MOUNTAIN MOVING FAITH I
Mountain Moving Faith I
Matthew 21:18-22 (NIV) – Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. The he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked. Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself in to the sea’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant when he spoke these words? Could it be that we as Christians could “move mountains”? According to the Bible, believers can be confident that their prayers will be answered. And Jesus many times lets us know that it was faith and belief that is the key to answered prayer. There are a number of scriptures that help us with having MOUNTAIN MOVING FAITH: In Mark 9:23, Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” and in Luke 11:9, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it will be opened to you. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” Our prayers are more than wishes, hopes or feeble aspirations- but ONLY if we pray with believing, faith filled hearts, we have mountain moving prayers. Whatever mountain stands in your path, whatever obstacle blocks your way, whatever difficulty immobilizes you, the prayer of faith can remove it.
The truth of our confidence is built in God…not by how much we learn about our circumstances but by how much we learn about God. Many times in our lives we just need to get back into the Word and dwell upon the great miracles that God performed and just believe. To make it plain for you, we just need to remember how God brought us through the most difficult times in our lives. We need to remember how God made ways out of no ways.
I don’t know what your mountain, your road block, your obstacle is or what immobilizes you but Jesus said that if we “have faith, and doubt not…you shall say unto this mountain, Be removed, and be cast into the sea:” and “it shall be done”. So, for a moment, stand on God’s word and put this principle in your life…MOUNTAIN MOVING FAITH comes from looking at God, not looking at the mountain. HALLELUJAH SOMEBODY!
We find this principle applied in Matthew 14:22-36, Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and goon ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
You know the story. For days, Jesus had been healing the sick. The crowds began to swell. Jesus had compassion on them and fed them. Yet, Jesus needed some solitude…time alone with the Father. He knew that without prayer and a relationship with the Father he could not continue. Exhausted he went into the mountain to pray. He sent his disciples on ahead. He would meet up with them later. After Jesus had prayed close to 7 hours, the disciples were on the lake and a great storm arose. The boat was tossed. It took great pain to keep it from overturning. There was fear in the heart of the disciples. Yet, as always, Jesus is right on time! Here he comes walking on water. Out in the midst of the storm. Although they notice him, they are fearful. Peter, being the bold one, decides to come to Christ out on the water. For Peter knew that it is better to be with Christ than to stay in the boat. So, he beckons to go to Christ. Jesus says, “Come.” So, Peter steps out onto the water. And, when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” He took his eyes off Christ and placed them on the storm. He was looking at the mountain instead of looking at God. Now, we can’t fault Peter. How many times have we looked at the storm and felt hopeless? How many times have we looked at the mountain and said, “I just can’t do it”? How many times have we said in our heart, “God send someone else I have this handicap that hinders me”? Yet, if we are going to have a heart full of faith we have got to get our eyes off the mountain and on Christ. Christ will not heal until we take our eyes off our sickness and on Christ. Christ will not bring deliverance until we take our eyes off the problem and put them on the deliverer. Whatever roadblock you are facing Jesus says today speak to that mountain and tell it to be gone in the name of Christ, and believe.
Mountains don’t move until we…by faith…step out in obedience and trust in Christ. We must shift our focus from the size of the mountain to the sufficiency of the mountain mover…who is JESUS CHRIST Himself, and by stepping forward in obedience. We see it as young David fought the giant. His focus was not on the size of the giant, who was 9 feet tall. But, the Bible says he ran toward the giant. We need to see our obstacles as what they are, hindrances that need to be removed. God is not like man, He doesn’t lie. We must stand on His word and trust in His promises, knowing that we can speak to the mountains in our lives and they SHALL BE MOVED! We will believe God’s word and know that we will receive whatever we ask for in prayer!
One man said that faith is: Forward Action Inspired Through Him
Forward is the direction of faith
Action is the proof of our faith
Inspired is the motivation of faith
Through is the power of faith. Through God not our self.
Him is the object of our faith
Starting today, Starting right now, we will have MOUNTAIN MOVING FAITH!