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“You Can Move Mountains In Your Life”
You Can Move Mountains In Your Life
David Sproule
One must NEVER take a verse out of context! One must NEVER make a verse in the Bible mean something that it did not or does not mean! Still, when one understands passages in their context, look for applications for us today.
During His last week of life before the crucifixion, Jesus cursed a fig tree because it had no figs, and “Immediately the fig tree withered away” (Matt. 21:19). When the disciples “saw the fig tree dried up from the roots” (Mark 11:20), they “marveled” (Matt. 21:20). They asked, “How?” (21:20).
Jesus gave the apostles the key to such power in their lives—“Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22)! And not only to “have faith” but also “do not doubt” (Matt. 21:21). Jesus gave the apostles miraculous “power” (Matt. 10:1), which is not available to anyone today, but even that miraculous power would not work if there was “unbelief” (NKJV) or “littleness of faith” (NASB) present in the hearts of the apostles (Matt. 17:20).
In speaking to the apostles (keep the context), Jesus said, “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” (Mark 11:23). For the apostles: Faith + Prayer = God’s Power. The “moving of mountains” was commonly used among the Jews as a proverb for doing that which seemed impossible or overcoming some great difficulty (see Matthew 17:20 and 1 Corinthians 13:2). The miraculous power from God would enable the apostles to do the impossible or overcome a difficult with God’s help.
So, does this passage not have any application to us today? Let’s be clear that it does NOT have any miraculous application to us today. No prayer is going to move a literal mountain today, and a literal mountain remaining upright and not in the sea is not a sign of a lack of faith. HOWEVER, even for the apostles, this terminology was probably figurative.
Here’s a question: Do you have any “mountains” in your life? Do you have obstacles that don’t seem to go away? Do you have God-given responsibilities that seem too large to accomplish? While the age of miracles has ceased, the power of God still works within us and for us (Eph. 3:20; Phil. 2:13; Heb. 13:21). So, don’t try to scale that “mountain” in your life or try to remove that “mountain” WITHOUT God’s help! What does that involve? First, “Have faith in God.” Do everything you can to increase your faith through God’s Word (Rom. 10:17). Second, “ask,” “pray” “in faith, with no doubting” (Jas. 1:6; Mark 11:24). When you do, remember this: Faith + Prayer = God’s Power.
