A faith-filled Heart
Theme:
Text: Matthew 21:18-22
Matthew 21:18 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away. 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?" 21 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
Introduction
Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant when he spoke these Words? Could it be that we as Christians could “move mountains”?
According to the Bible, believers can be confident that their prayers will be answered. And Jesus many times let us know that it was faith and belief that is the key to answered prayer.
“Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."” (Mark 9:23)
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9)
“"If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:14)
“"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7)
Our prayers are more than wishes, hopes or feeble aspirations-but only if we pray with believing, faith filled hearts. That is the kind of prayer that moves mountains.
Jesus, of course, was not in the excavation business. He had little interest in relocating piles of rocks in the ocean’s depths. He was using the term mountain figuratively. Whatever mountain stands in you path, whatever obstacle blocks your way, whatever difficulty immobilizes you, the prayer of faith can remove it.
Now that sounds good, but how can we learn to pray with a faith-filled heart? How can we develop the confidence that removes roadblocks?
It would be easy for me to stand here and give you a list of guidelines to follow to build your faith. Yet I don’t think reading lists are the best way to build our confidence in God.
The truth is our confidence is built in God not by how much we learn about our circumstances but by how much we learn about God. Many times in our lives we just need to get back into the Word and dwell upon the great miracles that God performed and just believe.
Read the account of the Red Sea and realize God parted the Red Sea. Read the many healings of Christ and believe. Belief is more than an emotion or a feeling but believing is an action.
James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
One man said that faith is: Forward Action Inspired Through Him
Forward is the direction of faith
Action is the proof of our faith
Inspired is the motivation of faith
Through is the power of faith. Through God not our self.
Him is the object of our faith
But anyway let me give you two principles, from two familiar stories in the Bible that help us to have mountain moving faith. I don’t know what your mountain, road block, obstacle is or what immobilizes you but Jesus said that if we “have faith, and doubt not . . . you shall say unto this mountain, Be removed, and be cast into the sea;” and “it shall be done”.
I. Principle # 1: Mountain moving faith comes from looking at God, not looking at the mountain.
We find this principle applied in Matthew 14:22-36. You know the story. For days Jesus had been healing the sick. The crowds began to swell. The estimation was 5,000 men. Including women and children this number could rise to over 15,000.
Jesus had compassion on them and he fed them. Everyone of them from five loaves of bread and two fishes. Yes it is true he did this. It may be beyond what we have seen but it happened.
Anyway Jesus needed some solitude time alone with God. He knew that without prayer and a relationship with the Father he could not continue. Exhausted he went into the mountain to pray. He sent his disciples on ahead. He would meet up with them later.
In the forth watch, after Jesus had prayed close to 7 hours, the disciples were on the lake and a great storm arose. The boat was tossed. It took great pain to keep it from over turning. There was fear in the heart of the disciples. Many of them have seen these storms before. They have seen the destruction. They have seen the death.
Yet as always Jesus is right on time. Here he comes walking on water. Out in the midst of the storm. They notice him but are fearful. They had no idea who it was. Jesus sooths him with his words. “Don’t be afraid”. Don’t fear.
Peter, being the bold one, decides to come to Christ. His heart no doubt was in the right place. He did know that it is better to be with Christ than stay in the boat. So he beckons to go to Christ. Jesus says, “Come”.
So Peter steps out onto the water.
Mt 14:29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 but when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"”
He took his eyes off Christ and placed them on the storm. He was looking at the mountain instead of looking at God.
Now we can’t fault Peter. How many times have we looked at the storm and felt hopeless. How many times have we looked at the mountain and said, “I just can’t do it.” How many times have we said in our heart, “God send someone else I have this handicap that hinders me.”
Yet if we are going to have a heart full of faith we have got to get our eyes off the mountain and on Christ.
Christ will not heal until we take our eyes off our sickness and on Christ. Christ will not bring deliverance until will take our eyes off the problem and put them on the deliver. Whatever roadblock you are facing Jesus says today speak to that mountain and tell it to be gone in the name of Christ, and believe.
II. Principle # 2: Mountain moving faith only comes as we “walk” with Him.
This is illustrated well in an Old Testament story found in Joshua 3. The Israelites are camped on the bank of the Jordan River. Forty years earlier, they miraculously escaped from Egypt. For a generation, they have been wandering in a rugged wilderness, all their needs miraculously met by God. Now they are in sight of the Promised Land, Canaan, but they have an enormous problem (obstacle): a river is directly in their path, there’s no convenient way around it. To make matters worse, it is flood season, and any usual ford (low place) are impassable. The waters are deep and turbulent and menacing.
God could easily make the river subside right before their eyes, as he did at the Red Sea. But he doesn’t. Instead he gives Joshua some strange orders that he passes on to the camp.
First, camp officers order the people to keep an eye on the ark of the covenant.
If you keep your focus on Christ you will never fall. If you keep your mind on Christ he will never let you down.
As soon as they see the priests carrying it, they are to fall in behind them.
Second, Joshua tells the people to expect amazing things to happen.
Third, Joshua commands the priests to pick up the ark and go stand in the river.
This will take a bit of courage. Yes the Lord said he would provide a dry path through the river, but the priests have never seen this happen before (they hadn’t even been born when the Red Sea was parted.)
Having spent their entire adult lives in the wilderness, the priests were not swimmers. In fact, that is probably the first river they had seen up close. Although the Jordan is not the Amazon or the Mississippi, it doesn’t’ look particularly friendly during flood season. And with a few hundred thousand anxious Israelites at their heels, it will be hard to change their minds and turn around if the river keeps flowing.
So we can see their obstacles. They had two choices stay away or step in.
In spite of the problems, the priests had faith enough to obey, and this is what happened.
Joshua 3:15 “and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.”
God didn’t give the priests absolute proof or even overwhelming evidence that the waters would part. He did nothing until they put their feet in the water, taking the first step of commitment and obedience. Only then did he stop the flow of the river. In the same way, mountain-moving faith will be given to us as we step out and follow the Lord’s direction.
Mountains don’t move until we by faith step out in obedience and trust in Christ.
Conclusion
How do we have faith-filled hearts, by shifting our focus form the size of the mountain to the sufficiency of the mountain mover, and by stepping forward in obedience.
We see it as young David fought the giant. His focus was not on the size of the giant 9 feet tall. But the Bible says he ran toward the giant. We need to see our obstacles as what they are, hindrances that need to be removed.
God always answers prayer: Yet . . .
If the request is wrong, God says, “No”.
If the timing is wrong, God says, “Slow”.
If you are wrong, God says, “Grow”.
But if the request is right, the timing is right and you are right, God says, “Go!”.
