Have Faith in God Mark 11:22

22 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.

Here is a very popular passage of scripture today. It should be! Prayer is the key to living a victorious Christian life! However, this is not a passage on prayer as much as it is a passage on faith! Lets look at this passage.

"Have faith in God." What is faith? Faith is believing that God is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do. (Hebrews 11:6b) Nothing is impossible with God. So whoever says to this mountain (the Mount of Olives) be removed into the sea and does not doubt in his heart but believes those things that he says in his heart will be done he will have whatever he says.

What is Jesus talking about? Is this a discourse on prayer? Is this a discourse on faith in God? Is it a discourse on both? Look at the setting for this passage. Jesus is answering Peter's question in verse 21, "And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."

Perhaps the admonition "Have faith in God" has something to do with the withering of the fig tree. The fig tree represented Israel. The fig tree had leaves, which was an indication that fruit would be present but there was no fruit. Judaism looked good. Judaism was well developed. It did not produce fruit! Perhaps that represents many of our churches today as well. To keep from being unfruitful like the fig tree, we are too have faith in God, believing Him and placing our lives in His hands.

The mountain represents an obstacle, a tremendous obstacle. There is only one obstacle that is too big for God to handle in our lives and that is our refusal to let Him do what He wants to do with us. Faith is saying to any obstacle we may be facing, be removed and then trust God to handle it His way, no matter what.

It is that kind of faith that will produce fruit instead of leaves! When my faith is in the Lord Jesus, and my eyes are focused on His Word then I can trust Him to take care of any obstacle that I will face.
Does this mean that God will hear my prayer and grant that prayer if I pray without doubt, believing that He not only can but will do for me what I have asked Him to do?

In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul prays not once but three times for this thorn in the flesh to be taken away from him. God's reply to Him was, 9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Did God answer Paul's prayer? "Yes". Did He take the thorn away? "No" Did Paul pray with faith? Did he understand the prayer of faith? "Yes"

Jesus is trying to teach His disciples that God honors our faith in Him. God honored Paul's faith. He did not grant Paul's prayer request. He will honor our faith in Him as well!

Have faith in God. Believe that He is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do!