(Mar 11:22-25 NLT) Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”
This morning we continue our series entitled, “Re-Energizing Your Prayer Life” by looking at something Jesus did, with His words and faith, and then what He said about it. On the day Jesus cleaned out the moneychangers from the temple He got up focused on the assignment at hand. Jesus left Lazarus’ house without eating breakfast. As Jesus and the disciples walked to Jerusalem (about five miles away) He saw a fig tree full of leaves. Jesus approached the tree to get some figs, but did not find any. Jesus spoke to the tree and said, “May no one ever eat your fruit again,” the disciples heard what He said, and they all kept walking. That might not have sounded like a prayer to you, but I believe it was a form for prayer. I believe this for two reasons: 1) Jesus never did anything He did not first see the Father do and He did not say anything He did not first hear the Father say (see John 5:19,20,30), so He was agreeing (in the earth) for heaven’s will to be done, which is a type of prayer, and 2) Jesus used this as an example of how we should pray.
The next morning Jesus and His disciples headed back to Jerusalem on the same path and Peter realized the tree was withered up from the roots. Peter was amazed and said, “Master, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” Jesus was not amazed at all. When Jesus prayed the day prior He fully expected His prayer to come to pass. While the tree did not visibly change at the time, Jesus did not need sense-realm evidence to bolster His faith. Jesus fully believed His prayer and He walked away like it was already done. Now, 24 hours later, standing by the withered tree, Jesus used this situation to teach His disciples (and us) about prayer. This is when He said, “Have faith in God…” and He went on to share the rest of our text. Now that you know the context, please read our text carefully and thoughtfully. There is actually way too much in this passage to cover in one day, so we will stop here for now and deal with this again tomorrow.
So what does this mean to you today? For today I will just focus in on the words “Have faith in God.” These words are actually better translated, “Have the faith of God” or “Have the God-kind of faith.” What type of faith is this?
1. It’s the faith that openly agrees, in the earth, for God’s Kingdom plans and purposes to be accomplished.
2. It’s the faith that publicly declares what it believes the Father wants to do, at the risk of looking foolish.
3. It’s the faith that walks away from a prayer, without any sense-realm evidence, fully believing that the prayer will come to pass.
4. It’s the faith that is so convinced that what it speaks will come to pass, that it never speaks a contrary word to what was prayed, because it knows that if it does, the contrary words will cancel out the prayer.
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for this teaching. Every day of my life I want to be more and more like Jesus. Jesus spoke to this fig tree, fully believing that what He said would come to pass, and He walked away like it was already done. By faith I declare that I will get to the point in my prayer life that I pray just like Jesus prayed. I spend time with You Father, You reveal to me Your Kingdom plans and purposes to me, and I agree with You, in the earth, for those things to come to pass. I take You public and I openly declare my prayers, even at the risk of looking foolish. I believe I receive when I pray. I overcome fear, doubt, and unbelief. I have the God-kind of faith and I operate in it daily! In Jesus’ name, amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
