And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Discussion:
Even the most literal of Bible believers don’t think that if you ask the Lord for a Porsche you’ll get it – even if you ask “in prayer, believing.” We all sense intrinsically that when Jesus says this he is talking about deeper, more meaningful things -- that if we are really in prayerful state, and are really believing, we’ll be thinking about things more important than Porsches.
And that is certainly what Swedenborg offers in the internal sense here. “All things” refers to how the Lord flows into our interiors, bringing enlightenment and order. “Asking” refers to seeking to know what is true and to be inspired to do what is good. “Prayer” is a state in which we open our internal selves to the Lord, and “believing” means we see him as the divine, Jehovah himself in the person of Jesus – and that he knows best what we need. If we’re in that state, open to our greatest spiritual possibilities and open to the leading of the Lord, we will be filled with the desire for what is best for ourselves and others spiritually, and will ask for that. And that’s what the Lord will give us.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia 6674
[3] In the same gospel,
If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. John 14:13, 14.
And elsewhere,
Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give it to you. John 15:16, 17; 16:23, 24.
The real meaning here is not that they were to ask the Father in the Lord's name, but that they were to ask the Lord Himself. For no access lies open to Divine Good, which is the Father, 3704, except through the Lord's Divine Human, as the various Churches also well know. This being so, asking the Lord Himself is a request made in accordance with the truths of faith; and if the request is indeed made in accord with them it is granted, as He Himself also says in the place in John quoted immediately before - If you askanything in My name, I will do it.
AE 325
[8] In Mark:
"Jesus said, All things which ye ask in prayer, believe that ye shall receive them, and then it shall be done unto you. When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any" (xi. 24, 25).
Here, also, in the spiritual sense, by praying, desiring, and asking, is meant the life of love and charity; for to those who are in the life of love and charity, it is given from the Lord what they should ask; therefore they ask nothing but what is good, and that is done unto them; and because faith is also from the Lord, therefore, it is said, "believe that ye shall receive them." And because prayers proceed from the life of charity, and are according to it, therefore, in order that it may be done according to the prayers, it is also said, "when ye stand praying forgive, if ye have ought against any."
AE 815 [10]
In Matthew:
Jesus said unto the disciples, "If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig-tree; but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. Indeed all things whatsoever ye shallask in prayer, believing" in me "ye shall receive" (xxi. 21, 22).
In Luke:
"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, and shall say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it shall obey you" (xvii. 6).
That these things are not to be understood according to the words, is evident from this, that it was said to the disciples, that if they had faith as a grain of mustard seed, they would be able to pluck up mountains and sycamine trees, and cast them into the sea; also that all things whatsoever they asked they should receive; when, nevertheless, it is not of Divine Order that every one should receive whatever he asks, if he only has faith; also that they should pluck up a mountain and a tree from their place, and cast them into the sea. But by faith here is meant faith from the Lord; therefore it is called the faith of God. And those who are in faith from the Lordask for nothing but what conduces to the Lord's kingdom and their own salvation. Other things they do not desire; for they say in their hearts, "Why should we ask for anything that is not of such use?" Wherefore it is not possible to have the faith of God, or faith from the Lord, in asking any thing but what it is granted them from the Lord to ask. Indeed it is impossible for the angels of heaven to desire, and consequently to ask, any thing else; and if they did, they could not possibly believe that they would receive it.
That people who are in the Lord and have the Lord in them possess all the power needed to be able to do whatever they will, the Lord Himself says in John:
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.... If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (John 15:5, 7)
Something similar is said about this power in Matthew 7:7, Mark 11:24, Luke 11:9,10. Indeed, we read in Matthew:
Jesus...said..., "...if you have faith..., ...if you say to this mountain, 'Raise yourself up...cast yourself into the sea,' it will be done. (Indeed,) everything you ask..., believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:21, 22)
This describes the power those people have who are in the Lord. They do not wish for and so do not ask for anything that does not come from the Lord; and whatever they wish for and ask from the Lord, this comes to pass, for the Lord says, "without Me you can do nothing. Abide in Me, and I in you." Such is the power that angels in heaven have, that they have only to wish for something in order to obtain it. But still they wish only for things that may be of useful service, wishing this as though of themselves, but in fact from the Lord.
Verse 17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.
Verse 18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
Verse 19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
Verse 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
Verse 21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
Verse 22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.