Doubt Not - Matthew 21:21

Have faith, and doubt not.

This sounds like a sequence. Believe first and then reject the doubts that will try to creep in. Once a promise is received, we must galvanize against the doubts that will surely come. The next verse is also instructive:

All things whatsoever you ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

This does not mean that we can ask for whatever our hearts desire on a whim. We must seek his direction in what to pray for. We may have a pressing need and pray for it, and over the course of praying, our will will become aligned with His.

I don't think we're expected to believe anything until we've ascertained His will. To pray for anything contrary to His will is to try to force His hand. The blessings and answers that He intends to send are the only correct ones, and to expect otherwise would be a lack of faith.

There is a scenario however where the thing we desire is righteous and may only require us to ask before it will be granted. The important part is to always pray with the "thy will be done" attitude.

I have found that in praying always, I try to anticipate when the answer will come. This is hardly, if ever fruitful. Direction usually comes when we're not expecting it.We need to pray that we will recognize it, and have the courage to go through with it when it does come - and it will - because He always answers.