Peter SmytheDecidedly Unprofessional

Therefore I say to you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them. (Mark 11:24, RV)

For this cause I say unto you - All things whatsoever ye are praying for and asking believe that ye have received, and they shall be yours. (Mark 11:24, Rotherham)

The prayer of faith, as it has been called, has been the subject of considerable debate and honky-tonk antagonism in the Body of Christ for a number of years. Instead of doing the usual essay, I thought I’d take a different approach and provide a smattering of grammar, vocabulary, quotes, and comments. You can make up your own mind about it.

Grammar and Vocabulary

Oddly enough, for all of the controversy surrounding this verse, it is grammatically straightforward in the Greek.

For this cause I say unto you All things whatsoever
dia touto lego humin panta hosa an

ye are praying for and asking believe that ye have received
 proseuchomenoi

and they shall be yours.

According to Danker (BDAG), which is the Greek lexicon of the moment, “whatsoever” (hosa an) pertains to a comparative quantity or number. In this case, one may say that the “all things” is qualified by the rest of the verse. Not that difficult.

Both praying and asking are in the present tense. Danker defines the “asking” as “asking with a claim on receipt of an answer.” (That’s pretty definite, isn’t it?) The word for “asking” can also be defined as “demand.” Both of the words are in the “middle” voice. William Mounce, the eminent Greek scholar, demonstrates the significance of the middle voice in his Basics of Biblical Greek:

“The classical definition of the middle voice is that the action of a verb in the middle voice in some way affects the subject. We will call this the “self-interest” nuance of the middle. This is not necessarily a reflexive idea … in the middle the subject does the action of the verb to the direct object, and yet the action of the verb in some way affects the subject.” William Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek at 230 (emphasis supplied).

In a word, Mounce says that the middle voice can mean something that personally affects you. So, up to this point, we can deduce something like this: “All the things you are praying and demanding for yourself …” This rendering is consistent with basic faith teaching that you can exercise faith for yourself, but not for someone else.

And now we come to the point where the theology police flail their arms and yell “heresy, heresy,” “gnosticism,” “the sky is falling,” or whatever. The word “believe” is in the imperative tense which means that it is a command or an order. Jesus, in effect, orders us to believe. (that puts a different gloss on it, doesn’t it?) And … drumroll please … “received” is in the aorist tense which means the past tense. “[You] believe you received it.” One respected Greek Grammar even puts it that way:

“Mk 11:24 aitometha lambante (if you asked for it ‘you received it’). Blass & DeBrunner, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament at sec. 333(2).

The Greek word for receive can also be rendered “take.” (“Take, eat, this is my body.” Matt. 26:26). Consequently, a not-incorrect translation of “believe that you received it” could be “believe that you took it” or “believe that you got it.” E.W. Kenyon preached “faith is possession” and that is exactly what “believe you received it” shows in the Greek.

Daniel Wallace, another eminent Greek scholar (but by no means a Word-Faith minister), in writing about the “aorist” tense in Mark 11:24 says:

“The aorist indicative can be used to describe an event that is not yet past as though it were already completed.” Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics at 564.

For all the prattle about Word of Faith teachings and gnosticism, it appears to me that if you looked to Wallace’s grammar alone, you’d be saying (confessing) that you “had” the thing even though it had not yet come to pass. (Egad!)

The last part of the verse is ___ which I translate as “and it will be to y’all.” The word ἐσται is the future form of “to be” in the 3rd person singular. All in all, grammatically there isn’t any thing hard about this verse. While the theologians don’t like the idea of coming out of a prayer closet believing that “you’ve got the answer” and saying so, there’s just no escaping “received.”

Quotes and Comments

“[T]hese texts on faith [including Mark 11:24] have regularly been a bit of an embarrassment to the church. They are all clearly in the biblical text, yet seldom does one see them “at work,” except in rare instances. One must ruefully admit that evangelical Christianity by and large does not expect much from God.” Gordon Fee, The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospels at 26.

One only has to look at the title of Fee’s book to know where his opinion of faith ministers falls. Fee is charismatic, but his statement exemplifies the problems of all of the critics concerning this passage. They have decried the teaching of “believing that you received,” but have failed to provide any semblance of a cogent exegesis of Mark 11:24. Indeed, most, if not all, appear to fall back on a vague, speculative notion of “God’s sovereignty” which, Fee admits, is a miserable failing.

“That is the test of faith, the kind that sees the fulfilment before it happens.” A.T. Robertson in Word Pictures of the New Testament - Matthew/Mark at 361-362.

A.T. Robertson, A.M., D.D., LL.D., Litt.D., is the author of A Greek Grammar of the New Testament in Light of Historical Research and is known as the “granddaddy” of all Greek scholars. I am not aware of a single person who considered (or considers) him to be a faith preacher. (He was Baptist.) This quote is part of his commentary on Mark 11:24 and is strikingly similar to one of E.W. Kenyon’s own quotes about the verse:

“Here is faith thanking Him for a thing that he already possesses which has not yet materialized, but he knows that it is his.” E.W. Kenyon, Two Kinds of Faith at 84.

And both quotes appear right along the line of the writer of Hebrews and Paul:

“Now faith means that we are confident of what we hope for, convinced of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 (Moffatt)

“for we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7

Prayer - What’s Going On?

In His wisdom, God gave us some insight into the spiritual underpinnings of prayer, including Mark 11:24. In the Old Testament, Daniel prayed for the understanding of certain visions that he had. He didn’t receive the understanding immediately so he began a fast that lasted for three weeks. At the end of the three weeks, Gabriel appeared to him:

“Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words were heard: and I am come for the words’ sake.” Daniel 10:12 (RV)

The important thing to note here is that Daniel’s words were heard at the time that they were spoken and that Gabriel “had come for the words’ sake.” (Mark 11:24 - pray and ask) In other words, Gabriel was dispatched by God Almighty because of Daniel’s prayer at the time the prayer was uttered. (Mark 11:24 - believe that you received).

“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days (v.2 - “I, Daniel, was in mourning three whole weeks); but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained [was not needed] there with the kings of Persia.” Daniel 10:13 (RV, marg.)

Though Gabriel was dispatched at the time Daniel prayed his prayer, he encountered resistance in the heavenlies. Gabriel says it took him 21 days to get through to Daniel with the answer to his prayer. (Mark 11:24 - and it will be to you).

Note: If the Greek comes out as funny boxes, use your wife’s computer.