“Pastor, is it right to testify in faith that God gave me a car when He has not?”
I think many people have misunderstood Mark 11:24. It says, “… What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them”. Notice that it didn’t say you should testify that you’ve received what you’ve prayed for, rather it says you should believe that you receive them.
The word “believe” used in that scripture indicates a posture or attitude of assurance. If I tell you that I have a car only because I’ve prayed to God about having a car, that’s not a statement of assurance; rather, that’s a lie.
If you believe you’ve received the car you prayed for, then your conversation about the lack of a car will change. Instead of speaking about the lack, you’d speak about the promises of God from His word concerning the car. Instead of complaining about how easy it would have been to drive your own car during this rainy season, you’d be thankful to God because He has promised to supply all your needs, including your need for a car. That’s how to believe that you received what you prayed about.
If you’re still worried about where the money to buy the car will come from after you’ve prayed, then it means you didn’t believe that you received it. If you truly believed, then you’d realize that He’d supply that car according to His riches, not your riches.
Our negative conversation is mostly the problem, it betrays our faith and renders our prayer requests useless. God cannot attend to the prayer request of a person that has a doubtful disposition. You just prayed for admission into school, yet you talk like someone who will never gain admission into school. Haven’t you read Hebrews 13:5-6? It says, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me”.
Thats right! Don’t be covetous in your conversations. Don’t begin to blame the government for your jobless state after you just concluded a hot hour prayer to God about the job. When the job eventually comes, you won’t know for sure who gave it to you. If you can’t believe, please don’t bother praying. I shared with you yesterday how God extended the journey of the children of Isreal only because they didn’t believe Him. A journey that should have taken 40 days took 40 years, just for lack of trust. They prayed to God, but would rather endure Pharaoh’s torment, because they didn’t trust God. They preferred to go back to Egypt than trust God through the journey to Canaan.
It’s better not to pray at all than to pray and not believe. At least if you don’t pray, you may still get that desire by chance, but the moment you pray, any sign or conversation of disbelieve can affect the delivery of what you prayed about, just as it affected the children of Israel.
As I conclude, testimonies are two dimensional. There is the testimony of the act of God and the testimony of the truth. Testifying of a car is a testimony of the act of God, so if God hasn’t given you a car, it will be inappropriate to testify of a car. However, you can testify of the truth that you believe in, knowing that God shall supply that need.
If you continue testifying of the truth, its only a matter of time before the truth manifests into an act. Let’s see how Apostle Paul put it:
Acts 14:
3 Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
Did you see that? They kept testifying of the truth until the truth materialized into signs and wonders. The testimony of truth proves that you believe God, while the testimony of the acts proves to others that your believe in God is true. The bible tells us that testimonies proves that God is true. So you can testify of the truth until the truth materializes into an act.
The testimony of the acts of God was instituted by Moses, and Jesus even refered to it in Luke chapter 5 verse 14. It says, “And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them”.
So when God performs an act, share it with His church. But until then, testify of the truth.
I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.
Remain ever blessed!
#EmekaAnslem