27th.: Here a Little, There a Little
At one point Jesus promised,
“What things soever you desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24.
Later, Jesus added 'conditions' onto our prayers in John 15:7 with,
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
To get our prayers answered (yes) is that we must ‘abide’ or ‘stay in a relationship’ with Jesus.
Plus we must let his words ‘abide’ or ‘stay in our minds/hearts’.
Meaning, if we don’t memorize the words outright, we are at least purposing to remember the principles that he taught.
Why did not Jesus just say so in Mark 11:24?
Isaiah 28:11 tells us, “For precept must be upon precept,
precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, and there a little.”
He lets us learn a little at a time, so that we have time to ‘process’ the concepts.
But this style of teaching also means that we need to read the whole Bible
(and not just a few favored, or easy to read, verses here and there).
This type of research into God’s word also shows God that we love Him enough to dig for what He wants us to know.
“O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Ps. 119:97)