Is It Right for Christians to Name and Claim Things in Faith?

Sometimes you will hear Christians speak approvingly of using a principle of ‘Name it and claim it’ when praying for things. They say that it is good Christian practice often to name something before God in prayer and claim the answer in faith.

It is also quite common to hear Christians speak disapprovingly of naming and claiming things in faith. They say that Christian prayer should not be like this and that it encourages believers to selfishly treat God like some sort of vending machine.

So who has got this right? Should we name and claim things in faith or shouldn’t we?

I would suggest that the principle of naming things before God and claiming them in faith is a good and biblical one, although it is important not to misunderstand this kind of prayer and to see its limitations.

Actually, although the principle of naming and claiming is a good one, because the precise label ‘Name it and claim it’ tends to be connected quite closely to the mistaken teaching that is known as the ‘Prosperity Gospel’, I think we do better to avoid using this label itself. But the basic principle is a good one generally as far as prayer is concerned.

Mark 11:24

An important verse on this topic is Mark 11:24, where Jesus teaches:

‘Whatever things you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and they will be yours.’

Here Jesus commands His followers to claim things in faith when praying. He is encouraging us to go boldly to God and say, ‘Lord, I ask You to do x, y and z, and I believe that You are going to do them.’

Jesus actually uses a past tense – ‘you have received’ – instead of a future – ‘you will receive’ – but the idea is that the person praying is so confident of receiving the answer in the future that it is as if they have already received it.

Although, as I have said, we do better to avoid the label ‘Name it and claim it’, Jesus is clearly encouraging us in this verse to treat prayer in this sort of way.

This only applies to things that are the will of God

It is interesting to note that although Mark 11:24 mentions the condition of believing/faith for a prayer to be answered, nothing is said about the condition of asking for something that is the will of God.

Importantly, however, language generally, as well as biblical language, often expects the reader to understand unexpressed conditions that are treated as obvious. And it should be obvious that Jesus means us to understand that this promise of God answering our prayers asked in faith only applies to prayers that are for things that are the will of God. If something isn’t the will of God, Jesus’ words certainly don’t apply.

So, for example, suppose that a certain Christian is somehow deceived into believing sincerely that God wants to give him a red Ferrari, although this is not the will of God at all. So he prays for this, genuinely expecting to receive it.

Will God give it to him? Absolutely not! Jesus’ words in this verse are in no way saying that God is somehow obligated to answer a prayer that is against His will, just because a Christian happens to wrongly think that it is His will.

Mistakes of those who approve of naming and claiming

There is no doubt that some Christians who say they approve of naming and claiming things in faith do try to abuse this principle for selfish gain. They have failed to understand that the approach to prayer outlined in passages like Mark 11:24 is essentially not about getting God to give us things we like (although that will happen sometimes) but about being involved in God’s work of building His church.

It isn’t that Christians are supposed to call the shots and get God to fit in with our prayers. Rather, we are supposed to claim things in faith that glorify God and advance His work in the world. It should be all about Him, not us.

Mistakes of those who disapprove of naming and claiming

On the other side, some Christians who say they disapprove of naming and claiming things in faith seem to throw the baby out with the bath water.

By all means, let us avoid the approach of those who want to abuse prayer for selfish gain. But let us be crystal clear too that the Bible contains passages like Mark 11:24 that teach us to name and claim things in faith, even if we avoid that exact label.

Here is the verse again:

‘Whatever things you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and they will be yours.’

Note how this verse contains not just a suggestion for how we should pray but a command. And there is not the slightest doubt that this command applies just as much to Christians living today as it did in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. It’s not optional for us to do this. It is the way that the Lord Himself has instructed us to pray.

 

See also:

Every Christian Should Be a Prayer Information Hub

Getting the Balance between Expecting Too Little and Too Much from Prayer

Christians Need to Put Everything to the Test

Fighting Tooth and Nail to Interpret the Bible Honestly

Lord, What Do You Want Me to Do Right Now?

According to the Bible, the normal Christian life is a radical one of extreme and wholehearted commitment to Jesus as Lord. It is about using 24 hours of every day to do the will of God to the best of our ability, and then doing the same the next day, and so on.

In 2 Corinthians 5:15, for example, the apostle Paul states: 

“And He [Jesus] died for everyone, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for the One who died and rose for them.” 

The vast majority of people channel all or almost all of their energy into living for themselves and their families. In this verse Paul doesn’t just say that Christians should put some effort into living for Jesus as well as living for ourselves. He says that we should live for Jesus instead of living for ourselves! This is totally radical.

A simple habit

As we seek to live our lives for Christ, there is a simple habit that I think it is useful to try to get into. This is to frequently ask Him, “Lord, what do you want me to do right now?” and then to listen for His response to the best of our ability.

Most of us probably find that in many little ways each day we can unconsciously drift away from doing the will of God. For example, it is very easy to stay chatting to someone longer than we should. Or we might put off till tomorrow a small task that we should do today, without really thinking matters through.

I find that if I stop to ask the Lord what He wants me to do at that point in time, things often come back into focus and any drifting ceases.

When I ask God this, I usually take just a few seconds over it. But sometimes I spend a little longer and pray in this sort of way: 

“Lord, this is where I have reached in the course of living my life today. All my previous decisions in the last few hours have brought me to this point. I’m sorry for the bits and pieces that I’ve got wrong during that time. But I want to do Your will better from this point on. So where do you want me to go from here? What do you actually want me to do right now? What is Your absolute highest will for my life at this point in time? Show me and cause me to do it.” 

I find prayers like this to be very useful in helping me to walk in the will of God.

I am not saying that asking the Lord what He wants me to do next means that I always know the answer. Far from it. Life in this world, even for devout Christians, contains far too many uncertainties for that. But I do find that if I stop to ask God what He wants me to do at that point in the day, some small thing that I am getting wrong often comes into view and then I can make an adjustment.

Consider doing the same

Because I find this a helpful practice, I would like to encourage Christians who read this article to consider doing likewise. I would be surprised if you don’t soon find that it is good habit to get into.

See also:

Getting into the Habit of Doing Everything with Jesus

The Radical Nature of the Normal Christian Life

The Importance of Taking Steps to Avoid Temptation

Learning to Discern the Attacks of Evil Spirits

Getting the Balance between Expecting Too Little and Too Much from Prayer

One of the big battles in the Christian life is about trying to get the right balance on things. If we are not careful, we can easily get something out of proportion and end up with an extreme view. 

One way in which we should try to find a good balance is between expecting too little and too much from praying for things. Very often Christians can be found going too far one way or the other in this area. And this can cause problems. 

The importance of claiming things in faith 

In Mark 11:24 Jesus teaches: 

‘Whatever things you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and they will be yours.’ 

Here Jesus commands His followers to claim things in faith when praying. He is encouraging us to hold nothing back but to go boldly to God and say, ‘Lord, I ask You to do x, y and z, and I believe that You are going to do them.’ 

Similarly, in John 14:12-14 Jesus tells us: 

‘Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes in Me, the deeds that I do, he will do also, and he will do even greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in My name, I will do it, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me for anything in My name, I will do it.’ 

In this passage the Lord tells us to expect that we will do the deeds that He did, which surely includes His miracles. In faith we should therefore be expecting things that are far beyond what is possible in the natural realm. 

We see a great example of a bold, expectant prayer of this kind in Acts 4:24-30: 

‘And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said: 

Oh Lord, You are the one who made heaven, earth, the sea and all that is in them . . . And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and enable your slaves to speak Your word with all boldness, while you stretch out Your hand to heal, and while signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.’ 

Then verse 31 tells us: 

‘And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.’ 

What a fantastic prayer! And what an effective one! Christians today should often be praying prayers like this one. 

It is wrong not even to try 

Sadly, there are many Christians who make little effort to boldly claim things in faith in this way.

For example, it always grieves me when a Christian is diagnosed with an illness and they don’t seem to even contemplate that God might heal them of it. All their thinking revolves around what doctors are able to do for them. If there is treatment available through medical professionals, then they hope to recover their health. However, if there is no treatment available, they just assume that they will remain ill. 

This attitude is really wrong, sinfully wrong, because it is so full of unbelief. The Bible contains many examples of God supernaturally healing people. And many Christians will testify that He does so today too. We need to be people who do what Jesus tells us to do in the passages I cited above. We must claim things in faith as we pray earnestly to God, for healing and in many other areas too. 

We should expect some failures 

Just as there are many Christians who fail to make the effort to claim things in faith as they should, there are also some who go to the other extreme. These believers seem to think that attempts to have faith for things in prayer should always be successful. They expect victory at every turn. 

When we look in the Bible, however, this is simply not what we find. It is of course true that Scripture contains numerous examples of God’s people successfully praying for things. But there are failures too. The New Testament makes it clear that even devout Christians in the early church sometimes failed to achieve valuable goals, apparently without any clear fault on their part. 

Of course, Christians can sometimes fail to achieve something because they are refusing to repent of a sin. But this is not what I am talking about here. I am thinking of failures to receive what is claimed in faith, even though there seems to be no sin involved. And there are examples of this in Scripture. 

For instance, note the remarkable words of the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2:17-18, where he tells the church in Thessalonica: 

‘But as for us, brothers, after we had been made orphans by being separated from you for a short time (physically but not in heart), in our great desire to see you face to face we made every effort to do so. For we wanted to come to you (certainly I, Paul, did more than once), but Satan prevented us.’ 

Paul was a very devout and strong Christian leader. But this passage is telling us that on at least two occasions when he wanted to go to Thessalonica to minister to the church there, Satan stopped him. 

Paul doubtless prayed fervently that he would be able to visit the Thessalonians. And his words strongly imply that it was God’s will for him to go. But his prayers were not answered. And there is no suggestion in the passage that this was because of any wrongdoing on Paul’s part. 

We can think too of Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem and following imprisonment in Caesarea, referred to in Acts 22:22-26:32. If the most natural interpretation of the Greek text of Acts 24:27 is the correct one, then this verse tells us that his imprisonment lasted for 2 years. 

But this is far from what Paul had planned. As Romans 15:22-32 makes clear, he had hoped to go to Jerusalem for a short visit, and then to travel to Rome on his way to Spain. 

Paul had even specifically asked the church in Rome to pray that he would be protected from non-Christian Jews in Judea (Rom 15:30-31). But this prayer seems to have been only partially answered. He was protected from being killed but not from being imprisoned. 

Of course, God will have worked good through Paul even while he was in prison. But it does seem likely that he was imprisoned for longer than God wanted. And we should probably describe his imprisonment in Caesarea as an example of where he tried to pray for something in faith but was unsuccessful. And again, there is no good reason to think that he was particularly to blame for the failure. 

The problem of unrealistically high expectations 

It is very important that we don’t ignore or explain away biblical passages where we read of devout Christian people experiencing setbacks or failures. I think many Christian leaders downplay these passages because they want to foster an attitude of faith in their flocks. They think that if they start pointing out passages like the ones I have just referred to, they will be discouraging God’s people from claiming things in faith. 

To a large extent this is understandable. But those who think in this way are missing one crucial point. They are failing to appreciate the huge discouragement that Christians can experience when they have unrealistically high expectations that are not fulfilled. 

Something along the following lines sometimes happens: 

Young Christians are taught to expect that the normal, obedient Christian life should involve constant victories when claiming things in faith. They are not aware that this is unrealistic and contradicts the Bible. Although they try hard, they have some failures. They then become convinced that they are hopeless Christians. And they become very discouraged and disillusioned as a result. 

I think that if Christians are taught that it is normal to experience some failures when trying to claim things in faith, paradoxically this will actually mean that they gain more victories in the long run. They will be far less discouraged when they fail, and much more enthusiastic for the next fight. 

A final word 

When we study the Bible, it is so important for us not to concentrate on some parts at the expense of others. Individual passages on a topic often give only part of the whole picture, and we need to let the whole voice of Scripture speak. 

The Bible clearly teaches us to expect great and supernatural things from God as we claim them in faith. And it just as clearly leads us to expect that we will not always be successful when we try this. Ignoring or minimising one or the other of these things is either going to lead to stale and dead unbelief or to discouragement and disillusionment. We must all try to get the right balance on this, especially church leaders as they guide their flocks. 

 

See also: 

Every Christian Should Be a Prayer Information Hub 

God Wants to Use Christians in Miracle Work Today 

Taking Heart from the Apostle Paul’s Experiences of Setbacks and Failed Plans 

Trusting God When We Are Not Sure What to Do

Every Christian Should Be a Prayer Information Hub

Prayer works.  It must do or the Bible wouldn’t be full of commands to pray.  Besides, anyone who has been a Christian for any length of time will testify to its effectiveness.

General prayers for people and things are useful, of course.  But specific prayers are also very important.

Biblical examples of prayer requests

There are a number of places in Scripture where the author tells his readers to pray for himself or for himself and others. 

At times a general request for prayer is made.

In 2 Corinthians 1:11, for example, Paul tells the church in Corinth:

‘. . . as you help us by your prayer for us.  Then many people will give God thanks on our behalf for His grace given to us through the prayers of many.’

And in 1 Thessalonians 5:25 he instructs the Thessalonians:

‘Brothers, pray for us.’

In other passages specific information is given to the readers about how they should pray.

In Romans 15:30-32 Paul tells the church in Rome:

‘30 Now I urge you, brothers, . . . to fight together with me in your prayers to God for me, 31 that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and be refreshed in your company.’

In Ephesians 6:18-20 he tells the Ephesians:

‘18 Pray in the Spirit at all times with every prayer and request.  And with this in view be alert with great endurance in all your requests for all the saints 19 and for me, that I may be given words when I open my mouth, to make known with boldness the secret of the good news, 20 . . .  Pray that I may proclaim it boldly as I should.’

In Colossians 4:2-4 Paul says to the Colossians:

‘2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.  3 At the same time pray for us too, that God would open for us a door for the word, to speak the secret of Christ, for which I am in prison.  4 Pray that I would make it clear in the way I should.’

In 2 Thessalonians 3:1 he says:

‘Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed on and be glorified, just as it was with you.’

And in Hebrews 13:18-19 the author tells his readers:

‘18 Pray for us.  . . .  19 And I especially urge you to do this, so that I may be restored to you more quickly.’

Doing the same

Asking people to pray for us and others is surely something that every Christian should be doing as a matter of habit.  And we should also be taking on board the prayer requests we hear, so that we can pray in an informed way.  We could sum this up by saying that every Christian should be a prayer information hub.

I can’t comment on how well this is put into practice in churches in various parts of the world.  However, in the UK where I live, not many Christians seem to do it very much.

Perhaps there is not enough belief in the effectiveness of prayer.  Or perhaps people are a bit too proud to ask others to help them.  Or maybe Western individualism has a bad influence in this area.  Whatever the reason, it is a problem.

If we believe that God really does answer prayer, however, we should all be making the effort to frequently share prayer requests, both for ourselves and others.  And we should do this without embarrassment or the feeling that anything is out of the ordinary. 

Of course, in some highly personal matters we will often want to limit the number of people we ask to those we trust and know well.  But in other things, the more Christians who know about our situation and are backing us in prayer, the better.

Some concrete examples

Is something coming up in the next week that is out of the ordinary?  Ask people in your church to take it to the Lord in prayer. 

Is there something troubling you?  Ask some trusted Christian friends to pray. 

Have you heard bad news about someone?  Put a post on Facebook asking people to pray, or send a group email.

Or why not consider organising a prayer information board in your church, online as well as hard copy, where people can place requests for others to read?  Or how about including items for prayer on the sheet of paper containing church information that is commonly given to everyone who comes to a Sunday service?

Sharing prayer requests in this way is normal for Christians.  Not to do so is strange and abnormal.

So as to practise what I preach, I would be grateful if those who read this could pray for me that the Christian articles I write will teach truth and not error, and that the people God wants to read them will do so.  Thank you.

See also:

Balancing What We Expect from Prayer