March 31, 2021

Believe To Receive

©1999 AMKCH

Matt 7:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Matt 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

This is one of the main foundational truths in God’s Word. The apostle Paul tells us in the book of Hebrews:

Heb 11:1 NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The faith you have right now – this very second is all you need.

Mat 17:20b …If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Let’s look at the context of the following verses:

Matt 17:15-16 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

17-18 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Some things just need a little more positive push… with prayer and fasting to be received… especially when it comes to dealing with demonic activity.

No matter how small or big a thing is, God will grant that which you ask if you only believe.. in Him… and in truth, and in yourself. However, it is obvious, that God will not give you what will hurt you. He will not change His law. But He will stop the rain (as he did for me in 1985), and turn the sun back as He did for Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:8-11.

2 Ki 20:8 And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?

9 And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

God has stopped the storming rains for me on several occasions. All I did was ask! It doesn’t happen too often, but it will if you only believe. Several times, my husband and I asked God to diminish a terrible storm that was coming our way, and He actually parted the clouds so that the storm did not touch our neighborhood at all!!!!! Hubby’s sister, who happens to be an unbeliever, watched it happen.

Our Lord, Christ Jesus told the disciples that they hadn’t asked Him for anything as of yet, but if they were to ask, they would receive if they only believed. There are many people in God’s Word who believed for healings and received them simply because they believed. Let’s take a look at a couple of these people.

Mar 9:17-18 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.

19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.

20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

21-22 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. Oftimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but IF THOU canst do any thing, (shoving doubt at Christ) have compassion on us, and help us.

23 Jesus said unto him, If THOU canst believe, (“What do you mean “if I?… Don’t blame me for your doubt! I KNOW what I can do!”, putting the man’s doubt back on him) all things are possible to him that believeth.

24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

Another example:

Matt 9:20-23 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

Weak from loss of blood and in so much pain, this little lady worked her way through the crowd that surrounded The Christ. Now, you need to understand something about the Eastern customs and laws of that day. When a woman was on her “period” at that time, she was sent out of the city and was not permitted, by law, to be around people, and if she had to be, she was to go about shouting “Unclean, Unclean”, so that the people would move away from her, so as not to become unclean themselves by touching her, even by accident!

The following explains the why’s and whereof’s of this woman’s problem.

Lev 15:19 And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.

20 And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean.

21 And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

22 And whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

23 And if it be on her bed, or on any thing whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be unclean until the even.

24 And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean.

25 And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean.

26 Every bed whereon she lieth all the days of her issue shall be unto her as the bed of her separation: and whatsoever she sitteth upon shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her separation.

27 And whosoever toucheth those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

28-30 But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for her before the LORD for the issue of her uncleanness.

31-33 Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them. And of her that is sick of her flowers, and of him that hath an issue, of the man, and of the woman, and of him that lieth with her that is unclean.

This woman had heard about the healing powers of Christ. She was desperate. After paying out all she had to doctors who did nothing for her, she was ready to give up. Knowing the law, and what could be done against her for disobeying them, boldly, and in total faith, followed the crowd and moved in. She knew He was her only hope. By her action she proved her belief in Christ’s power to heal her. Weak as she was, she pushed her aching body through the crowd.

Then she ACTED on her belief that Christ would heal her. She touched the hem of his garment. She reached out (action) for the cloth; she touched (action) the hem, saying (proclaiming out loud her faith) “If I could only touch His garment I WILL be made whole”. What she believed would happen, she spoke out. She proclaimed it with all boldness, not caring what anyone would say or do.

Jesus heard her, felt the power of faith leave Him, and healed her. Her belief got her what she wanted.

Another example is in Mark 3

Mk 3:1-2 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.

3-5 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

This man may have had arthritis so bad that it deformed his hand to the point of decay. Or it may have been a birth defect. When a muscle is not used for a long time, it atrophy’s, meaning it shrivels up to practically nothing – it goes dead, so to speak.

Jesus had been arguing with the know-it-all pharasees and saducees of the temple about what can or cannot be done on the Sabbath. He, knowing they were watching closely to see if he would heal on the sabbath day, which was against the (their) law, according to them… told the man to take action in his faith: to stretch out his hand.

There was one reason that this man was at the temple, besides to hear the Scriptures being read, and to worship. He wanted Jesus to heal him. He knew… he believed He could, because he had seen Him heal and deliver so many others. Because he had SEEN these miracles, he believed.

So, when Jesus told him to stretch forth his hand, he DID (action) it, and was made whole. He believed, and so he received.

Jn 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Miracles do happen even today for all who will believe. Let me give you another example from my own family.

My children’s great grandmother was ill in the hospital and had undergone a series of tests and exams. She was told she had a lot of gall stones and would need an operation the next day. I went to visit her the night before her operation. I asked her if she believed that God could – would heal her. She looked at me calmly and say, “Yes, Child, I do”. I said, “well, I would like to pray with you”.

Now, you must understand. There were both believers and unbelievers in the room with us. These hummed and hawed, and others were in agreement with us. We all held hands, and I layed my hands on her head. We prayed, asking God for total healing for her.

The next day, before the operation, she underwent more tests. Just before the scheduled operation was to take place, the doctors came in and said in amazement that she could go home. The gall stones were gone! They could not believe it.

God is so good. I knew that He would heal her, and SHE BELIEVED it. Because of that faith, He did.

Not only will Almighty God heal you by His Son, Christ Jesus, He will also provide for you… your jobs, food, clothing, houses, cars… anything you ask for in Christ’s Holy Name. As long as it is in His Word, and if you ask with all prayer and supplication, you shall, absolutely receive!

Matt 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ASK him?

Here’s a little humorous thing that happened many years ago… It’s funny to me anyways as I look back…

When my children were very little, there was a fellowship that we attended several times a week. One night we were getting ready to go, but one daughter, who was about 3 or 4 at the time, could not find her shoes. Now, she was a very meticulous child. Everything had to be in its place. We looked everywhere that they could possibly be… even in her closet, several times…

Then, frustrated because we would be late for fellowship, I called out for everyone to stop and gather around. I asked God, “Father, where are my daughter’s shoes”?

Then, in a voice very clear and crisp, God told me, “Go look on the floor in her closet; on the right side; at the front.” Sometimes He just wants us to stop what we’re doing, ask, then listen for His reply!

That’s right where they were! I believed God would tell me, and He did. That’s not the only time He has helped me find things, but I won’t go into more here. You get my point, I hope.

God will help you find things if you only ask… and listen. Sometimes God will speak to you in a still small voice, or His Holiness will call out to you clearly and loudly. Nevertheless, you will know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it is He who is speaking to you.

There are steps we must take in order to receive. These are:

  1. Know in detail WHAT it is you want… including color and size!
  2. Know WHEN you want it. This does not mean you will get it when you want it. God may not be early, but He is NEVER late, and He is ALWAYS on time!
  3. Know WHERE you want it
  4. Know WHY you want it. God knows your heart. He knows your intentions. He will NOT give to greed or evil intentions.
  5. Know HOW you are going to get it. By faith.

Rom 10:1 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

In order to believe in something or someone, we must first have to hear about it, or them. When you believe with the faith of Jesus Christ, there will be nothing you cannot do or have as long as it matches up with God’s Word and God’s will.

Jn 10:10b I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

3 Jn 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

This last verse means that, as we are alive and breathing, God wants us to be happy! God is our Father, and as our Father, He wants the best for us. Now remember that these men who wrote these books of the Bible, spoke as the Holy spirit gave them to speak.

Christ Jesus tells us that when we are obedient to God; serving in church, helping the poor and elderly and widows, following His commandments of love, giving of ourselves, our time, talents and treasures, He will give us the desires of our hearts, if we only believe. But we must also realize that it is in HIS time, not ours.

Please know that I do not teach the so called “prosperity gospel”. That is a fantasy taught by those greedy pastors who only want your money and are wrongly using the Word of God to get it. They are not discerning the TRUTH of The Word, but are translating it to say what THEY want it to say to frighten people… poor and wealthy alike, into giving to them so that they can pay for their $35,000 cars and $300,000 homes… which they purchased with YOUR money… instead of helping those who are in need.

When I say God will give us the desires of our hearts, I mean this literally!

Please take time now to read the Gospel of Matthew’s 6th and 7th chapters.

Matt 7:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

God will put the desires in our hearts. Then, when we ask Him, He will give those desires to us. In other words – God will put the desires or wants into our hearts that HE wants us to have. Then, when He wants us to have it, and we ask for it, He will give it to us… in His time. Not ours. But we must believe it first in order to receive anything from God.

I hope this has been a blessing to you.