Just Believe
So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household. John 4:53
Have you ever noticed that sometimes when you pray about something you are going through that the answer comes right away and other times it seems a long time in coming? What makes the difference? Does it depend on how we come before the Lord with the petition or it is because of how long we waited to go to Him in prayer? We can see all through scripture that there were times of instant answers and time of waiting out the storm. So what was the difference?
In today’s reading, a nobleman came to Jesus to ask Him to heal his son. This was a man who worked for Herod, obviously not one of Jesus regular followers. Yet when he came to Jesus with the request for Jesus to heal his son, Jesus healed him almost immediately. In this case, after Jesus spoke the words that his son lives, the passage say that the nobleman believed the words of the Lord and went on his way. This gives the implication that the answer took place because the man believed. He didn’t see the result yet, but he headed back home anyway. He could have stayed with Jesus and begged and pleaded with him to come to his house to save the boy and he could have argued with Him about the method of how Jesus would answer his request. Instead, he just believed.
I wonder how many times we have prayed and asked God for help and instead of believing that He heard and saw when we prayed and is now answering that pray, we continue to ask for the same thing over and over again. I have done this myself. Because I didn’t feel like anything happened and didn’t see any change in the natural world, I kept on pleading with God for that problem. Jesus made it plain and clear all through His ministry that it was because of faith the results showed up. Almost every time someone came to Jesus and got the answer they came for, He told them it was because of their faith.
That is the answer to the question and that is the way to receive anything from God. You must come to Him by faith and believe that He hears, and the answer is on the way. It may not look like it in that natural world yet, but you believe in your heart that you have taken the situation or problem to God and now He is working on it. Think about it. The way you received your salvation was by going to God in faith, believing in your heart that Jesus came to save you. Nothing looked any different when you finished praying for salvation, yet from that moment in time, your life began to go in a different direction. That’s how it is when we pray. We ask and then we believe. (Mark 11:24)
Today I want to encourage you to believe you receive when you pray. After you have taken a matter before the Father and asked for His help in the situation, believe He is at work in it and begin to thank Him for the answer that He is providing even right now. Then every time you think of the issue after that, just go ahead and thank Him some more that He has that struggle in His hands and He is working all those things involved together for your good because you love Him (See Romans 8:28). Leave that prayer time with His peace because you know that you have taken it to God and He is your good Father that helps you through every struggle and answers when you take your concerns to Him.
Today’s scripture reading: John 4:49-54
49 The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”
50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”
52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”
53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household.
54 This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
The Daily Dose 