On Monday of the last week of our Lord’s life, Jesus went to Jerusalem with His disciples and cleansed the temple. On their way there, they’d come upon a fig tree. Seeing the tree was in leaf, Jesus went to see if it had any fruit. When He found nothing but leaves, He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”
The next day, Tuesday, as they were again going to Jerusalem, Peter noticed the fig tree Jesus cursed the day before was withered from the roots. Instead of being like many today who wonder why Jesus would pronounce a curse on a fig tree, the disciples were simply intrigued by the power of God at work through the life of their Master. They were amazed to see the fig tree had withered so quickly.
Why did Jesus curse this fig tree? Mark says it wasn’t even the season for figs. Jesus knew He would find no figs on the tree even before He looked. So why did He curse the tree when He didn’t find fruit? Jesus used this tree for a grand purpose. Rather than using it to satisfy His hunger, He used it to enact a parable that declared a divine message.
The fig tree is often used in the Bible to speak of the nation of Israel. In cursing the fig tree, Jesus was dramatizing the fact that God had looked to Israel for fruit, but had found none. God had inspected Israel and, having found no fruit, decided He was going to pronounce His curse upon the nation. The prophet Micah spoke of this day.
“How miserable I am! I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest who can find nothing to eat. Not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig can be found to satisfy my hunger. The godly people have all disappeared.” - Micah 7:1-2a (NLT)
Because of their fruitlessness, God would forsake Israel and raise up a new people to represent Him in the earth - the church. Jesus knew that His disciples would be the leaders of the early church. He therefore sought to teach them how they could avoid the pattern of fruitlessness Israel had fallen into. Unlike Israel, who had turned the temple from a house of prayer into a den of thieves, the disciples needed to make prayer a priority in their lives and in the life of the church.
Jesus sought to teach His disciples that they need not be condemned for their fruitlessness as was Israel, but how, through prayer, they could experience the reality of the power of God in their lives, even as it was in the life of their Lord. Jesus later reaffirmed this truth on Thursday.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” - John 14:12-14 (NKJV)
Jesus made it clear: if we’re going to know God’s power in our midst, we must learn how to pray effectively. Jesus taught two lessons about prayer. First, He said that if we are going to pray effectively, we must:
1. Pray in faith - vs.22-24
A. Our faith must be in God alone - v.22
As we look to God alone, we base our prayers upon truth revealed in Scripture as taught by His Spirit.
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” - John 15:7-8 (NIV)
As we place our faith in God alone, guided by His Word, we’ll be able to pray according to God’s will, and when we pray according to God’s will, we’ll see God move.
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.” - 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV)
If we pray in this way, our prayers won’t reflect our desires, but God direction. Our prayers won’t be self-centered, but God centered.
Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God; and nothing lies within the will of God that is beyond the power of God!
We mustn't be afraid to pray by God’s guidance as informed from Scripture. Some think that praying according to God’s will results in small prayers; but that’s not true. We’ll pray bigger prayers than ever before, because we will be led to trust in our big God!
“Pray the largest prayers. You cannot think a prayer so large that God in answering it, will not wish you had made it larger. Pray not for crutches but for wings!” - Phillips Brooks
B. Our faith must be unwavering - v. 23
“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” - James 1:6-8 (NIV)
Have you ever driven down the road and come upon a paper cup in the middle of the road? When you drive by it, it tumbles one way, when someone else pass by the other way, it tumbles the other way.
When we trust in ourselves, our circumstances, or in others, we’re like that cup. When things are good, when others treat us good, then we’re full of faith; but let feelings change, or circumstances change, or people around us change, then we’re full of doubt.
When we place our faith in God alone, trusting in guidance provided by His Word, we can rest assured we’re praying according to God’s will, which John tells us in 1 John 5:14-15, results in confidence!
C. Our faith must be expectant -v. 24
If one is praying in faith, then he knows he is praying in God’s will and that God hears and will honor his request. This assurance will be reflected by a positive, expectant attitude and appropriate action.
Praying in faith will radically change one’s total outlook and approach to life! He will ask great things of God, expect great things from God, and attempt great things for God!
One who prays in faith will be like David when he faced Goliath, While everyone else said, “He’s so big I can’t defeat him,” David said, “He’s so big I can’t miss!”
How about you? Are you looking to God alone in prayer, trusting in His Word to guide you? Are you facing each day with an unwavering, expectant faith? The choice is yours.
You can believe and receive or you can doubt and do without!
But Jesus also made it clear that if we’re going to pray effectively, we must not only learn how to pray in faith, but we must . . .
2. Pray in fellowship - v. 25
I can’t hope to experience God’s power at work in my life in response to prayer if my heart is full of resentment and bitterness. Why?
A. It keeps us from getting a hearing with God.
Harboring resentment and bitterness toward someone else is sin, and sin breaks our fellowship with God.
“If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” - Psalm 66:18 (NLT)
B. It keeps us from giving a hearing to God.
The ruling principle of the heart of God is love. His desire is that we live in meaningful connectedness with Him and one another. But if the ruling principle of my heart is bitterness, then I’m not only not in a position for God to listen to me; I’m not in a position where I will listen to God. God and I are on two different wave-lengths.
A bitter person trying to communicate with a loving God is like trying to get someone to receive an FM transmission on an AM radio, the two are simply incompatible.
It’s far better to forgive and forget than to resent and remember, for if I harbor bitterness in his heart toward others I will receive no audience with God in prayer. When I’m cut off from communicating with God in prayer, I am kept from experiencing God’s power in his life - a power that can move mountains (Matthew 18:18-20)!
Conclusion: In the Bible, mountains are often used to symbolize kingdoms. Here, Jesus is speaking of how He wants to work in our lives and through His church to cast aside the opposition of Satan’s kingdom so we might fruitful lives lead others to do the same.
“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying, He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.” - Samuel Chadwick
Prayer is the means through which we can experience the reality of God’s power at work in and through our lives. But if we’re going to pray effectively, we must be a people determined to have a dynamic faith in God and a devoted fellowship with one another.
How’s your walk of faith? Are you seeking to order your life according to God's Word? Are you allowing God’s Word to guide your prayers?
How’s your fellowship with others? Could it be your prayers aren’t “going past the ceiling” because you harbor resentment toward others?
Folks, let's get on praying ground!
