Faith And Belief

This morning I am reading from Mark 11:19-25 NIV:

[19] "When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
[20] In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.
[21] Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
[22] “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. [23] “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. [24] Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. [25] And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

These are some very interesting verses, as just prior to these, Jesus had cursed the fig tree because it bore no fruit. The tree had withered, and the disciples were amazed by His authority, here demonstrated over creation. He had previously commanded the wind (Mark 4:39) and had multiplied the bread and fish (Mark 6:30-44) and even had walked on the water (Mark 6:45-52), so they should not have been that surprised. I think this demonstrates the ability of us all to lose faith and to forget that which we have seen.

The second major focus of these verses is the section on faith and prayer. It could be very easy to take these single statements about faith and prayer and create a whole theology around them, as some streams in the Christian faith are doing. They look on these statements by Jesus as a basic prescription to get what we want, yet that is not the point of what Jesus is discussing here. The two key components that Jesus is discussing are faith in God, and relationship with Him in prayer. It is in the place of prayer in conversation with the Lord, that we understand His will, and unite ourselves to Him. We are no longer concerned only with our needs, but now with understanding of His will, heart and mind. It is in this place of knowing Him, of intimacy, that our faith in Him grows, and our confidence in His abilities grows. Nothing is impossible for God (Matt 17:20) and Jesus is demonstrating that here.

Also, we cannot read these verses and overlook everything else that is said in scripture about prayer and asking things of God. The following section comes from the Fourfold Gospel Commentary: Jesus here lays down the broad general rule in the application of which we must be guided by other Scriptures. The rule is, indeed, liberal and gracious, and the limitations are just and reasonable. We must not expect to obtain that which it is unlawful for us to desire (James 4:2,3), or which it is unwise for us to seek (2 Corinthians 12:7-9), nor must we selfishly run counter to the will of God (Luke 22:42; 1 John 5:14,15).

In other words, what we ask of God must lie within the context of His will for us. God will not break His own rules because we believe something with our whole heart. God desires to bless us and is always faithful. We will learn this and understand it deep our being, and we will be able to move the largest of obstacles through the power of God flowing through us. Faith is ultimately a gift from God, and it is based on experience, an impartation from
God to us. It is not something we convince ourselves of by repeating it over and over again.

So, in summary, these verses are not about us bending God to our will, but us melding ourselves to God, and His great future plans.