And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Matthew 21:21-22)
The disciples were shocked that when Jesus cursed the fig tree it immediately withered. I guess, like us, they expected delayed results, if they were expecting results at all. We have all stood in front of a mountain and commanded it to move. Maybe a disease, financial situation, kid-problem, or emotional issue. Yet, it was never thrown into the sea and we walked away thinking that Jesus was wrong or our faith was broken. But what if Jesus wasn’t referring to a moment of faith connected to a specific request, but a lifestyle of faith?
Our world breeds cynics and pessimists. And we are not immune to its effects. We pray as skeptics and realists and then wonder why we’ve never seen a mountain move. This week exchange your cynical worldview for one of faith and trust. See your life with all its possibilities, not just probabilities. When you look with faith you will find fig trees wither faster and mountains move more often than you previously thought.
Father, help our unbelief. Jesus, give us eyes to see. Spirit, help us pray.
