Mark 11:24

A
B
C

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 (NKJV)

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11:24 (NIV)

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Mark 11:24 (KJV)

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

Mark 11:24 (NLT)

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11:24 (ESV)

Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.

Mark 11:24 (NASB)

For this reason I am telling you, whatever things you ask for in prayer [in accordance with God's will], believe [with confident trust] that you have received them, and they will be given to you.

Mark 11:24 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

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 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything.

Mark 11:24 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

New Covenant Meaning

The Aorist of "Received": Already Granted at the Point of Prayer

The most theologically significant feature of Mark 11:24 is the tense of the word "received" (elabete in Greek). It is aorist, past tense, at the moment of present prayer. Jesus does not say "believe that you will receive" at some future point. He says "believe that you received," a past tense applied at the moment of asking. This reflects the theological reality that God's response to prayer is not delayed in the mind of God. When a prayer aligns with God's will and is offered in faith, the transaction is complete at the point of asking. The manifestation may come later, but the receiving is a past-tense fact from the perspective of faith.

Context: The Withered Fig Tree and the Mountain

Jesus speaks these words after the disciples marveled at the withered fig tree that Jesus had cursed the day before (vv. 20-21). His response extends the principle beyond cursing a tree: whatever you ask when you pray, believe that you receive it. The context is not a general prosperity teaching. Jesus is teaching about the kind of faith that acts in alignment with God's authority and sees results that correspond to the words spoken in that faith. The principle connects to verse 23: the one who "does not doubt in his heart" but believes what he says will happen will have what he says. Faith and speech are connected throughout the passage.

Mark 11:24 must be read alongside passages that situate prayer within God's will. John 15:7 says: "If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you." 1 John 5:14 says: "If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." James 4:3 warns against asking with wrong motives. The faith described in Mark 11:24 is not isolated willpower directed at any desired outcome. It is the faith of a person living in alignment with God, praying from that alignment, and therefore already operating within the scope of what God is willing to do. The boldness of the promise is bounded by the abiding relationship that produces the kind of prayer Jesus describes.

Application for Your Life

Faith Receives at the Point of Asking

The practical implication of the past-tense "received" is that faith does not wait for the visible manifestation to begin believing. Faith believes at the point of prayer that what has been asked is already granted. This does not mean claiming things God has not promised or demanding outcomes that fall outside His will. It means that when you are praying in alignment with God's character and promises, you do not need to continue asking with uncertainty. You have asked. You believe you have received. You thank God for it and look forward to its manifestation. This is a qualitatively different posture than anxious petitioning that is never settled.

The Obstacle of Doubt

Verse 23 identifies doubt as the obstacle: the one who does not doubt in his heart will have what he says. Doubt in this context is not intellectual uncertainty about a theological proposition. It is the internal division of a person who is simultaneously asking and not expecting, simultaneously praying and not trusting. This kind of doubt is a split allegiance in the heart: part of the person is directed toward God in prayer, another part is already settling for the reality that the prayer will probably not be answered. The faith Jesus calls for is unified: the whole person is aligned toward God and His willingness to answer.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, I come to You in prayer and I bring my requests. I believe that You hear me, that You are willing, and that what I ask in alignment with Your will and Your word, You grant. I receive at the point of asking. I do not allow doubt to split my heart between asking and not expecting. I believe I have received, and I thank You for what You are doing even before I see it fully manifested. I cast away the anxiety of not yet having seen and replace it with the confidence of one who has asked a faithful God and trusts His answer. In Jesus name. Amen.