Prayer of Faith

“In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Mark 11:20-24

Here in Mark 11, Jesus brings the matter of prayer and faith into perspective. As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Bethany, Jesus became hungry. He saw a fig tree in the distance and he went to it to see if it had any fruit:

“When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard him say it.”

Mark 11:13b-14

The next day, as they left Jerusalem for Bethany, they were shocked to find that the tree Jesus had cursed had withered overnight! It is here that Jesus reinforces the nature of the relationship between prayer and faith. The disciples had overheard Him speaking to the fig tree. When they saw the tree, the very next day, withered from the roots, Peter exclaimed: “The fig tree that you cursed has withered!” Is it possible that Jesus could simply speak something and it come to pass? Can “our” words carry that kind of power? The answer is yes, but not without faith!

Jesus tells his disciples that if you have faith in God, you can say to the mountain ’Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt and believe (that’s faith) it will be done for you. Faith is the catalyst! A catalyst is defined as something that makes a change happen or brings about an event. Once Jesus was speaking to His disciples after they had repeatedly tried to drive a demon out of a man’s son. His disciples came to him in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”:

“He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move, Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:20

Without faith nothing moves! We must have faith if we are going to ask God to do the impossible. If we leave out faith, our words are devoid of power. They may be heartfelt, well-meant, and even passionate, but if they are not housed in faith they are ineffective. It is the prayer offered “in faith” that heals the sick! It is the prayer offered “in faith” that raises the dead! It is the prayer offered” in faith” that moves the mountain! When your prayers are housed “in faith”, nothing will be impossible for you!


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com