Mark 11:22-24 - The Prayer of Faith.
Mark 11:22-24 (NKJV) So Jesus answered and
said to them, "Have faith in God. 23 For
assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does
not doubt in his heart, but believes that those
things he says will be done, he will have whatever
he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever
things you ask when you pray, believe that you
receive them, and you will have them.
INTRODUCTION
Jesus Himself never moved literal mountains,
nor did He intend His followers to contemplate
any necessity of doing so themselves. Jesus here
is speaking of figurative mountains of
difficulty. [SDA Commentary]
There are few spiritual occasions which
demand the removal of a geographical mountain.
Jesus is merely making the point that God in His
omnipotence is able to do anything. [Believes SB]
COMMENTARY PEARL
Your Faith Can Move Mountains
Faith opens the door to miracles. If you
study the Bible and history, youll find that
every time God moves on earth and does a miracle,
its because somebody believes.
Jesus said in Mark 11:22-24, Have
faith in God! If you have faith in God and dont
doubt, you can tell this mountain to get up and
jump into the sea, and it will. Everything you
ask for in prayer will be yours, if you only
have faith (CEV).
Faith can move mountains!
God has set up the universe in a
hierarchy of laws. The law of faith is actually higher
than the laws of nature. Thats where miracles
come in. When someone has faith, the law of faith
goes into practice and can actually do more than
the laws of nature. The law of faith makes
miracles happen.
Does God still perform miracles today? Of
course he does. Every time you stretch your faith,
God does miracles - every single time.
You might think that, of all the places
Jesus went, the people in his hometown would be
most open to him and his power. But Matthew 13:58
says, [Jesus] did not do many miracles there
because of their lack of faith (NIV). Jesus may
have wanted to do the most amazing things there.
But because they were offended, not moved to
faith, they didnt get to see the miracle.
What mountain in your life needs to be
moved? Whats the thing that seems like it can
never change? Maybe God wants your faith to
supersede the laws of nature to move that mountain.
God is in the mountain-moving business.
He has moved them in the past. He is moving
them today all around the world. Do not doubt or
underestimate what he wants to do in your life too.
You might say, I dont see many
miracles in my life. Are you looking with eyes of
fear, or are you looking with eyes of faith?
Let this be the year when you see faith
open the door to miracles. [Daily Devotional by
Rick Warren: https://pastorrick.com/devotional/]
COMMENTARY
Expect a Surprise
A fig tree never flowers. Instead, its
fruit contains tiny flowers inside. These internal
blossoms produce the fig's tiny seeds and fibrous
consistency. This structure means that most figs must be
pollinated by tiny wasps that crawl inside. All in all,
the fig is a surprising fruit!
When Jesus cursed a fig tree, the
disciples must have been surprised. Why would Jesus
curse a tree for not having fruit? It wasn't even
fig season! When they passed the tree later and
saw it withered down to its roots, their
surprise grew. "Rabbi, look!" Peter told Jesus, "The
fig tree which You cursed has withered away"
(Mark 11:21).
Jesus used the disciples' astonishment
for a teaching moment. "Have faith in God," He
instructed them (v. 22). To an infinite Creator God,
nothing is impossible; indeed, God's people should
expect surprising things to happen! In fact, Jesus
told them that even bigger things were possible.
A mountain will even be thrown into the ocean
for a person who "does not doubt in his heart,
but believes that those things he says will be
done" (v. 23).
Then Jesus turned the disciples'
attention to their own prayers with a powerful
promise: "Whatever things you ask when you pray,
believe that you receive them, and you will have
them" There aren't any limits on God's power to
act. Whether your request is big, small, likely,
or surprising, God is able to answer - so
believe that He will!
Do you struggle to believe? Focus your
attention on the evidence of God's power and pray the
doubter's prayer, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief"
(Mark 9:24). God is ready for you to expect His
surprises!
Dear Lord, I believe; please help my
unbelief! [The Most Amazing Bible Promises by Amazing
Facts]
CONDITIONS FOR THE PROMISE
It would seem impossible to move a mountain
into the sea, so Jesus used that picture to say
that God can do anything. God will answer your
prayers, but not as a result of your positive mental
attitude. Other conditions must be met: (1) you must
be a believer; (2) you must not hold a grudge
against another person; (3) you must not pray with
selfish motives; (4) your request must be for the
good of God's kingdom. To pray effectively, you
need faith in God, not faith in the object of
your request. [Life Application SB]
Jesus, our example for prayer, prayed,
"Everything is possible for you. Yet not what I will,
but what you will" (14:36). Our prayers are
often motivated by our own interests and desires.
We like to hear that we can have anything. But
Jesus prayed with 'God's' interests in mind. When
we pray, we should express our desires, but
want his will above ours. Check yourself to see
if your prayers focus on your interests or
God's. [Life Application SB]
Have Faith In God.
Faith is a necessary way of life in the
Kingdom of God. We have to have it in order to
function the way God wants us to. And we always feel
like we need more. But does that mean we try to
muster it up by convincing ourselves of what we
want to believe?
We can certainly do things to persuade
our hearts of truth: dwell on God's promises,
remember His past works, cultivate hope, and so on.
But ultimately, faith is a gift of God
(Ephesians 2:8).We get it from the work of His Spirit
within us. When we cultivate His Presence, we
develop faith. It comes from Him.
Greek scholars from a variety of
theological perspectives suggest that this verse is
better translated "have the faith of God." There
are plenty of places in Scripture that speak of
believing in God - clearly He's the object of our
faith. But it only makes sense that if the Spirit
of Jesus dwells within us, and Jesus lived with
the kind of faith we're supposed to have, then
He imparts faith to us. The more His Presence
is allowed to move us, the more faith we'll
have.
That's the way it is with all fruits of
the Spirit and godly attributes. We don't muster
them up. He has them, and He dwells in us. We get
them by focusing on Him, communing with Him, and
yielding to Him. The more we let Him have His way in
us, the more we have the character and
attributes we need to have. In your quest for greater,
deeper, purer faith, ask for God's. He will give you
the spiritual tenacity to hold on to His
promises regardless of what you see. That's the kind
of faith that can move mountains.
Lord, I need faith. Mine is weak and
wavering, but I do believe. Help my unbelief. Please
give me the faith that comes from Your Spirit.
[The One Year Experiencing Gods Presence
Devotional by Chris Tiegreen]
There is a condition to this promise - that
we pray according to the will of God. But it is
the will of God to cleanse us from sin, to make
us His children, and to enable us to live a
holy life. So we may ask for these blessings, and
believe that we receive them, and thank God that we
have received them. SC51
He makes it plain that our asking must be
according to God's will; we must ask for the things
that He has promised, and whatever we receive
must be used in doing His will. The conditions
met, the promise is unequivocal.
For the pardon of sin, for the Holy
Spirit, for a Christlike temper, for wisdom and
strength to do His work, for any gift He has
promised, we may ask; then we are to believe that we
receive, and return thanks to God that we have
received.
We need look for no outward evidence of
the blessing. The gift is in the promise, and we
may go about our work assured that what God has
promised He is able to perform, and that the gift,
which we already possess, will be realized when we
need it most. ED257,8
We must not only pray in Christ's name, but
by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
COL146-8
Jesus reminds us that we must have faith and
forgiveness when we pray, or God will not answer. [see
next vs regarding forgiveness] [Chapter by
Chapter Bible Commentary by Warren Wiersbe]
Hope and courage are essential to perfect
service for God. These are the fruit of faith.
Despondency is sinful and unreasonable.
God is able and willing "more abundantly"
(Hebrews 6:17) to bestow upon His servants the
strength they need for test and trial. The plans of
the enemies of His work may seem to be well laid
and firmly established, but God can overthrow
the strongest of these. And this He does in His
own time and way, when He sees that the faith of
His servants has been sufficiently tested.
For the disheartened there is a sure
remedy - faith, prayer, work. Faith and activity
will impart assurance and satisfaction that will
increase day by day. PK163,4
When our prayers seem not to be answered,
we are to cling to the promise; for the time of
answering will surely come, and we shall receive the
blessing we need most. But to claim that prayer will
always be answered in the very way and for the
particular thing that we desire, is presumption. God is
too wise to err, and too good to withhold any
good thing from them that walk uprightly.
If we take counsel with our doubts and
fears, or try to solve everything that we cannot
see clearly, before we have faith, perplexities
will only increase and deepen. But if we come to
God, feeling helpless and dependent, as we really
are, and in humble, trusting faith make known our
wants to Him whose knowledge is infinite, who sees
everything in creation, and who governs everything by
His will and word, He can and will attend to our
cry, and will let light shine into our hearts.
SC96,7
Help Is on the Way
I was praying over some prayer requests
when I saw this one: "Dear Lord: Give me the
patience to wait on your timing ... and also please
hurry up!" It was actually comforting to me to
learn that I'm not the only one who sometimes
thinks like this. I constantly have to remind
myself that God is not working on my timetable.
One of the most difficult lessons I've
had to put into practice is "one day at a time."
It seems simple enough, but it's tough. I
recently received an answer to a prayer I've been
praying for more than two years. I came close to
giving up a number of times. Since the prayer
hadn't been answered on my timetable, I figured the
answer was no.
Looking back, I can see that had God
answered in the way I wanted him to, things probably
would not have gone as well. God worked things out
better than I expected. What a surprise! Right? I
know that God always answers my prayers, but I've
learned that his answers can be yes, no, later, or
even greater. His timing is always perfect. My
timing can never be compared to his.
Father, thank you for looking past my
impatience and doing your good work in my life. Thank
you for always answering my prayers. In Jesus'
name, Amen. [Celebrate Recovery Daily Devotional
by John & Johnny Baker]
ILLUSTRATIONS
In college, I was on the tennis team, the
only American among a rowdy group of Australians.
After I became a Christian, I was always looking
for ways to be a positive influence on my
teammates and get them to take God seriously.
Once we were at a tournament and noticed
a high-jump bar set up near the tennis courts.
They started trying to jump and could barely
clear more than three or four feet. So I set the
bar at six feet and said, "If I pray and ask God
to help me clear this and I make it, will you
guys come to church with me and give your lives
to Christ?"
They laughed, thinking there was no way I
could clear such a height, and agreed. I prayed,
they sort of mock-prayed, and I began counting
off my steps. These guys didn't know that in
high school I had been a high jumper! A six-foot
jump was almost automatic for me.
Only this time I didn't clear it. I
almost made it, but at the last second, my trailing
foot slightly clipped the bar.
I didn't understand - why didn't God
answer my prayer? I was pretty sure I could make
the jump, even without God's help. Since then,
many other prayers, including much more important
ones, have also gone unanswered. But I've learned
to trust God's plan even when I can't see what
he's up to. So I pray for him to act, but I
surrender to his will, not mine.
Prayer reminds us we are not in control,
while keeping us close to the one who is.
Lord, today I yield to your will. You
know my needs and concerns, and I trust you to
meet them in your perfect way at the perfect
time. [Daily Power by Craig Groeschel]
A pastor once asked his church to pray
that God would shut down a strip club in their
neighborhood. The whole church gathered for an evening
prayer meeting, pleading with God to rid their
community of the evils of this place. The next week,
lightning struck the club and it burned to the
ground.
Hearing about the church's prayer
crusade, the club owner promptly sued the church.
When the court date arrived, the owner argued
that it was the church members' prayers that
caused him to lose his valuable business. The
pastor dismissed these accusations by admitting
that no one actually believed their prayers would
do any good.
"Let me get this straight," the judge
said. "I've got a strip club owner who believes in
the power of prayer and a pastor who doesn't.'
Sometimes we struggle to grow in our
faith, not because we're not praying but because
we're not believing. Prayer should be like talking
to a close friend with whom you can share your
heart. Even when God doesn't seem to be answering
your prayers the way you want, it doesn't mean he
isn't listening.
God's responsibility is the outcome. Our
responsibility is faithful obedience. Trust him today to
answer your prayers.
Thank you for hearing my prayers, Lord,
and providing for all my needs. Give me patience
when I have to wait on your perfect timing.
[Daily Power by Craig Groeschel]
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY
Mark 11:22-24 - The Prayer of Faith
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2004/20040610-0923.html
Matthew 7:7, 8 - In Prayer We Ask, Seek and
Knock to Receive, Find and Open.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20231113-0908.html
Luke 17:5, 6 - Lord, Show Us How To Increase
Our Faith.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2015/20150415-1101.html
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
https://abible.com/links/
