Have Faith in God

²² And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.²³ Truly, I say to you, whoever

says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received^[c] it, and it will be yours.  Mark 11

When you read the above passage, what portion captures your attention?  Perhaps you have heard many sermons addressing the mountains in your life.  Whether the mountains are physical, spiritual, emotional or even financial, you have no doubt be challenged to speak to your mountain that it has to move.  Have you prayed like this?  To be sure the hard part is removing the doubt in our heart rather than picturing our mountain being moved.

Others may focus on “whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it.”  That is a very wide open statement by Jesus.  Some have said that the statement is tempered by prayers that are in agreement with the will of God.  Our focus then is to determine what God’s will is for our lives and then pray in agreement with His will.  We know we can not pray for things that violate the character of God.  But this verse says “whatever we ask”.  What are the parameters that God expects in our prayers.

The phrase that struck me in this passage was “have faith in God.”  I almost chuckled at how fast my mind skipped over this statement.  Before Jesus teaches about prayer, he lays the proper foundation…faith in God.  It is not faith in the right request.  It is not trying to remove doubt about your request.  It is not just trying to believe that your request will come true.  It is the placement of your faith that has to be centered in God.

It God is for you, who can be against you.  What can stand in the way of God?  Who is big enough to thwart God’s plans? No one.  What circumstance is so difficult to outsmart God? None.  Focusing on God just makes all of our problems seem small.  The reason a mountain can be moved…is because God is bigger than that.  OH, if we could learn to focus our attention, our love, our respect, our honor, our anticipation, our devotion, and our faith in God.  IF we are in God’s hand, he can place us wherever he desires, because we know his plans for us are good and not to harm us.

So when you are ready to tackle some big issues through prayer…spend time focusing on the person and character of God.  I have an idea that God will lead you in your prayer of faith that will surprise you in its clarity and power.

HAVE FAITH IN GOD!