Believing Prayer that Receives All Things (Mathew 21:18-22).

Thursday September 25, 2025

Main Idea: Believing prayer is from faith in and understanding of the revealed Word of God which results in receiving all things that God wills.

Application: Because God is faithful, we should pray intelligently and believingly with His will in mind and not assuming His will matches our own desires.

Mat 21:18-22

Believing prayer: Prayer that believes God’s will as revealed in Scripture.

Believing prayer is prayer that is within the confines of God’s will as revealed in Scripture.

It is not assuming that God’s will matches your own.

God’s will is in His Word and you believe its goodness and that God will do all things in your life as He desires.

Believing prayer is limited according to faith in God’s will, desire, and ability.

This teaching by the Lord has moved some to conclude a falsehood of prosperity by deep faith, i.e. you can get God to do anything if you believe enough (name it and claim it, prosperity gospel).

Rather, the Bible teaches that disappointment is a gateway to spiritual growth and a deeper reliance on God.

The "gospel of success" twists Christianity into another self-help tool.

On the other side of “name it and claim it” is the doubting prayer of the religious who think it modesty and humility to not expect God to do what we ask.

Jesus wants us to trust God boldly, confidently, assuredly as He did.

Believing prayer: Receives “all things, as much as you may ask.”

“Whatever you ask” leaves open a potential: What will you ask?

“Believing” limits prayer to God’s will and therefore annuls “name it and claim it” to get anything from God.

Folly to think that your desires match up with God’s unless your desires have a foundation in God’s Word.

Spiritual growth matures and changes desire (Psa 37:1-6; notice the withering and the delight).

All that God wants for you. What is that? God wants your will to be in harmony with His own.

OT and NT Scripture.

Jer 29:7-13; Psa 50:14-15; Psa 37:1-4

Paul’s prayers summarized: Eph 1 the eyes of your heart enlightened that you may know the hope of God’s calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints; Phi 1 that your love may abound still more and more in the real knowledge and discernment; Col 1 that you would be filled with the knowledge of His will with all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Why believing prayer works.

God seeks for us to have a desire that is rightly motivated to the goal of His good.

This necessitates faith in His way as revealed in His Word (It is found nowhere else.) as well as faith in God’s ability to do it.

To this faith He acts in the life of the believing one.

God does not want to act against the will of His creatures, but He will do so in justice (Eze 33:11).

God prefers that the desire of man match His own, hence faith intertwines with desire and changes it.

Faith and desire = prayer.

All throughout the Bible, God invites and encourages prayer, though He knows all things, though He hears before we call. (Isa 65:24)

He does not tell us of His decree and omniscience so that we would see futility in prayer, but that we would see that He knows our needs and desires far more intimately than we do; and He longs to fulfill them, but not against your will.

Matt 21:22 "And all things [whatever] you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

Get excited for the future = hope.

When you pray believingly, you are striving to align your will within the confines of God’s own in prayer.

God longs for this conversation.

You receive from God what you long to graciously give to others.