Text: Mark 11:12-26
Title: The importance of prayer.
Introduction (Mark 11:12-14)
In order to set the stage concerning the importance of prayer let us begin by observing three things.
1.Jesus is identified as being hungry
“The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.” (V12)
2.Jesus is looking for fruit
“Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit”(V13)
3.Jesus is very hard on fruitlessness
“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.”(V14)
a.He did not accept excuses
“When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.”
b.He did not hide his disapproval
“And his disciples heard him say it.”
c.He did not give the tree another chance.
“May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”
In case we may think, “Thank God I’m not a fig tree” we need to understand this is not about fig trees but rather it is all about God’s people.
Our text begins by telling us that Jesus was hungry. Is Jesus hungry today?
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat…”Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you…? The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did for me.”
Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat…They also will answer, ’Lord, when did we see you hungry …and did not help you?
He will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (Matthew 25:35-45)
When you or I or anyone else is hungry then Jesus is hungry.
There is physical hunger and there is spiritual hunger.
Let me paraphrase verse 13, “and seeing in the distance a church (christian), he went to find out if it had any fruit.”
Jesus is looking for fruit. We just finished Revelation 2-3 where Jesus addresses seven churches and it is all about fruit.
To the church in Ephesus it was about love
“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love..”
To the church in Smyrna it was about faithfulness
“Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life..”
To the church in Laodicea it was about lack of fruit
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
In John 15 we are connected to Jesus so we can go from bearing no fruit to bearing much fruit.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to produce fruit in us.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22)
And what is the very first command God gave man in the bible?
“Be fruitful and increase in numbers…” Genesis 1:28
(whenever you are fruitful you will see an increase in numbers)
When Jesus returns the one thing he will be hardest on is fruitlessness.
“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit…” (John 15:2)
What is the greatest reason for our fruitlessness? A Lack of prayer!
“On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone one to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, "is it not written “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” But you have made it a den of robbers”
The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
A lack of prayer will always be replaced with lots of something else.
We reinvent church
We major in the minors
We take the focus off God and onto something else.
In order to get back to prayer we must pay the price.
1.We must pay the price of change.
A.The only people that like change is wet babies.
B.If change must happen we all want to change slowly.
C.You and I will take gradual change over sudden
change any day.
But when it comes to prayer it is better to change suddenly rather than gradually. Like Jesus we must identify, drive out, overturn and not allow back those things that replace prayer in our lives.
The hardest thing for us to change into is people of prayer. In order to become a person of prayer you have to fight yourself.
2.We must pay the price of opposition
“The chief priest and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching”
Whenever the Devil hears that prayer may be happening he fights back. He fights back because he fears prayer and praying people. He’s number one goal in your life and mine is to kill prayer. The way He kills prayer is by presenting us with other alternatives. He does not care what that alternative is as long as there is no time for prayer.
“Satan knows that prayer spells his defeat. He’ll fight you more to keep you from praying than any other thing you do. Sometimes, he will even encourage you to other specific activities because he knows how fruitless they are.”
What is prayer? Prayer is faith in God.
Prayer is not having faith in faith and nor is it having faith in prayer it is having faith in God.
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
Faith in God is faith in his existence and faith in his character.
Signing up to pray is not like signing your kids up for T-Ball. To play T-Ball you need a glove, a uniform, to sell tickets and buy pictures. The only thing I need to pray is faith in God.
What will prayer do? (V23-26)
1.It will move mountains
“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.”
Everyone has mountains in their lives. Some people have bigger mountains than others.
a.Mountains are uphill battles
b.Mountains take more effort to climb
c.Mountains are bigger than us.
Mountains are attitudes and actions we must overcome. They can be mountains of debt. They can be mountains of doubt. They can be mountains of denial.
2.It will bring blessings
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Mountains are praying against things we don’t want but blessings involve praying about things we do want.
God has so many blessings for us that we can only have by prayer.
“You have not because you ask not…” (James 4:2)
How much blessings does God have for us? A mountain of blessings. He does not have a spoonful or a shovel load.
3.It will change us.
“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
If Jesus had stopped at verse 24 we could easily believe that there are no prayers that God will not answer but Jesus tells us that there is one thing that will ruin our prayers and that one thing is unforgiveness.
If we hold anything against anyone God will not answer our prayers.
If we are holding onto anything against anyone then our hands are not free to receive from God.
We must Forgive them because to not forgive is a sin.
Forgive them because unless we forgive God cannot forgive us.
Where does forgiveness start? It starts with a prayer.
