S. Mark 11:22-25 (NIV) 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.”
O. Jesus teaches His followers essentially 3 ways to build up their faith and to see their prayers answered. First, we should not allow doubt to enter our hearts and minds. Doubt has that negative effect - negative is from the word negate which means to cancel out. So we sure don’t want doubt in our mind and hearts. We don’t want to cancel out what God is doing in our life. Secondly, we are to truly believe that God can do what He says He can do. We are to be able to place our trust in Him that He will provide for what need and if He’s acted on our behalf in the past, there’s no reason to think He will not do so in the present and future. Thirdly, we are to make every effort to have healthy relationships with others. We should believe the best about people. When there are difficulties, we should work together to resolve those so that our spiritual life is not hindered.
A. Having a “mountain moving faith” is certainly what I desire. I will make every effort to guard my heart and my mind from allowing doubt to creep in. I will be sure to “speak” God’s word of all He has done, Is and does. I will make efforts to keep my relationships with others on the positive so I do not hinder my worship of the Lord and my spiritual growth. When I mix in all these ingredients, I know that God is there to literally move the mountatins or obstacles.
P. Thank you Father for your word today. Forgive me where I fall short on this and work in my life to keep my faith free from doubt, strong in your Word and to have positive relationships with others. In Jesus’ name.
