Faith That Moves Mountains

Mark 11:14 is the first time the disciples had seen Jesus’ power used to bring something down. Jesus answers Peter’s question by talking about prayer. Why does Jesus speak about prayer here, 48 hours away from the cross? And what does it have to do with the cleansing of the temple? And so, standing next to a dead tree, Jesus teaches them, and us, how to move mountains when He is no longer standing beside them.

1. A Tree, a Temple, and a Display of Power

   1. The whole story is based on one event: Jesus curses a fig tree.

      1. Mark 11:14: “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And his disciples heard it.

      2. Then walks into the temple and cast out the money changers.

   2. The tree and the temple are the same sermon. The temple was like a fig tree in full leaf with nothing to eat. It was a preview of the coming judgment.

2. Have Faith in God

   1. Mark 11:22: Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God.” We have to trust Him. Faith is only as good as its object.

   2. Trusting God means trusting more than His power.

      1. Matthew 6:9-10: Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

      2. Real prayer begins here — with God’s name, kingdom, and will, and only then do we bring our requests inside of His.

   3. 1 John 5:11: This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

3. A Mustard Seed is Enough

   1. Mark 11:23: Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

      1. Mark 14:31: Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

      2. Little faith is enough.

   2. Matthew 17:20: “Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

      1. “Little faith” almost never means a small amount.

      2. It means a faith that has quietly stopped leaning on God.

4. Ask and Keep Asking

   1. Mark 11:24: Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received it and it will be yours. Is this a blank check? No. It’s always about His will, always. We ask boldly, and submit fully.

   2. See Mark 14:36: “Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.”

5. Forgive and Clear the Way

   1. Mark 11:25: And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.”

   2. If you want to pray with power, you can hold the grudge, or have your prayers answered.

6. As We Close

   1. Everything Jesus tells these men to do, He is about to do himself, i.e., perfect, unbroken trust in His father.

   2. There is one mountain none of us could ever move on our own — it is the weight of our own sin.

   3. Jesus went to the cross and moved that mountain for us, and then walked out of a tomb to prove it was gone. Have faith in God, ask him boldly, surrender to His will, forgive the one you’ve been holding a grudge against, and watch what he can still do. Will you come?