Mountain Moving Faith

Transcript

Rob McFarlane: 0:58

The title of my sermon today is Mountain Moving Faith. Let's turn in our Bibles to Mark chapter 11, verse 22 to 24, and I'm reading from the English Standard Version of the Bible. And Jesus answered them, have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and thrown into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. This is a remarkable promise from Jesus. Mountains represent obstacles or challenges in our lives, and today we're going to look at how we can have faith to move life's mountains. What mountain are you facing today? What challenges are you facing that you need to see moved in your life? Today we'll look at three requirements for mountain moving faith. So number one is put your faith in God. Mark chapter 11 verse 22 says Jesus answered them, have faith in God. Where is our faith? Let's make sure that our faith is in God. The Passion Translation puts this verse slightly differently. It says, Jesus replied, Let the faith of God be in you. Now that's from the original language that we can have God's kind of faith in us. God's kind of faith sees things that are impossible with man, possible with God. God's kind of faith believes that God, the creator of heaven and earth, can do anything. This reminds me of Psalm 121, verse 1 and 2, where the psalmist says, I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. When we look up and see challenges all around us, and in many times in our lives and ways in our lives, we may feel surrounded by insurmountable problems and challenges. In those times, let's make sure we look to the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, and put our faith in Him. My friend, don't put your faith in people because people may let you down. I'm not saying we shouldn't trust people, but what I'm saying is there's needs that only God can meet, that you cannot find answers for in other people. People will let you down. People will disappoint you, but I want to tell you today that Jesus will never disappoint you. Having faith in God doesn't mean we disengage from wisdom like wise financial planning, or if we're facing a health challenge, going and seeking medical help. I think it's important for us to tackle any challenge we face, spirit, soul, and body. Tackle it with God's promises, tackle it by thinking right, and tackle it by making wise physical choices. Ten years ago I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. That came as a huge surprise. It wasn't part of the plan that I had for my life. But I knew that God wasn't surprised, and I went to God's promises. I took a hold of his promises and I fed on them three times a day: morning, noon, and night. I would go and sit quietly by myself and recite and repeat and meditate on God's promises concerning healing. I did this to build my faith. At the same time, I made sure that I was eating properly and I was taking care of myself physically, and I went and sought medical help. I had surgery and I had treatment. I had radiotherapy, and thank God I never had to have chemotherapy because through the surgery and the radiotherapy they were able to deal with the cancer that I had. But going through all those processes, my faith was in the great physician. I trusted in God. I put myself under medical care and I'm so grateful for all the care that I received. But my faith was never in the doctors, my faith was in God. We have a great physician who wants us to have our faith in him. So key number one to having faith that moves mountains is to have faith in God. Key number two, speak to the mountain and pray to God. Let's look at Mark 11, verse 23 and 24, and I'd like to read the beginning of both of those verses. Mark 11, 23a in the English Standard Version says, Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and thrown into the sea. And then Mark chapter 11, verse 24a, also in the English Standard Version, says, Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer. Now I want you to notice two words, say and pray. In fact, some versions put Mark 11 24 like this when you pray. Now the words say and pray are different to each other. One is what we say when we speak to something or speak over something, and the other is when we speak and pray to God. And these two words, even though they're different, work together. We must not negate what we're praying for by what we say. Let's pray in faith and let's speak out God's promises. We mustn't just speak about the mountains in our lives, we must speak to the mountains in our lives. Don't tell God about the problem, and don't speak about the problem to others, but tell the problem about the promises of God. That's what I did when I faced a health challenge. God already knew that I had cancer. I didn't need to say, Father God, I've got cancer. He knew that. He was aware of that, and he had given me his promises to speak over my physical body and to speak to the disease that I was fighting. And when I went into surgery, I would also speak God's promises and pray in faith, trusting God for success, and that the doctor's hands would be guided with wisdom and grace by the great physician. We, when we pray in faith, must not let our words negate our prayers. Don't pray in faith and then speak doubt over what you've just prayed for, but pray in faith, expecting God to move and do great things in your life. It's important for us to pray to God and to speak his promises over the challenges that we face. Key number three, expect to see results. Let's look at Mark 11, 23 and 24 again, and this time looking at the second half of those two verses. Mark 11 23b in the English Standard Version says, And does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass. It will be done for him. Now let's look at Mark 11, verse 24b, also from the English Standard Version. Jesus said, Believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. When do we receive it? When we pray. When will we physically receive it? Sometimes there's a delay, but we can trust God that He is able to do what He has promised. Believe that you've received it and it will be yours. I want to encourage us to stay in faith by saying God's promises, by praying God's promises. Remember, friends, there's a difference between faith's answer time and faith's manifestation time. Faith's answer time is when you pray, and faith's manifestation time is when you actually physically see the results of your prayers. A good example is shopping online. When I shop online, I place an order and I pay for it. And then I'm told it's on its way, and I can use the tracker, and I'm able to track that it's left their warehouse and it's gone to the courier, and then the courier says it's out for delivery, and I wait with expectation that there'll be a knock on the door and I will receive what I have paid for. Now just remember there are times when what you pray for and what you receive may be slightly different. But in those cases, we need to trust God that He knows best. I recently upgraded my mobile phone contract, and when I did that, I ordered a particular phone but and paid for that phone and made the contract for that phone. But when I received the phone, it was a better phone than the phone I had ordered. Now, what happened there? I got a free upgrade, and I want to encourage us that if if something happens and some sometimes the answer to our prayer is slightly different to what we specifically prayed for, perhaps God has given us an upgrade. Remember to trust in Him. And there's always a delay. Sometimes it might be very quick in a few seconds, other times it may be weeks, months, even years. But let's trust that our God is able to fulfill what He has promised. So, friends, to recap, three requirements for mountain moving faith. Number one is have faith in God. Number two is pray to God and speak his promises. Speak to the mountain with the promises of God. And number three, expect to see results. As we prepare to pray together today, let me ask you, what mountains are you facing in your life today? You, like the psalmist, may look up and say, I see hills all around me. Where is my help gonna come from? Well, I want to say today, put your faith in God. Say, my help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Let's pray today. Let's pray his promises into our lives. Let's trust him and grow in faith and stay strong in faith. Let's pray to God and speak to the mountain in Jesus' name. And let's expect to see results. Let's pray together. Father God, thank you for the remarkable promises that we see in your word, great and precious promises. And thank you for this promise that Jesus has given us. That if we put our faith in God and we speak to the mountains and we pray to you that we will see results. Right now, I want to encourage you to pray in faith. Ask God to meet whatever need you may have in faith today. Don't tell him about the problem, ask him for the solution. Perhaps today you're facing a challenge. I encourage you to speak to that challenge in the name of Jesus. Speak God's promises into that situation in your life. And today let's receive the answer by faith and then expect to see results as we trust in Him. Remembering that through faith and patience, the Bible says, we inherit God's promises. I ask you, Lord, to move mountains in the lives of those who are listening to this message today, to answer our prayers as we pray in faith, trusting in your promises. In Jesus' name. Amen.