Matthew 21:22
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

I heard once about a very forgetful lady. She was having a friend over for lunch and wanted to make a special dessert for her – a pie. Now this pie only called for three ingredients – that’s it. One ingredient was the main flavor of the pie, and the other two were the sweeteners. Well, in her haste to prepare the delicious dessert, she left out one of the sweeteners! When her guest took a bite of the pie – which LOOKED yummy – she was startled to find it was the sourest pie she had ever tasted! The pie was un-edible because it was so tart!! It was ruined because one ingredient was left out…one very important ingredient!
I believe my prayer life gets like that sometimes! I get busy reading over my prayer list with my mouth, while my brain goes on “hold” and I mentally rehearse all of the reasons He can not- or will not- or has not- answered my requests! I am leaving out a very important ingredient to my prayer life: BELIEF! The verse we’ve read today says we must ask in prayer – form the words with our mouths – while also believing that He can do it! That’s it. We ask, while believing, and we shall receive! When I leave out the “believing” I think my prayer life tastes pretty sour to the Lord!
Well, I laughed very hard when my friend, who was the “taster” told me about her sour pie experience! I thought to myself, “How can you leave out an ingredient of a recipe, when there are only three ingredients in the whole thing?! Today, however, the Holy Spirit asked me, as I was trudging through my prayer list with vain repetitions: “How can you leave out the most important ingredient, Valerie? You’ve forgotten to believe that I can accomplish these things!” I wasn’t laughing, in fact, I was crying. I’m so thankful the Lord is working on this area in my life. I want to see my prayers answered!

I don’t want to have a “sour” prayer life. I don’t want to leave out “believing” from my prayer recipe again!