Prayer Book of the Rabbi
One of Jesus' most complicated instructions for prayer comes from a conversation in Mark 11:12-26, where Jesus says,
"Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." - Mark 12:23-24
How do we apply this teaching? Does Jesus mean to imply that every prayer is merely a referendum on the quantity and quality of our faith, and that sufficient faith can accomplish anything we ask? Are we really to pray so boldly that we presume to instruct God on what we want him to do?
Whatever You Ask For in Prayer ...
In this passage in Mark, Jesus begins by cursing a fig tree (seemingly somewhat below the dignity of the Son of God). When the disciples return later and see that the fig tree has wilted, they are shocked; Jesus then uses this as a teachable moment about the power of prayer.
Praying with confidence, as Jesus does at the fig tree, is a critical component of the story of Scripture and especially of the miracles of Jesus. We are enjoined to utilize prayer not merely as a comfort or crutch, but as a springboard for radical trust. This requires us to pray in such a way that God is able to answer - with enough specificity that we are forced to take a risk in our prayers, and with enough clarity that we can tell, without a doubt, whether or not God granted our request.
Jesus does not suggest here that prayer can turn God into a divine vending machine; only that our Father knows how to give us good gifts if we but ask in faith.
This brings up several two critical elements to the practice of prayer. First, we are NOT to believe that prayer is a "faith test"; not all prayers go unanswered because of our lack of faith. Second, prayer cannot become a substitute for action in the midst of a crisis. Rather, we are expected to pray as though we can do nothing, and then live as though we (Christ-in-me) can do everything.
Extras:
The great challenge with this passage is that it stands in opposition to other passages about prayer (for example, next Sunday's prayer from the Garden of Gethsemane - "Not what I will, but what you will").
C.S. Lewis has a marvelous essay on the balancing of these two types of prayers. It's called "Petitionary Prayer: A Problem without an Answer" from his book, Christian Reflections. The book is excellent and well worth a read, but you can download just the essay here as well. This is essential reading for this topic!