Reading: Mark 11:12-26
The story of the fig tree that Jesus cursed on His way from Bethany to Jerusalem, which withered and died right to the roots, is a familiar one.
It demonstrates Jesus’ authority over all things – and the power of faith.
Jesus tells His disciples, who are astonished that the tree has died, that faith is the key to achieving those things that seem impossible. It is this passage that gives rise to the very familiar saying, “faith that can move mountains”.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the story, however, is the conditions that Jesus places on the disciples – and subsequently, our – ability to move mountains.
That is, the need to have absolute faith. To see miracles, the kind of things that only God can do for us if we ask with faith, there can be absolutely no room for doubts, not even small ones.
James 1:6-8 reiterates this same message. If we ask God to move a particular mountain in our lives – for Jesus was speaking figuratively as well as literally – we have to ask with absolute certainty in our hearts and minds that He can and will do it for us.
Indeed, we have to believe, with no doubts whatsoever, that our prayers have already been answered in the Spiritual realm before we even ask them.
It is easy to let doubts creep in. Slipping doubts into our minds is what caused the fall of Adam and Eve, and satan has been deploying that particular trick ever since. Even the slightest doubts, however, hinder God’s ability to work in our lives.
Prayer
Father God, as we think of the way Jesus caused the fig tree to wither and die, help us to remove all doubts from our minds and embrace the truth that all things are possible if we have total faith in you.
Thank you, Father God, that you delight so much in us that you long for us to have such faith that you can answer our prayers before we can even form them in our minds. Thank you that nothing is impossible for you, and no mountain is too big for you to move if we ask in faith.
