Removing Difficulties
Faith That Trusts God with the Mountains
SCRIPTURE:
Mark 11:22-24 NKJV - So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. "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. "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
OBSERVATION:
In this section of Mark 11, Jesus entered Jerusalem as the “Suffering Messiah.” The Triumphal Entry had taken place. The people hailed Him as the Messiah and eagerly awaited His ascension to the throne. But Jesus knew that before He could ascend, He must first suffer. This marked the beginning of what we call the Passion Week.
The day after the Triumphal Entry, Jesus was on the road into Jerusalem, hungry. He noticed a fig tree in season but with no fruit. In response, Jesus cursed the tree, and by the next day it had withered and died. Peter took note and was astonished. This led to the words of Jesus we are looking at today.
Faith vs Doubt and the Removal of Difficulties.
First, Jesus tells Peter, “Have faith in God.” The key is in God. Jesus explains that this miracle was the result of a prayer of faith. He encourages the disciples to trust that God will hear them, too.
Do we truly believe that God hears our prayers? Is that belief reflected in how often we pray or in what we bring to the Lord in prayer? If we have faith that God hears our prayers, why do we not pray more often?
James tells us that effectual, fervent prayer works.
James 5:16-18 NKJV - …The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
APPLICATION:
The phrase “Whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea...’” was a common Jewish expression used to describe “removing difficulties.”
Like Peter and the Jewish people of the day, we want our difficulties removed. Often, they look like mountains that seem unmovable. What are the mountains in your life? Are they insurmountable obstacles?
Jesus was not saying our obstacles would be removed, but that God would help us overcome them. With God, all things are possible.
Zechariah 4:6-7 NKJV - "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts. 'Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!" ' "
Mark 11:22-24 NKJV - So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. "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. "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
OBSERVATION:
In this section of Mark 11, Jesus entered Jerusalem as the “Suffering Messiah.” The Triumphal Entry had taken place. The people hailed Him as the Messiah and eagerly awaited His ascension to the throne. But Jesus knew that before He could ascend, He must first suffer. This marked the beginning of what we call the Passion Week.
The day after the Triumphal Entry, Jesus was on the road into Jerusalem, hungry. He noticed a fig tree in season but with no fruit. In response, Jesus cursed the tree, and by the next day it had withered and died. Peter took note and was astonished. This led to the words of Jesus we are looking at today.
Faith vs Doubt and the Removal of Difficulties.
First, Jesus tells Peter, “Have faith in God.” The key is in God. Jesus explains that this miracle was the result of a prayer of faith. He encourages the disciples to trust that God will hear them, too.
Do we truly believe that God hears our prayers? Is that belief reflected in how often we pray or in what we bring to the Lord in prayer? If we have faith that God hears our prayers, why do we not pray more often?
James tells us that effectual, fervent prayer works.
James 5:16-18 NKJV - …The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
APPLICATION:
The phrase “Whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea...’” was a common Jewish expression used to describe “removing difficulties.”
Like Peter and the Jewish people of the day, we want our difficulties removed. Often, they look like mountains that seem unmovable. What are the mountains in your life? Are they insurmountable obstacles?
Jesus was not saying our obstacles would be removed, but that God would help us overcome them. With God, all things are possible.
Zechariah 4:6-7 NKJV - "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts. 'Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!" ' "
This promise of God’s answer to a prayer offered in faith was made to the disciples, not to the multitude. “Nor should we interpret Mark 11:24 to mean, ‘If you pray hard enough and really believe, God is obligated to answer your prayer 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” (Warren Wiesbee).
It is by the grace of God that the mountains in our lives are made like a plain… Trust Him, take it to Him in prayer, and allow Him to overcome any obstacle in your life.
PRAYER:
Jesus, please remove the obstacles in my life today. You can move mountains; I can’t. By Your grace, do what I cannot do.
PRAYER:
Jesus, please remove the obstacles in my life today. You can move mountains; I can’t. By Your grace, do what I cannot do.
When we place our faith in God—not in outcomes—He grants us grace to overcome even the greatest obstacles.
Posted in Mark
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