Expert: Marilyn - 11/30/2008

Question
QUESTION: Mark 9: 23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

What does Jesus expect the man to believe?  Is it to believe that Jesus can do it?  Jesus declares that everything is possible for one who believes.  I don’t think Jesus means everything because we know that not everything is possible for us even if we believe God is capable of doing it.

So what does Jesus want us to understand and what exactly does He expects us to believe?

ANSWER: What are your thoughts on this subject?

Sincerely,

Marilyn

Hello Lenin, great to hear from you again.

Please bear with me I'm going around the long way to answer your question.  Let's start at the beginning:

Abraham, the Father of All Who Believe, Romans 4

In Jewish tradition Abraham's father, Terah, was an idol manufacturer in the land of Ur.  The story goes that Terah left Abraham in charge.  While his father was gone Abraham smashed all the idols except the largest.  When Terah returned he asked, "What's happened?"  Abraham answered, "They got into a fight and this idol won."  His chagrined father, who realized items made of stone or wood couldn't get into a fight, was then forced to recognize that idol worship was stupid.  Obviously, Abraham was a unique fellow!

Abraham's biblical story begins in Genesis 12.  God speaks to him and says, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.  I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."  

Abraham believed God and left his homeland.  Here we see the first two principles of living by faith:  believe God and obey.  Also notice, God's promise to make Abraham a great nation didn't have any other requirements except he leave his homeland.  Some of God's promises have pre-conditions--such as the one you mention above, "If you believe..."  Abraham demonstrated he believed God simply by leaving town--however, later, we'll see he had his moments when he failed to believe God, but since he'd obeyed and left town, he still received God's blessing.

A famine struck the land, so Abraham went to Egypt, Genesis 12:10- .  Sarah, his wife, was a very beautiful woman, so he told her to lie and say she was his sister. (She was his half-sister, but she was also his wife.)  True to God's word, Pharaoh blessed Abraham.  "...Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels," verse 16.  But Pharaoh paid the price for Abraham's lie.  A plague struck Pharaoh's household because he wanted Sarah for his own.  In chapter 13, Abraham repents and calls on God, verse 4.  God prospers Abraham.  He becomes so wealthy that he kept an army of 318 fully equipped and trained men, Genesis 14:14!  

Abraham went to Egypt out of fear--the Bible makes no mention that God told him to go.  Nothing had changed respecting God's promise to prosper Abraham, what changed was Abraham's faith--it faltered.  Like Peter who stepped out of the boat in faith and could walk on the water as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, Abraham took his eyes off God and observed the famine and feared for his life.  In this instance we see that God kept His promise to prosper Abraham, even though Abraham and Sarah lied to Pharaoh and despite the momentary lapse in his faith.  As mentioned above, this is because the only pre-condition God placed on His blessings for Abraham was that he leave and travel where God instructed him to go.

However, Abraham gives us another principle of faith:  keep your eyes on God, don't look at your circumstances.  Your puny circumstances are no match for God.  Just like Peter, who was doing fine until he noticed the stormy waters, any believer, whether it be Abraham or Peter, will do fine as long as he keeps his eyes on the Lord.

In Genesis 16 we see again Abraham's faith falter.  He believed God would give him a son, but he was having trouble with how and when.  He took matters into his own hands and conceived a son by his wife's maid, Hagar.  

Here we see another principle of faith.  Abraham's faith remained strong, his doubt came in the form of wondering how and when God would finally keep His promise.  The lessons for us is that we must trust God not only to keep His promises, but to keep them when the time is right and in His own way, which I can guarantee to you is better than anything we'd think wise.

Abraham stepped out in faith, believing God and left his homeland; he believed God would give him a son, but Abraham's exhibit of supreme faith occurs in Genesis 22 when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac.  I can only imagine how Abraham felt!  Father and son are heading out with the wood and everything else except the sacrificial animal. Isaac asks, "...where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"  Abraham answers, "God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son," verses 7 & 8.  

Here is Abraham, preparing to sacrifice his only son (by his wife, Sarah, the only one that counts in terms of God's promise), the son God promised him and he finally received when he was a hundred years old...

Romans 4, "What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?  If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about--but not before God.  What does the Scripture say?  "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:6)

Hebrews 11:6, "And without faith (Greek--pistes:  fidelity no matter what) it is impossible to please God..."

Back to Romans 4:16-24, "...the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham.  He is the father of us all.  As it is written:  "I have made you a father of many nations."  He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.  

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."  Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead.  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.  This is why, "it was credited to him as righteousness."  The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead."

By the time God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham's faith had grown to the point he believed God would raise Isaac from the dead, Hebrews 11:19.  He believed God against all physical evidence to the contrary, against hope in hope Abraham believed.  This is the kind of faith we're called to walk in.

Jesus tells us in Mark 10:22, "Have faith in God," or in some translations, "Have the faith of God."  Verse 23, "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours."  In other words, "You shall have what you say."

Here's another principle of walking by faith:  Believe God, speak it aloud and believe it's a done deal: the thing is finished, complete, done before you see any physical evidence in this material realm.  Remember back in the Romans 4 passage, "the God who...calls things that are not as thought they were."  Jesus tells us to do that!  He tells us to speak to the mountain and call things that are not as though they were.  

God operates according to this same principle.  This is why Jesus says, "Have the faith OF God."  In Genesis 1 we see Him apply this principle over and over--"And God said...And God said...And God said..."  This phrase appears seven times.  Seven is the number of spiritual perfection.  Any repetition of a principle or phrase in the Bible, the more frequently, the more important the principle or phrase.  To repeat it seven times indicates a supreme principle in action.  Believe it, Speak it, Receive it.

Jesus gets into a verbal battle with the Pharisees in John 10.  The Jewish leaders don't like Jesus' answer when He tells them His miracles speak for themselves.  They say in verse 33, "We are not stoning you for any of these (miracles)," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."  34, Jesus answers, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods?'  If He called them 'gods,' to whom the Word of God came--and the Scripture cannot be broken--what about the one whom the Father set apart as His very own and sent into the world?  Why then do you accuse Me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son?'"

Jesus is referring to Psalm 82.  "God presides in the Great Assembly; He gives judgment among the gods."  Then the passage lists the duties of the "gods:"  defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed; rescue the weak and the needy.  Verse 6, "I said, 'You are gods' you are all sons of the Most High."

Here we see God is to be our Over-King (God presides in the Great Assembly) and we are to rule and reign here on earth as little "g" gods of the earth, having dominion over the earth and everything within it, Genesis 1:28.  Created in the Image of God, we're god class beings.  We've been given language, music, art, math and many other god-like qualities and abilities, including to men the power to begat living souls.  

For the purposes of our discussion, language and faith bear prominence.  In Genesis 1:27, "So God created (in Hebrew, "bara"-created from nothing) man in His Own Image, in the Image of God He created him, male and female He created them."  Later we read in Genesis 2:7, "And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath (literally, breaths--into Adam was breathed the breath of life for every human being who would potentially ever be conceived on the planet) of life and man became a living being," or literally, "a speaking spirit."  To be created in God's Image is to be created a "speaking spirit."  In short, from the beginning human beings have been endowed with the ability to speak into reality what they believe.  

You may have seen this principle in action.  Most recently in the United States, the media and the democrat party have received what they have been speaking since George W. Bush was elected president 8 years ago.  They have been saying that our economy is bad, though for most of the 8 years Bush has been in office the economy has largely been very good, and now they have received it.  You may see this all around you where you live also.  If this power still is at work in people who do not believe in God, imagine what power is available to one who does believe in God?  Think of Abraham who received a son when he was a hundred years old and his wife in her nineties.  Jesus plainly tells us, "You shall have what you say."

As Paul tells us, Abraham, like God, believed in something that was not as if it were (that he was a father) and received what he believed to receive.  The same thing Jesus tells us in Mark 10--believe it's a done deal and it will be yours.  These are god-like powers, to apply one's faith, speak it as if it's done and see it happen in the earth.  It's all done by faith, just as Jesus said, "Have the faith of God."  What did God do in Genesis 1?  He spoke things and received them by faith.  "And God said, "Let there be light...."

Not only are we called to live by faith, but if we don't live by faith we cannot please God!  Hebrews 11:6.

Jesus says in Matthew 17:20, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, "Nothing will be impossible for you."

Paul writes in Ephesians 1:17-22, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you might know Him better.  

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of the glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.  

"That power is like the working of His Mighty Strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right Hand in the Heavenly Realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in this present age but also in the one to come.  

"And God placed all things under His Feet and appointed Him to be Head over everything for the church which is His Body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way."  

In other words, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to you.  Everything in the earth is under Jesus' Feet for your sake and mine.  You are a joint-heir with Jesus to everything He owns, you are a son of God even more than those who first read Psalm 82 because you have been washed in Jesus Blood, Galatians 3:26; 4:1-7.  He said you and I could do greater things than even He has done!  

Jesus tells us "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in My Name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.  You may ask Me for anything in My Name and I will do it," John 14:12-14.

There are restrictions to this power.  Aside from the first restriction, "It shall be done according to your faith," Matthew 9:29.  Obviously, if you have doubt or fear, your faith is operating in reverse gear and won't accomplish what you desire.  If you pray to God to heal you from a head cold, but then turn around and announce to your friend, "I'm so sick," you have just that moment canceled what you prayed to receive with the words of your mouth--you have just said, "I'm so sick."  We do this all the time, sometimes without thinking, because we do not place importance on our own words.  A father may turn to his son and say, "You're stupid."  Later, he will be dismayed to discover his son acts stupid, but the fact is, he's only receiving what he spoke and believed in his heart to receive because in that moment when he spoke it, he believed it.  

Jesus says in Mark 10:25, "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him so that your Father in Heaven may forgive your sins."  Therefore, since this command comes immediately after Jesus tells us we can have what we say when we believe it's a done deal--I take it that our receiving is limited by unforgiveness.  Peter mentions a like restriction in I Peter 3:7, "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers."  

James says, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on pleasures," James 4:3.  James also says, "Do not merely listen to the Word...do what it says," James 1:22.  The more Christ-like you are, the more you walk in love, the more you live by faith, the greater your abilities in Christ.

Mark 9:21-24, "Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?"  "From childhood," he answered.  "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him.  But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."  ""If you can?"" said Jesus.  "Everything is possible for him who believes."  Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

You said, "I don’t think Jesus means everything because we know that not everything is possible for us even if we believe God is capable of doing it."  It's not enough to believe God is capable.  You can believe God is capable, but also believe that He's not going to do anything for you.  This is exactly what's going on with the man in Mark 9.  He cries, "...help me overcome by unbelief!"  He's been living a life of defeat.  He knows God is capable, but he's not sure God will do anything for him.

Abraham knew God was capable and believed God would do it for him.  The way to increase your faith, regardless of whether it is to simply increase faith or to believe God will do it for you, is to study the Scriptures where God promises what you are wanting.  Memorize them.  Read them aloud and read them often.  Tape them on your mirror where you can read them aloud every morning while you shave or brush your teeth.  Tape them on your briefcase, on your car's steering wheel, on the inside of your door so you can see it as you leave the house.  Remember, Jesus said in Mark 11, my paraphrase, "You shall have what you say."  Start by saying it aloud.  In this way you train your spirit man in faith--"faith comes by hearing," Romans 10:17--and you train your mind to get in agreement with God's Word.  This is how God will end your unbelief.

Psalm 103, "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His Holy Name.  Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.  He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases; He redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion.  He satisfies my desires with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's..."

Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires (and secret petitions) of your heart."  To receive this promise you must first "delight yourself in the Lord."

I Peter 2:24, "He Himself bore our sins in His Body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed."  This one explains we must die to sin and that by Jesus wounds on the cross we have already been healed--all that remains is for us to receive that healing by faith.  As Paul says in Romans 10:9 & 10, "...if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."  It's that same thing Jesus said again, "You shall have what you say."

"And my God shall supply your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus," Philippians 4:19.  Here's the restriction on that one, "Remember this:  Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver...You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion..." II Corinthians 9:6,7 & 11.

What are your needs?  There is a promise from God to supply your every need.  

Jesus expects us to believe God; He expects us to believe God will do what He says He will do for us--you and me; He expects us to believe it to the point that like Abraham we believe despite all the physical evidence to the contrary.  He expects us to speak only what we are believing to receive, to walk in Love and do the works Jesus did while He was here in the earth.

Lenin, I tell you these things as one who had applied them and seen them work and as one who has fought doubt and seen the results.  Several years ago, after I left my abusive husband, I was living with my brother.  I only had a few hundred dollars a month in income.  I paid my tithe and God managed to make that small amount of money do everything I needed for my four children and me.  I asked Him for a metallic red mini-van, I spoke and and believed I'd received it even though there was no way at the time I spoke and believed that I could possibly obtain a red mini-van.  

A few years later, my new husband said, "It's time to purchase a new vehicle."  We arrived at the car dealership.  We wanted a Suburban because a Suburban is essentially an enclosed pick-up truck, a person can haul a trailer with it and it can come with 4-wheel drive, plus we could fit our entire family in it--a family now of six children, me and my husband.  We have a farm, so being able to tow a trailer and get through the mud was important.  The dealer had only one new Suburban on the lot, a "deep copper red."  My husband asked about the next year's model.  The dealer explained that if we ordered the next year's model it would not only cost more, but wouldn't be nearly as nice as the one he had on the lot--the new model wouldn't have leather seats or a CD player.  So, we purchased the one he had on the lot.  

It wasn't until I parked the new Suburban in the carport at home that my daughter turned to me and said, "Mom, you got your metallic red mini-van, only this is much nicer!"  I'd completely forgotten my prayer.  I'd prayed it, believed God to give it to me, but He'd never forgotten it!  It's the most fabulous red metallic mini-van, we still have it though it's now almost 10 years old and has over 300,000 miles on it.  It's still a wonderful vehicle.  How could it not be when it was a gift from the Lord.

The Lord has answered many, many other prayers, prayers for healing, prayers for the rain to avoid my husband's cut alfalfa crop, prayers for financial blessing...

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," Philippians 4:13.  You and I can do very little on our own, but through Christ, nothing is impossible for us--nothing.  Sometimes God may say "no" in answer to a prayer, perhaps He sees a better way or perhaps we ask with wrong motive, but we must not falter in our faith.  He is a Good God and desires to bless us, just like a father with candy in his pockets delights when his child climbs into his lap and searches for the treats.  This same father may, on occasion, tell his child, "no," but it will be because he desires what is best for his child, not because he is stingy or mean.  Thus it is with us and our Heavenly Father.

I hope this answers your question.  

Sincerely, Marilyn

At this site you can watch TV programs on faith or download them to watch later or to MP3.  I recommend you choose ones pertaining to faith and building faith:  http://www.kcm.org/media/index.php?p=media

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Marilyn,

After sending my question, I got involved in ISO Certification process for the company I'm working for which caused delay in sending my thoughts on your reply.  (I'm from India and now work in Saudi Arabia).

I appreciate that you started from the right point to answer my question.  It's really a wonderful reading for me.  I learned many other things as well re. faith.  

You seem to say that everything is possible for us if we believe God can & will do it for us.  But what if it was not God's will?  In your case, you asked for a van which you received.  This shows that God was capable of answering your prayer and that your getting the van was in His will.

I also see that you quote James 4:3 which says we will not get what we ask if we have wrong motives.  The man in question asked God to heal his son and the prayer was answered which means his motive was good.  So every person who asks God for healing is asking with good motive.  But I do not think healing every sickness in the world (while one is still alive) is the will of God.

So I am back to the question to the meaning of the word “everything”.  I am still not sure if everything is possible for me even if I believe God is capable of doing it AND that He is going to do it.  I would appreciate your further thoughts on this.

Sincerely,
Lenin

Answer
Hello Lenin;

Everything is possible according to God's Will, not everything according to our will:

"This is the assurance we have in approaching God:  that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we have asked of Him," I John 5:14 & 15, New International Version.

"And this is the confidence--the assurance, the [privilege of] boldness--which we have in Him:  [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan) He listens AND hears us.  And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the request made of Him," I John 5:14 & 15, Amplified Bible.

"My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he's listening. And if we're confident that he's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours," The Message.

Since God is very good and very wise, why would we want anything that isn't according to His Will?  I don't know, but we often do.  The enemy would like to paint God as stingy and selfish.  This is a tactic he used against Eve in the Garden of Eden.  First he implies God is a stingy liar, "Did God REALLY say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'"  Later he says, "You will not surely die.  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God...," Genesis 3:4 & 5.  So, this idea that somehow God is stingy, mean, vindictive etc. is very, very old.

When Adam sinned some of satan's sin nature entered his spirit man and into the breaths of God he carried in his sperm.  We Christians try to fight our tendencies toward that pride and unbelief that entered into us before we were even conceived, but it's not an easy fight.  We still struggle with wrong concepts of who God is, what He finds important and what He wants.

So, when we say, "according to God's will," we often picture austere surroundings bordering on impoverishment, poor health and no free time for outings or board games or movies--just drudgery.  Sometimes we picture a martyr's life of imprisonment and torture as "God's Will."  We sometimes picture going to church as drudgery and torture, maybe it is.  But if it is, it's not because of God, it's because humans are conducting the worship service.  Humans are the ones who get stuck in traditions and rituals easy to do, but lacking life and input from the Holy Spirit.

So, everything according to God's will is possible for you and me by faith.  God's will includes healing, but sometimes the greatest healing is to go to Heaven.  A preacher I listened to once said, "I'm going to believe God for my healing even if I have to go to Heaven to get it."  If you can find something promised in the Bible, it's yours, all you need to do is ask for it aloud, apply your faith to receive it then give thanks for it even before it shows up in this material realm.  

More on living by faith:

In II Kings, II Chronicles 32 and Isaiah 36 is the story of Hezekiah a king of Israel.  Isaiah pays an ailing Hezekiah a visit.  He says, "This is what the Lord says:  Put your house in order, because you will die; you will not recover."

"Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in Your Eyes."  And Hezekiah wept bitterly.  

"Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the Word of the Lord came to him:  "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people.  'This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says:  I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you..." II Kings 20:1-5.  He goes on to say tell him I'll grant him fifteen more years.

Here's an example of Hezekiah's faith bringing him back from the brink of death.  Now the question is:  Did God change His Mind or was He open to either outcome--Hezekiah accepting his fate quietly and dying or Hezekiah using his faith to ask for healing?  The Bible clearly says "God is not a man that He should change His Mind," I Samuel 15:29.  

I think God wanted Hezekiah to do something about his fate, that's why He sent Isaiah to warn him.  Maybe Hezekiah had been kind of lulling in a funk and a depression, not really working his faith until Isaiah showed up and made him snap out of it.  Living by faith requires boldness on our parts, to take an active part in our lives and not live passively saying, "Well, whatever happens, it's God's will."

Here's another example of boldness:

In Exodus 32 Moses has been on the mountain top with God for 40 days and the whining, undisciplined, short of memory Israelites demand Aaron give them a god.  They said, "Come make us gods who will go before us.  As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."  Aaron takes their gold and makes a calf.  They bring it burnt offerings and worship it.

Meanwhile, up on the mountaintop, God says to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom YOU (my emphasis) brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.  They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf...I have seen these people and they are a stiff-necked people.  Now leave me alone so that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them.  Than I will make you a great nation."

But Moses holds God to His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  He says, why give the Egyptians the satisfaction.  They'll say you're a mean, evil God who strips people away from what they know and understand only to kill them out in the desert.  Your reputation is on the line here.  Moses goes on, he says, not only that "remember your servant Abraham, Isaac and Israel (God changed Jacob's name to Israel), to whom You swore by Your Own Self:  'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky...'"  Then the Lord relented.

"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind.  Does He speak and then not act?  Does He promise and not fulfill?"  Numbers 23:19.

This seems to indicate God changed His Mind, but I don't think He changed His Mind.  Actually, this is a funny story, well, except for the Israelites being so stupid.  I can see myself as a parent doing something similar--making a threat to see if my kids will remember a promise I made and stand up to me and demand I keep it, then backing down, smiling to myself the whole time.

For us this story makes the point--you are a child of God, be bold!  Don't be afraid to ask of God, demand He keep His promises to you; remind Him His reputation is on the line.  

Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires (and secret petitions, Amplified Bible) of your heart," New International Version.  This is a wide open promise--does it apply to a new car or house?

The precondition of this promise is that we must delight ourselves in the Lord, then we can have the desires of our hearts.  If you are delighting yourself in the Lord, you are spending time in praise and worship.  Praise and worship corrects mal-adjustments of position.  When we praise and worship God, we place Him in Kingship over us and our hearts are aligned with His in proper order.  Thus, I wouldn't say it impossible, because there may be the theoretical possibility we might have a wrong desire, but I would say it's extremely unlikely that after delighting ourselves in the Lord that any desires left in our hearts will be sinful.  So, delight yourself in the Lord and then make free to ask aloud for whatever is in your heart and believe you've received it as Jesus taught: you shall have what you say.

Jesus' teaching on the matter is similar to this promise:  "Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and all these things will be given to you," Matthew 6:33.  In other words, put God first in everything.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up," Deuteronomy 6:5-7.  In this way we raise children who walk in faith and are wise.

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go," Joshua 1:8 & 9.  

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for Me and the Gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life," Mark 10:29 & 30.

Notice, that while Jesus promises a hundred-fold increase, He makes it clear we will not be spared persecutions.  God will prosper us, heal us, bless us, but He will not spare us persecutions for being His, preaching His Word, testifying about Him, living for Him etc.  If we are dynamic people of God, we should expect persecution.  Jesus suffered much to pay for our sins, we should gladly suffer for His Name.  Persecution is part of the Christian territory and has nothing to do with God's prospering us, healing us etc.

"This is how God showed His Love among us:  He sent His One and Only Son into the world that we might live through Him.  This is Love; not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins...If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is Love...There is no fear in Love.  But perfect Love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The man who fears is not made perfect in Love," I John 4:9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 18.

We can approach God boldly because though we "fear" Him in the sense we reverence Him and esteem Him and respect Him, we are not afraid of Him because He's not mad at us--not even when we make mistakes.

We are promised, "...we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose," Romans 8:28.  

Every human being has been "called according to His purpose."  He desires to save everyone, it is not His will that any should perish, II Peter 3:9.  Thus, God works even our mistakes around for our good in the end.  We can be assured that each of us is called and loved, all we must do to become a child of God is say, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in our hearts Jesus was raised from the dead, Romans 10:9 & 10.

Putting God first and seeking His Kingdom first is how Jesus becomes Lord.  It's a process that goes on our entire lives, few of us have Jesus as Lord over every aspect of our beings and over everything we do, but that is the goal.  The more Christ-like we become, the more we see we still have a long way to go.  But it's good to know, God doesn't withhold blessings from us if we are imperfect because receiving from God doesn't require our perfection, it requires Jesus' perfection and our faith.  We become children of God through Jesus, we are IN HIM, hence our righteousness and standing with God are equal to His because we are IN Him. Once we are IN HIM, it's up to us--how much faith will we exercise to receive from God--that's the question.  If we do make a mistake, do something wrong--run to God, He'll show us where we got off course and He'll turn it to good.  Therefore, we should feel ourselves free to be bold and approach Him the way a small boy approaches his Daddy when he gets home from work--rush up to God, love on Him and search His pockets for treats, then love on Him some more.

We must trust that God is Good and is doing what's best even when it seems to us that maybe He's ignoring us.

I read a testimony once of a couple who gave birth to a child with a birth defect.  I don't remember now what the problem was, but the defect required they seek medical help.  Their church family fell into judging them, saying, "You must have sin in your life since God hasn't healed your child."  Of course, they were dismayed and hurt, but they struggled on.  While they were at the hospital week after week they had opportunity to speak to families who didn't know the Lord whose children were also in the hospital.  Suddenly, one day, it occurred to them, that God had given them this child for a purpose and that purpose was to bring His Light into that dark hospital where so many were suffering.  Their child eventually died, but the death was not a grievous thing because the child had been a delight to know and had served his purpose in the earth for God's glory.  The child was healed, though he had to go to Heaven to get it.  In everything we must trust God, even when He seems to say, "No."  

During my second marriage one time my husband was out of work and our car was broken down with no money to repair it.  He complained that he needed a job within walking distance.  I started asking God for just such a job.  Soon afterward I noticed that the newspaper delivery man would stop at our house and stand there staring at it.  This went on for days and days.  Finally, he came to the door and said, "The Lord told me that there is a man here who needs a job within walking distance.  I have the contract to paint the apartments down the street.  They don't want the ceilings painted, just the walls."  I was delighted, praising God, but the demon of pride reared up in my husband and he said, "No thanks."  That poor man was devastated. He thought surely he had done exactly what God had commanded--AND HE HAD!

I remember that when I do something I thought was God's will and it doesn't work out as I had envisioned. But the Lord answered my faith once again.  He sent a stranger to our house with the exact thing I requested.  Since I turned back to the Lord, my whole life is a series of stories of how God has answered my faith, shepherded me when I was weak and lacking in faith, strengthened me and lifted me up again, patient with me when I failed and turned my mistakes to good things in the end.

Could Hezekiah deliver himself from death?  No, but He believed God could and would and received his life back.  Could Abraham and Sarah conceive a child in their 90's?  No, but they believed God could and would.  Moses stood before an angry God who had just been abandoned for a golden calf made from the gold He'd provided.  Moses boldly held God to keep His promises.  These are our faith heroes who show us the way to walk by faith.

One more thought.  In Daniel 10 Daniel begins a fast and starts praying for answers.  By the 24th day he's weak with hunger.  He's standing beside the Tigris River and a man dressed in linen wearing a belt of gold around his waist shows up.  He's glowing like lightning and his eyes flame like torches.  He says, "Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.  But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days.  Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.  Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future...," verses 12-14.

Spiritual forces are in battle around us constantly.  Angels must do battle with the devil's forces, in Daniel's case the "prince of the Persian kingdom," in order to answer our prayers.  We must not give up even though it takes time for God to work.  We must have faith that He is working on answering our prayers.  Abraham believed God for, I think, ten years.  Just as in Daniel's case, it is our case also, continued application of faith will bring results.  

Jesus said, "This is what the Kingdom of God is like.  A man scatters seed on the ground.  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, through he does not know how.  All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.  As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come," Mark 4:26-29.  

In other words, your faith, your witness, your testimony, your study in the Word--everything respecting your Christian walk--it's like a seed, it takes time to grow, to sprout to produce fruit.  But just as the seed will produce a plant and the appropriate crop given the right conditions, so your faith will produce its crop according to the promise you've claimed and given you meet the conditions.  These are laws, one is a law of nature, the other is a law of faith.  The Laws God writes, whether they be laws of nature or laws of faith, will function no matter what.

If we are givers, we'll have more to give. Remember what Paul said in II Corinthians 9:6, "Whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously."  When we live on God's economy, we are no longer dependent on the world economy.  It's God's will to supply our needs according to His riches in glory, Philippians 4:19, not according to the world's ability.  But the precondition is that we must first give.  In the Old Testament Abraham established the precedent of giving one tenth of all he had to God and that has become what is called the "tithe."  In Malachi God challenges believers to give their tithe and see if He won't open the flood gates of Heaven.  If we have financial needs, make sure we're not blowing our money on foolishness, then give our tithe, then our offerings as God presses on our hearts to give.  Next, we can fearlessly challenge God to keep His Word and open those flood gates, just as Moses fearlessly challenged God to keep His promises to the Hebrew Patriarchs.

It's a temptation to think that because we don't "feel" full of faith that we don't have any.  Here's what's going on.  We are born spiritually retarded, our spirit man is as good as dead.  We live by the desires of our mind, will and emotions, which compose the soul and by the desires of our bodies.  When we receive Jesus as Lord, our spirit man is brought to life, it's as if he were raised from the dead--Jesus calls this being "born again," John 3.  What happens next is our spirit man has no experience in how to run things.  Often the body and soul end up running things and we end up feeling lousy because nothing is going the way our spirit man thought it ought to go now that he's been reborn.  The spirit man must be trained to become the leader.  We do this by Bible study and by quoting Scripture aloud to ourselves, Romans 10:17.  As we quote Scripture aloud to ourselves, listen to anointed preachers and study the Word, our spirit man begins to get some strength.  We may then try to pray for something.  Naturally, the body, who says, "I won't believe anything until I see it," and the soul who says, "That's just not humanly possible," start in with their chatter.  They don't like things they don't understand and now they feel bad.  We may be confused because we think since we feel so befuddled etc. that we don't have faith, but this is not the case--Jesus said, "You shall have what you say" when you believe it in your heart.  Your heart is where your spirit man resides--he's the one with the faith and he believes!  The answer is to keep on quoting the pertinent Scriptures aloud, keep on feeding on the Word and praising God and eventually your body and soul will become more compliant because the spirit man will be in charge.  

When God created us, our spirit man was supposed to be in charge.  The spirit is the part of us that can connect with God.  We were designed to be connected to God and rule in this material realm as little "g" gods.  When our spirits are effectively dead, our souls and bodies rule according to their sinful desires.  Accepting Jesus as Lord just puts us back into our original state--connected to God and now rulers of our corner of the universe.  And just like a mayor of a city or a city commissioner or governor or prime minister, we don't rule very well unless we've been trained and have a firm understanding of right and wrong.  Hence, we must feed on God's Word, read it aloud to ourselves and praise Him so we will obtain the training and power we need to live by faith.

Don't confuse your feelings with faith.  Faith is not a feeling but a force at your command that works in conjunction with God's Word to make things happen in the earth.  "The Righteous shall live by faith," Romans 1:17, therefore it is God's will for you to exercise your faith--get out there, be bold and do it.  If you make a mistake, run to God, He will help you see where you went wrong and then make it work out for your good in the end.

I have spent most of three days on this response around my other duties.  If I remember correctly, I only included one personal story in this answer.  I have been in a spiritual battle for over 5 years and writing this answer has been beneficial to me to help me remember how God has answered my faith in the past to encourage me now.  If you need more on this topic, please write again because it's also good for me.

Sincerely,

Marilyn