How to Move Mountains: Faith and the Power of Prayer

“Jesus replied, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.’”

Matthew 21:21

Dear Friends,

How to move mountains? I thought about this question as I sat in Springfield, Ohio, collecting money from an online tool auction.

Some of the tools were large and bulky, but one in particular was a beast! The heavy metal machinery sat in the middle of the barn loft woodworking shop. A number of customers made comments about it as they passed by and the owner mentioned that they had gotten it into the upstairs workshop piece by piece. But now the question was how would the buyer get it down?

Soon a large muscular man arrived, paid his bill and approached the object in question. After an intense observation and a few swear words he tried to shift the monstrosity around with no luck. I watched as he pondered a little more and then disappeared out the door and down the ramp.

In a few minutes he was back with a few other bulky guys who also perused the large piece of equipment. Finally, they came up with a plan. Laying a blanket down on the ground they worked together to tip the thing up while one of them slid the blanket under the metal feet. They did this with each side until the whole thing sat on the blanket. Then, groaning and sweating, they pulled the whole apparatus to the loft garage door that sat above a truck pull up. There they maneuvered a forklift to move the mountain of metal and place it on the moving truck. What a feat!

How to Move Mountains

There are many different types of mountains in life but one common feature is that they are – or they seem to be – immovable. But Jesus told His disciples that faith is how to move mountains.

Jesus didn’t mean that by conjuring up some mental positive feeling or belief, we can do anything we set our minds to. He wasn’t talking about using our brains and brawn to figure out a way to overcome some huge problem. He was talking about our connection with God, the One who has the power to do anything.

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “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.” When our faith is in God and we are rightly related to Him then we will have the opportunity to see His power at work even in “mountain” situations.

Many people love to quote Jesus’ words, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” But this is not a blanket statement putting us in control over our lives and circumstances. God does not always answer our prayers in the way we think He should. But when we know Who He is, understand His great love for us, and fully submit our wills to His, then the impossible can happen.

John’s Commentary on Answered Prayer

John gives more commentary on answered prayer. “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us, And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:14-15).

How to move mountains? It is not by our own strength and ingenuity. But by fully trusting and submitting our will to our powerful God who hears our prayers of faith and answers them.

Love,

Mama

If you have been blessed by Verses from Mama consider buying me a cup of tea to help with the website costs of this ministry. Thank you!