FAITH - Mark 11:22-24

Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God.  Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.  So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." - Mark 11:22-24

That amazing assurance again, ask and you will receive, with another important qualifier: Believe!

Here is the power of prayer, and we can see three big parts to this power: it revolves around faith, it shows God at work and it changes everything.

First, faith is at the heart of this power.  See Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."  Faith in God is the opposite of doubt in our hearts.

Second, God is at work.  As we are taught further, at Hebrews 11:3: "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God."  Think about it.  Moving a mountain may seem awesome, but God created that mountain and all the world around it.  Wow!

Third, God changes everything.  Notice how even the timeline has changed: it is not just ask and you will receive but ask and believe you have already received it, and it will be yours.  This may be the key to defeating our doubt, to allow that God is at work in a way we can't possibly see, already answering before we ask, already moving the mountains before us.  The rest of Hebrews chapter 11 continues with along narrative of the faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and on and on.  All had great faith, yet they did not receive what God had promised, simply because God was still at work, leading them to Hebrews 11:40: "...something better."

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Faith: such that I long for, a faith of such power to give me the strength to recognize my weakness, to repulse all illusions of my own credits, to relinquish my whole self —faith to say no more me, just God.  Faith, trust, that I could walk within every shadow of darkness, that I could believe that light awaits me, that darkness will be defeated. 

--- Journal archives, 1990

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Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith." - Hebrews 12:1-2.

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Dear God, thank you for the mountains and all the world you have made, and thank you for constantly being at work and on call.  Hear my prayers when the mountains seem overwhelming, and help me to believe in your goodness.  Let me have faith to overcome doubt, and show me your light to overcome the darkness.

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