Take It!

MARK 11:24 NASB 24 "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.

The Greek word translated "received" is lambano, which means to actively receive. In English we use the word "take" to describe actively receiving.

For example, the following scriptures contain the Greek word, "lambano." This may help you get a better understanding of what receive means when it translates this word, lambano.

MARK 12:8 NKJ 8 "And they TOOK him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.

JOHN 19:6 NKJ 6 ...Pilate said to them, "You TAKE Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him."

As the above passages show, sometimes lambano is translated as take or took -- and is not at all passive, but very active.

MARK 11:24 SWANN 24 Therefore, I exhort you, All things whatever you pray for and ask, have faith that you have taken hold, and it shall be for you.

So, this verse is saying to us that when we pray, we are to believe we take what we are asking for, and then we will have those things.

How can we do that?

We must take them by faith. How do we "take them by faith?" We release words of faith based on what God has said in His Word, the Bible.

We are not talking about forcing God to do something, but to receive (or take) what is already offered.

How can you "believe you have received" something before you see it? Easy! You just need credible evidence.

If someone you trusted told you they had deposited money in your bank account, you would not need to physically go to the bank and see the cash before rejoicing.

Well, God -- who cannot lie -- has told us many things in His Word. When we pray in line with what God's Word already says is ours, that is our evidence on which we can base our belief.

When God says it -- we can believe it. So that is our evidence by which we can "believe we receive" something when we pray. So, by our faith, we "take it."

(We are not taking it from God. He has already given it to us.)

SAY THIS: When I pray I am supposed to "take" the answer by faith.