Faith That Moves Mountains Script

 

What happened to the fig tree, and when?

The story begins on Sunday, when, according to Mark 11.1-11. Jesus made his triumphant entry as a king of peace and was worshipped. That evening, Jesus went into the city of Jerusalem. Mark records, “Mark 11:11  And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.”

The next morning, Jesus was heading back into Jerusalem to the temple. Jesus saw a distant fig tree with leaves. Fig trees start making their fruit, and then the leaves come. Since it was still early in the season, Jesus could have expected to find unripe figs. It was as if the tree was promising fruit, but not delivering the goods. So, Jesus then cursed the tree, saying, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And what is more, his disciples heard him.

In the next minutes, Jesus will shut down business being conducted in a place of worship.

But the next day becomes important. This Tuesday, as they were going back to Jerusalem yet again, the disciples saw the same fig tree. But now it was withered completely, even down to the roots. Peter told Jesus to take a look, telling Jesus this is the one you cursed only yesterday. It seems that maybe Peter was somewhat astounded at how rapidly it died.

Jesus response to Peter and the other disciples was to “Have faith in God”

Now, before we go any further, let’s just read what Jesus teaches them. “Mark 11:23-24  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 it, and it will be yours.”

Jesus isn’t talking about excavation or landscaping. He is talking about what is going on in the heart. And he wants them to realize some key elements connected with faith.

Jesus is talking about faith that is 100% conviction. Did you see and hear that part about not doubting? Jesus is talking about the strength of faith that can accomplish great things for the believer. This kind of faith has no doubts. No gray zones. No, “But’s”. No partial commitment. No, “What if’s”. This faith is absolutely certain that what he wants done will actually happen.

The writer of James talks about this same kind of faith. He wrote, “James 1:5-8  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.  (6)  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  (7)  For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;  (8)  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” 

In the story with Jesus, he continued by saying that whatever you ask for in prayer, “believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” In the mind of the one praying, because they believe that God is going to grant the request, they can actually feel that they already have the blessing. It is not in the future tense. It is as if the request has already been received. It is that certain.

Now, before we go any further, we do need to make mention of a few other items that relate to any successful prayer. We need to know that we will need to repeat some prayers, as Jesus illustrated in Luke 18:1-7. We need to be praying to overcome temptation. We need to be humble with our requests of God. We pray for all kinds of people, but especially those in high governmental positions. We need to be living righteous lives for our prayers to be successful. When we treat our spouse as we should, with dignity and respect, our prayers are not hindered. We certainly don’t want to forget 1 Pet 3.12.  For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”  And don’t forget what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. “Matthew 6:7  “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.”

But the one that is very important AND goes along with what Jesus has been talking about is 1 John 5:14  “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” When we pray, our prayers need to be aligned with what God wants for His goals. Ask for things that benefit others first. Don’t pray for things to benefit yourself only. James 4:3  “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

But this is not just about prayer. It is about belief in your heart. It is a faith that pictures you receiving or living with the blessing requested. Is this possible? Has anyone ever had such faith?

Ask blind Bartimaeus. In Mark 10.46-52, we notice a blind man who had heard many people talking about a Jesus who could feed 1000s, could make the lame walk, could cure leprosy, and could walk on water. Bartimaeus could see himself being healed by Jesus. So when Jesus came his way, he did not miss his opportunity. He got Jesus’ attention. Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus said, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight”. Jesus told him to get back to living a normal life with sight. Jesus told him “Your faith has made you well”.

And that was not the first time this type of thing had happened. There was the woman with a 12-year menstrual period. Constantly for 12 years. This made her a religious outcast. She could not get close to the temple to worship. Mark 5.25-34 tells how she had gone to many different doctors. She spent every dime she had. But instead of helping, it was getting worse. But she had heard some of the same events that Bartimaeus had heard. She believed so strongly that she said to herself, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” So, when Jesus was on his way to heal the daughter of Jairus, she worked her way through a crowd and touched him. Verse 29 says her flow dried up immediately. She could feel it in her body. But Jesus noticed that power had left him. He called, “Who touched me?” She came to him and told him what had happened. Jesus spoke well of her, “Mark 5:34  And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

From the story of Bartimaeus and this woman, added to the fig tree event, leads us to the conclusion that VISUALIZED BELIEF is the most effective form of faith.

Recently I attended a men’s retreat. There, one of the speakers challenged all of us to “Pray Big”. He, too, asked us to envision God doing great things through us, with us, or for us. Then, since we could see it as a possibility, we needed only to trust God to accomplish the great things that we can do for God. Then pray, expecting and knowing that God will give us the answer he needs to give us, when He knows it is best for us, and maybe even better than we have imagined.

I know this is true. Timeless Talks has been my vision, my prayer, my goal for God. I want His Word told to everyone who can understand Southern English. And you are part of the thousands listening, learning, changing, and living for God.

Do you need help developing this kind of faith? Don’t think it is impossible, or even improbable. Jesus is telling you now, “Have Faith in God.” He also said, Matthew 19:26 … “With man this is impossible, but with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.”

So if you need help, use the phone number that you see here to call and leave a voice message, or send a text to the number. We will get you Bible-based help as soon as possible. You could also use the contact form on TimelessTalks.Net to ask any question, make any suggestion for a video, or just say Hi. Or maybe you can find reading materials in our Transcript pages or our FREE downloadable e-booklets.

We just want the best for you. So let’s visit again tomorrow. Until then, goodbye for now.