The Past Tense of Faith

3.10.2024

 

 

Believing right now that you receive answers to your prayers is the key to overcoming the pressure and needs that life brings your way!

Mark 11:24

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

You may be facing a huge crisis right now.

Faith, believing that you receive, is the ingredient that will get you through it.

Many speak of faith as an abstract – it’s somewhat nebulous and innocuous. As if it’s just something you have to help you grunt through life.

But faith is a force that comes from your spiritual life that will bring you through the toughest things that life brings your way!

Jesus said:

 

John 16:33 (NKJV)

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

 

He also said:

 

Mark 9:23 (NKJV)

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

 

Matthew 8:13 (NKJV)

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.”

 

Matthew 9:22 (NKJV)

But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

 

Matthew 9:27-29 (NKJV)

When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”

28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”

 

Faith always receives right now what God promises!

Faith always receives right now what God promises!

When praying for certain things personally, it’s important to remember that faith is never future tense.

Faith is always past or present tense.

Hope is future tense.

To cooperate with the Lord and receive from Him, keep your tenses right!

If you’re just hoping that one day in the future things will be different, you’ll not receive from the Lord.

It’s not hoping one day in the future that things will be different, but it’s believing that God has already answered, or is answering your prayer that brings results!

Notice what Jesus said about praying in faith in Mark 11:22-24

Mark 11:22-24 (NKJV)

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

This next verse has simply revolutionized how I have lived my life.

Mark 11:24 (NKJV)

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

 

Mark 11:24 (AMPC)

For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it].

 

Mark 11:24 (NCV)

So I tell you to believe that you have received the things you ask for in prayer, and God will give them to you.

 

Mark 11:24 (God’s Word)

That’s why I tell you to have faith that you have already received whatever you pray for, and it will be yours.

 

Mark 11:24 (ESV)

I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.

 

Mark 11:24 (Complete Jewish Bible)

Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, trust that you are receiving it, and it will be yours.

 

Mark 11:24 (BBE)

For this reason I say to you, Whatever you make a request for in prayer, have faith that it has been given to you, and you will have it.

 

Hebrews 11:1 (NCV)

Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it.

Dr. J. Oswald Sanders Quote:

Faith enables the believing soul to treat the future as present and the invisible as seen.

Declare the end from the beginning!

Isaiah 46:9-10 (AMP)

[Earnestly] remember the former things, [which I did] of old; for I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure and purpose,

Call those things that do not exist as though they did!

Romans 4:17 (NKJV)

(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

Speak and act as though you believe you have what you have asked God for.

If you are depressed, weighed down, feeling low, ask God to set you free from it, and then believe you receive and say you believe you receive while the feelings are still there.

If you are believing for healing – pray – then start acting and praising and thanking God as though you were healed already, even before the symptoms stop.

If you are believing for finances then pray, believe you receive, and act like, talk like, and praise and thank God like you already had what you asked for!

If you are believing for a job, act like, talk like, and praise and thank God like you already had what you asked for.

Examples of faith receiving right now:

 

Joshua

Joshua 6:1-2

Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. 2 And the Lord said to Joshua: See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.

 

God spoke to them in the past tense about Jericho. The walls were still up. Yet God had promised that the city was already theirs!

 

Abraham

Genesis 12:1-3 (NKJV)

Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 17:5 (NKJV)

No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.

God changed Abram’s name to Abraham! Exalted father became “father of a multitude.” He and Sarah had zero children when God changed his name!

Romans 4:17 (NKJV)

(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed — God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

 

Jesus spoke in the past tense when praying for Lazarus to be raised!

John 11:39-44 (NKJV)

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Faith is a fight!

1 Timothy 6:12

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

 

Fight – Greek – agœnízomai:

to struggle, literally (to compete for a prize), figuratively (to contend with an adversary)

The fight is to defy negative thoughts and feelings when it looks like it isn’t working.

Make it your habit every day after you pray and ask and to say out loud what you believe!

Action Points:

1. Am I willing to pray and to believe that I receive what I pray for right now?

2. Am I willing to talk and act like I believe I receive the answer before any changes come?

3. Am I willing to fight negative thoughts and feelings even when it looks like nothing has changed?