king. This is why it is so very important that you learn God's will before you pray. It would be better for you to spend a week reading and meditating and searching the Word of God before you ever form your prayer, than to just pray and assume it is God's will. In (Ecclesiastics 5:1--2) we find this admonition: when you go into the house of the Lord, because the Lord dwelled in temples that were made with hands at that time, let you words be few. Then in (Psalms 37:7) we read, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him." The Hebrew translation says, "to be silent to the Lord." Sometimes we do too much praying or we pray the wrong way and the wrong time. For instance, a man, as he was being robbed, cried out, "Oh God, don't let them find that hundred dollar bill I hid in my shoe." Now that's dumb ! He told the thief what he needed to know. Sometimes we give Satan valuable information while praying. We should learn when to be silent and went to pray. Prayer will get you into more trouble than you know how to handle, if it is not in line with the Word of God, or if it is not done accurately. The effectiveness of prayer is governed by spiritual law. Sometimes people say that prayer couldn't hurt anyone. That is like saying, "Electricity cooks my food and washing my clothes and no one could get hurt by electricity." Well, as long as you use it wisely and obey the laws that govern that power, it will work for you. But the same force that washes your clothes and cook your food can also destroy you if you violate the laws that govern that force.