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Introduction:
The next day, after cursing the fig tree, Jesus’ disciples pointed out the dead tree.
At that moment, Jesus started to teach the disciples about prayer.
Why prayer?
Please realize that we are in the last week of Jesus’ life.
In a very short time, He will no longer be present with His disciples.
For three years, He provided all that they needed.
And very soon, He will be crucified and will ascend to take His seat at the right hand of the Father.
He will not be present with them.
They will have to access His power by prayer just like the believing generations that will follow them.
Within the Jewish culture, the temple was regarded as the place where prayers were particularly effective.
When one was not in the temple, one should orient oneself toward it in prayer.
In this passage, Jesus indicates that the effectiveness of prayer has nothing to do with the temple and its sacrifices.
So, what makes our prayers effective?
Our prayers will be effective when we come to God in faith (v.
22).
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.
Jesus commanded the disciples to have faith in God.
What does He mean?
But what is faith?
Someone rightly said that “faith is the opposite of doubting.
It is a choice to trust Jesus despite everything to the contrary.
It is to have the confidence in the power and goodness of God.”
I love what William Hendricksen says about faith in his commentary on the book of Mark.
He writes, “Faith is the soul’s window by which God’s love comes pouring in.
The open hand whereby man reaches out to God the giver.
The coupling that links man’s train to God’s engine.
The trunk of salvation’s tree, whose root is grace and whose fruit is good works.
It is the victory that overcomes the world.”
I love what William Hendricksen says about faith in his commentary on the book of Mark.
He writes, “Faith is the soul’s window by which God’s love comes pouring in.
The open hand whereby man reaches out to God the giver.
The coupling that links man’s train to God’s engine.
The trunk of salvation’s tree, whose root is grace and whose fruit is good works.
It is the victory that overcomes the world.”
He goes on to say, this is what faith is:
“The means of Abraham’s justification.
The magnet that drew Moses away from the pleasure of Egypt, so that he sided with God’s afflicted people.
It was faith that caused Moses to obey God and stretch out his hands when commanded.
The force that brought down Jericho’s wall.
The secret that enabled Ruth to make her stirring confession.
The weapon that killed Goliath.
The shield that protected Job in the midst of trial.”
It is faith in God that caused Joshua and Caleb to state in Numbers 14:8, “If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.
Only do not rebel against the Lord and do not be afraid of the people in the land because we will devour them.
Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us.
Do not be afraid of them.”
Faith causes us to see a powerful God and to rely on His power and goodness like Joshua and Caleb.
In my own words, faith is the trust we have in God that moves us to act a certain way.
People listed by Hendricksen had a firm trust in God, and it was seen in their actions.
Faith is trusting in God.
It is accepting God’s word and acting on it.
If a child trusts her dad to catch her when she jumps into the pool, she will jump.
If a man or woman trusts God, they will act upon the very word of God.
Faith is the bedrock of the Christian faith.
The writer of Hebrews wrote in , “And without faith is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
And the writer of Hebrews went on to list people who put their faith in action.
Jesus is commanding His disciples, and us, to be people of faith.
The lack of faith is sin.
The lack of faith will hinder the way we live our lives.
The man or woman who lacks faith in God will not live to please God.
They will not be obedient to God because they do not think that God has their best interest at heart.
In we read, “And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”
Many of us are not seeing God doing what seems to be impossible impossible because of our lack of faith.
If you want to have faith, read the word of God, interact with the gospel centered songs we sing every Sunday, fellowship with your brothers and sisters, and commune with God daily.
I will also encourage you to journal what God is doing in your life.
And your faith in God will grow.
He will become real to you.
Our prayers will be effective when we trust that God is able to do what seems humanly impossible (V.
23-24).
“I tell you the truth, If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.”
The word truly is used more than one hundred times in the New Testament.
It stresses the importance of what Jesus is about to say.
We have to be very careful because some have misused this verse.
Just because we have faith does not mean that God will grant us whatever we ask for.
I do not think that is what Jesus was teaching His disciples.
Jesus was using figurative language to make a point.
I think Jesus was teaching His disciples that no task that is in line with God’s will is impossible to achieve by those who believe and do not doubt.
David was a man who saw God doing what seemed humanly impossible.
He said to Goliath in , “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I will strike you down and cut off your head.”
We see in the life of David, the anticipation that God was going to do what seemed humanly impossible at that time.
But he had faith that it was God’s will that this enemy of the people would be defeated.
When Jesus talks about moving the mountain, He was not talking about a literal mountain.
Realize that He was standing on the Mount of Olives.
He was stating that those who have faith can do what seems humanly impossible because it is possible with God.
He is pointing out to His disciples and also us that God is ready to respond when we pray to Him.
In , the Lord states, “Before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.”
The man who trusts in the goodness and power of God is the man who realizes that with God nothing is impossible.
In the book of Mark, faith always precedes incredible actions of Christ.
In , we see the cleansing of the leper.
In , we see the faith of the paralyzed man on display.
In , we see the faith of the woman who had been sick for many years on display.
In mark 5:36, we see the faith of a father.
In the book of Mark, faith always precede incredible actions of Christ.
In , we see the cleansing of the leper.
In , we see the faith of the paralyzed man on display.
In , we see the faith of the woman who had been sick for many years on display.
In mark 5:36, we see the faith of a father on display.
Our faith is not what causes the seemingly impossible to occur.
It is the object of our faith, which is God, that brings about the seemingly impossible.
“and if he does not doubt...”
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