Mark 11:20-24
Have you ever needed God to come through in some huge way? Can
you recall the last time you cried out to God for great things? During those
prayer challenges, did you wonder how you could increase your chances of a
positive answer? Well, God responds favorably to our requests when we appeal to
Him in faith. When the five primary conditions for “yes” answers are satisfied,
(right relationship with God; a method including thanksgiving, specific
requests, and persistence; petitions based on God’s promises and respectful of
His will; prayers submitted in the Name of Jesus; and faith,) we will receive
positive answers from the Lord more frequently.
You see the prayer requests we submit to God,
must meet His qualifications for a positive response. Not only must we avoid the hindrances to
prayer, but we must also satisfy the qualification for positive responses. When
our desires and requests meet these conditions, our Father is happy to grant us
our requests. In the Scriptures our Lord has outlined prerequisites for receiving
‘yes’ answers to our pleasure. Be assured that His responses always reflect our
best interests and our eternal welfare.
Not only are a right relationship, method, requests, and
framework required, but the attitude must be right also. Yes, we must have the outlook
of faith as we pray. We must take our Lord's counsel seriously and "have faith in God" (Mk. 11:22). So how do we exercise faith in God as we pray? What steps should we take?
II.
Exercise Mountain Moving Faith (Mk.
11:23)
2.
Instead, he was referring to prayers that we would need to
endlessly pray as we faced mountains of opposition to our gospel message. Our
prayers for the advancement of God’s kingdom would always be answered
positively—in God’s timing when we exercise real faith.
III.
Beware of the Hindrance of Lingering Doubts (Mk. 11:23) “…shall not
doubt in his heart…”
IV.
Participate in Believing Prayer to Receive from God (Mk. 11:24)
We must choose God as the object of faith, exercise mountain
moving faith, beware of the hindrance of doubt, and finally pray fully
expecting God to answer us and honor our faith.
I. Choose God as the Object of Your Faith (Mk. 11:22) “…Have faith in God.”
A.
Avoid the Mistakes Often Associated With Faith And Prayer. Do not merely
believe in yourself. Do NOT place faith
in your faith or even faith in prayer. Do not
waste your time trusting people beyond what is reasonable—they are only human.
B.
Pray Effectively in Faith. This requires "faith in God," not faith in the
object of your request.
1.
If you focus only on your request, you will be left with
nothing if your request is refused.
2.
You
see, faith believes God and is a confident attitude toward Him; a
persuasion that God’s statements are true; and it involves commitment to His
will for your life (Phil. 1:27; 2 Thess. 2:13).
The primary idea is trust and there are many degrees of faith all the
way up to full assurance of faith –being fully
persuaded and absolutely free of doubt (Heb. 10:22).
3.
Faith is the belief that God is real and that God is good.
Faith is not a mystical experience or a midnight vision or a voice in the
forest.… It is a choice to believe that the one who made it all hasn’t left it
all and that he still sends light into the shadows and responds to gestures of
faith.… Faith
is not the belief that God will do what you want. Faith is the belief that God
will do what is right. –Max Lucado
C.
Place your Faith/Trust/Belief/Confidence in the Lord God.
1.
Remember Jesus
Emphasized Faith (Mk. 11:12-14, 20-22).
a. Why was the fig tree both cursed and withered? The
passage emphasizes the power of true faith. No doubt the fig tree represented ‘faithless’
and therefore, ‘fruitless’ Israel, who would soon face the judgment of God. But
there would be no limitations in divine blessings for the disciples living in
faith!
b. The next morning the fig
tree had withered away. Its deadness was now exposed, even as Jesus was about
to expose the deadness of Israel’s religion.
c. Jesus told the disciples the
truth. The true power of religion is not found in buildings or ritual, but in a
personal relationship with God which is expressed in faith. The person who
trusts God completely can move mountains! We are to pray, believing. We can be
sure as we focus our trust in God that we will receive what we ask. —Richards,
Larry
d. Our Lord’s answer to Peter,
on the surface seems totally unrelated to Peter’s question (11:21, 22).
e.
Swete offers the following explanation: “The answer is remarkable; the Lord does not explain the lesson to be
learned from the fate of the tree, but deals with a matter of more immediate
importance to the Twelve, the lesson to be learnt from the prompt
fulfillment of His prayer.”
f.
This was a lesson in faith then!
2.
Choose to Believe God as a Matter of Habit.
a. Jesus also used this miracle to teach us a lesson on faith. The next morning, when the
disciples noticed the dead tree, Jesus said, “Have faith in God,” meaning, “Constantly
be trusting God; live in an attitude of dependence on Him.” –Wiersbe, Warren W.
b. You see, the first step in
prayer must be faith in God. Paul stated this same principle: “But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that
he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”
(Heb. 11:6).
i.
Place unwavering trust in God’s omnipotent power and
unfailing goodness. Faith rests resolutely in an Almighty God of steadfast
kindness (Mk. 5:34).
ii.
God is always ready to respond to obedient believers’
prayers, and we can petition Him knowing that no situation or difficulty is impossible
for Him.
c. If you don’t believe in God, friend, then the skeptic is
certainly correct when he says that prayer is a madman talking to himself.
Having faith in God is the first step.—McGee, Vernon J.
3.
Understand that
Christ’s Constant Faith in God is a Model for Us.
a.
This is just another
instance in the life of our Lord that brings to view His humanity and His
dependence upon God the Holy Spirit, for the words He uttered, the prayers
which He prayed, the miracles He performed, and the life which He lived, was as
the Man Christ Jesus, doing all this in the energy of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord
exercised faith in the cursing of the fig tree. He presses home the lesson
of the necessity of faith to the disciples. —Wuest, Kenneth S.
b.
Prayer is not an emergency measure
that we turn to when we have a problem. Real prayer is a part of our constant
communion with God and worship of God. —The Bible Exposition Commentary
II.
Exercise Mountain Moving Faith (Mk.
11:23)
Not only should we choose God as the object of
our faith, but we must also exercise true faith, which recognizes no limitations on the love and ability of God to respond to our requests.
A.
An Illustration. Jesus was using a figure of
speech (hyperbole) to show that God could help in any situation if we truly
believe without wavering in our confidence in God.
1.
“This mountain,” refers to the Mount of Olives and
represents an immovable obstacle.
2.
“The sea” is the Dead Sea, which is visible
from the Mount of Olives.
3.
The illustration of casting an enormous mountain into the sea
is an extreme example of the absolutely impossible.
B.
An Amplification. God doing the impossible is
precisely the point. Having faith in
God can accomplish the unfeasible, the hopeless, unrealizable, and
unattainable.
1.
Jesus’ point is that in our prayers to God we must believe
without doubting that God can do anything consistent with His character and
will.
2.
Jesus was encouraging faith as the means to remove extreme difficulties.
If we have faith in God, we can
deal with the problem of fruitlessness, and remove mountainous obstacles.
3.
Mountain removed:
When William Carey went to
India, many well educated men would have said to him, "You may just as
well walk up to the Himalaya mountains, and order them to be removed and cast
into the sea." I [William Arthur] would have said, "That is perfectly
true; this Hinduism is as vast and as solid as those mountains; but we have
faith -- not much, yet we have faith as a grain of mustard seed"; and
William Carey said, "I will go up to the mountain."
Lonely and weak he walked up
towards the mountain, which in the eye of man seemed certainly one of the
summits of human things, far above all power to touch or shake it; and with his
own feeble voice he began saying, "Be thou removed! be thou removed!"
And the world looked on and laughed, a well known clergyman, looking down from
his high place in the Edinburgh Review, was much amused with the spectacle of
that poor man down in Bengal, thinking in his simple heart that he was going to
disturb Hinduism; and from his high place he cast down a scalding word, which
he meant to fall just as of old boiling lead used to fall upon a poor man from
the height of a tower. He called him a "consecrated cobbler."
All the intelligent world
laughed, and said he was treated as he ought to be treated. However, he went on
saying to the mountain, "Be thou removed! be thou removed!" And one
joined him, and another joined him; the voice grew stronger; it was repeated in
more languages than one: "Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the
depths of the sea!" and now there is a large company who are uttering that
one word, "Be thou removed!"
I ask the living
representatives of the very men who first smiled at this folly, "What say
ye now?" "Well," they answer, "you have not got into the sea
yet." That is true; but do you say that the mountain during the last forty
years has not moved? No man can say that it is in the same position as it was
when William Carey first went up to it. It is moving fast; and I call upon you
to swell that voice, the voice of God's Church, which seems to say, "Be
thou removed, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the depths of the
sea!"
Cast into those depths it
will be; and a day will come when the nations of a regenerated East will write
in letters of gold upon the first pages of their Christian history the name of
the "consecrated cobbler."—William Arthur. The Biblical Illustrator
C.
An Application.
1.
The kind of prayer Jesus meant was not the arbitrary wish to
move a literal mountain.
2.
Instead, he was referring to prayers that we would need to
endlessly pray as we faced mountains of opposition to our gospel message. Our
prayers for the advancement of God’s kingdom would always be answered
positively—in God’s timing when we exercise real faith.
3.
Maybe your
mountain is financial difficulties, struggles in marriage, challenging
conditions at work, a straying child, loneliness, anger, sorrow, or even
confusion about God. Approach the
mountain in faith to see it removed from your path of progress.
4.
Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge—Take it to the
Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in
prayer; in His arms He’ll take and shield thee—Thou wilt find a solace there. –Osbeck, Kenneth W.: Amazing
Grace
III.
Beware of the Hindrance of Lingering Doubts (Mk. 11:23) “…shall not
doubt in his heart…”
In order to have faith in God as we pray, we must
choose God as the object of our prayers, exercise mountain moving faith, and
then thirdly beware of the negative power of doubt to hinder positive responses
from God.
A.
Always Make Your Petitions Free Of Any Doubting.
1.
The word “doubt” means “to
judge between two,” thus, a divided judgment, or a wavering doubt. Don’t
tolerate even a single moment of doubt.
2.
Faith And Doubt
Doubt sees the obstacles.
Faith sees the way!
Doubt sees the darkest night,
Faith sees the day!
Doubt dreads to take a step.
Faith soars on high!
Doubt questions, “Who believes?”
Faith answers, “I!” —Gospel Banner
3.
1 Timothy 2:8, I will
therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and
doubting.
4.
Read Rom. 4:18-21;
Heb. 11:17-19; James 1:5-7 for further helpful counsel.
B.
Always Pray With An Attitude Of Faith In God.
1.
Psalm 27:13, I had
fainted, unless I had believed to
see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
2.
Matthew 21:22, And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
3.
Jesus’ insisted on simply believing God (Mk. 9:23, 24).
IV.
Participate in Believing Prayer to Receive from God (Mk. 11:24)
We must choose God as the object of faith, exercise mountain
moving faith, beware of the hindrance of doubt, and finally pray fully
expecting God to answer us and honor our faith.
A.
Believe God’s promise of
positive answers to our believing prayers!
1.
When we are really living in touch with the Lord and praying
in the Spirit, we can have the assurance of answered prayer before the answer
actually comes.
2.
These verses do not give a person authority to pray for
miraculous powers for his own convenience or acclaim.
B.
Don’t Forget the other
Conditions for Prayer.
1. Every act of faith must
rest on the promise of God. If we know that it is God’s will to
remove a certain difficulty, then we can pray with utter confidence that it
will be done.
2. In fact, we can pray with
confidence on any subject as long as we are confident it is according to
God’s will as revealed in the Bible or by the inner witness of the Spirit.
3. Nor should we interpret Mark 11:24 to mean, “If you pray hard
enough and really believe, God is obligated to answer your prayers, no
matter what you ask.” That kind of faith is not faith in God; rather, it is
nothing but faith in faith, or faith in feelings. True faith in God is based on
His Word (John 15:7; Rom. 10:17), and His Word reveals His will to us. It has
well been said that the purpose of prayer is not to get man’s will done in
heaven, but to get God’s will done on earth. —Wiersbe, Warren W.
C.
Be Confident in God’s Desires to Meet Your Need. On what do we base our faith?
1.
On the promises of
Scripture and the fact that God wants only what is best for us. If we ask for
what we are certain God desires for us, we must ask as if we are already in
the process of receiving it.
2.
The Pastor’s Text
In the early
years of his ministry, Dr. George W. Truett took the following verse as his
text for a morning’s message: “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching
any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is
in heaven” (Mt. 18:19). Having quoted his text, Dr. Truett asked:
“Do you believe
it?” Of course he did not expect an answer, but one was forthcoming
nevertheless. As he paused for a moment that his question might be understood,
a very poor member of the congregation, poor in this world’s goods but rich in
faith, rose to her feet. “I believe it, pastor,” she said, “and I want you to
claim that promise with me.”
“It staggered
me,” said the pastor. “I knew I did not have the faith to claim the promise,
but before I had time to answer, a big, burly blacksmith in the congregation
rose to his feet; “I’ll claim that promise with you, Auntie,” he said, and
together the two, the poor washer-woman and the blacksmith, dropped to their
knees in the aisle and poured out their hearts in prayer for the salvation of
the woman’s husband.”
Now it happened
that this man was a riverboat captain on the Rio Grande, a swearing,
foul-mouthed drunken sot, and he was at that moment sleeping off a drink at
home.
That night, for
the first time in many years at least, the old riverboat captain was in the
church and while the pastor preached the woman prayed, not for the salvation of
her husband, rather she was thanking God for it, for she seemed to know it
would happen that night.
And of course
when the invitation was given this old foul-mouthed captain came to give his
heart to the Lord and he became one of the most dependable and faithful workers
in that church. —Baptist Standard
D.
Trust God to Direct Your Faith. You may say, “But
what if I am asking for the wrong thing?”
1.
If you are, and you
are asking in the context of a right relationship and framework, being specific
and definite and thankful, and asking to the best of your understanding of God’s
will … then the Lord will show you if you are asking in error.
2.
You aren’t omniscient
and God doesn’t expect you to be. What He does expect of you is that you
operate in the fullness of your present level of understanding and faith, and
also with an open heart for Him to correct you and guide you into the precision of perfection that He desires
for you. If you come to Him with that attitude, He will grant you many yes
answers, and He will lead you to ask only for those things that He can answer
with a yes!
3.
Contrary Answers
In his Confessions,
Augustine relates that when as a young man, having expressed a purpose to visit
Rome, his mother protested, and prayed earnestly that he might be prevented
from going, her reason being that she feared the effect upon the young man of
the temptations and vices with which the great city overflowed.
He went, however, and during
his stay there was converted to Christianity under the preaching of St.
Ambrose. Augustine writes that her prayer was answered, though not in its
outward form, but in its inward heart. What she really prayed for was that he
might be saved from the ways of sin. —James Freeman Clarke
In conclusion consider this healthy and final bit of
biblical counsel. Do it All for God’s Glory. When we voice our prayers out of an attitude of faith… to a
very great extent we can be assured that we are praying in Jesus’ name and that
our requests will be in keeping with God’s will.
The reason God says yes to our prayers is not only that we
might find fulfillment and meaning and joy in our lives, but also that God
might be glorified. Jesus said, “Let your light
so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father
which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:16). The primary goal of every believer is to glorify our heavenly Father. When
non-believers see us living in right relationship with God and God answering our
prayers, they are drawn to God. They desire to know Him better, even be saved,
and to receive more fully from Him.
God desires to say yes to you when you pray. We must make
it our desire to pray in such a way that He is free to say say "yes" to us.
